Self-Contained Classroom 

Person Interviewed:

Self-contained classroom teacher at an elementary school 

Date and Length of Interview:

February 25, 2022 from 6:00-6:30pm (30 minutes)

Interview Questions:

1. What types of activities do your students struggle with? 

2. What types of activities do your students accel at? 

3. What are the biggest needs that your students have? 

4. What barriers do your students have that prevent them from learning? 

5. How do you see music being used in your classroom? 

6. Would you like the music activities to be plug and go that you can lead, something that I come and do a few times, or a combination of both?

7. Would you like the music activities to be interactive between everyone in the class, or for individual use? 

Blog:

The focus of this project is to provide an elementary self-contained classroom with musical activities that meet the needs of the students. I decided to interview an elementary teacher in Louisville, Kentucky who teaches in a self-contained classroom of approximately 6 students. When I reflected on the interview, I noticed from the responses that the students need assistance in the areas of cooperation, attention, self-efficacy, relevance, and relationships.

The teacher gave me a short background on her students and noted that some have low IQ’s, are different ages ranging from six through eleven, and are at different ability levels.  Her students love one another and have great relationships. She mentioned that her class will be accepting new students in a few weeks that will need to be integrated into their learning community.  I also learned that her students excel at working together and encouraging each other along the way. She said they were “excellent at gross motor skills and enjoy listening, responding, and moving to music."  She said, “they are good at choosing music they like.” 

The students in this class struggle with cooperative activities and attention. The teacher noted that her students are very competitive and like to be the first one finished with an assignment. Her students associate finishing first with being the best. She stated, “they are worried about being incapable and rush through assignments to make themselves appear to know what they are doing.” To address this need, I will create group drumming activities designed to entrain students and help them work together toward a central goal. The evidence that the students are meeting the goals of cooperation and attention will be collected through formative assessments during the group drumming and movement activities.

The interviewee mentioned that the biggest needs of this group are the opportunity for her students to be children outside of their labels. She states, “I want the students to be able to get lost in an experience.” She wants them to be able to explore the activity without a self-imposed time limit thus obtaining the flow state of mind. She also wants the experience to be relevant and enjoyable. For example, if the students are working on crossing the midline, a combination of  group drumming and movement activities will assist with this goal. In addition to the struggles and needs, the interviewee mentioned that her class has had a tremendous amount of loss during the pandemic. Her students have experienced poor housing situations, have been absent due to Covid, and have endured a lot of excess trauma. She just wants her students to feel a sense of belonging and comfort.

This information is important for me to know because it will help inform what musical activities I decide to perform with the students.  At first, I thought a community drum circle would be perfect for this population because of the transient population, need for community building, cooperation, and attention. After reflecting on the interview, I have arrived at some new ideas to implement that will assist the students and teacher with all  of their needs. One idea that comes to mind is to combine student selected music to play along with during the group drumming activities. Since the students like to move, I would like to implement movement activities that cross the midline. 

The resource I am thinking of designing for the teacher is a set of Google slides that include activities targeting each of the student’s needs. The teacher informed me that she would like for me to model the activities and she would continue to use them after I leave. By placing instructional videos on Google slides, the teacher will be able to reference the activities In my absence. The teacher mentioned that she would prefer for the activities that I create to be group activities. She states, “If most behaviors come from a sense of isolation, then most solutions must come from a sense of community.”

Before I begin, I will need to research crossing the midline. This is something I have had very little experience with and would like to research it further so that I can design something that is relevant and enjoyable for her students.  I would also like to learn more about the grieving process from the student’s perspective. After researching these items, I believe I will gain new information and have a better understanding of the students that I am serving.