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Where the most Inspired Musicians
become the most Inspiring Music Teachers

Summer 2023 MECA

Continuing Education Courses

Online

Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs

Date

June 5-July 28, 2023

Course Code

7353

Credits

3 Graduate Credits

Tuition

$1,080 is due in full with registration.

Overview

The music classroom is an inherently inclusive and cooperative environment. Meeting the needs of students with special needs, however, requires a specific set of skills, dispositions, and experiences to appropriately adapt and modify instruction. Enhancing the inclusive and cooperative possibilities in the music classroom while meeting the needs of all students is a challenging yet exhilarating possibility. This course will focus on identifying areas of strength and challenge in students with special needs, advocating for the appropriate classroom environment for all students, and the creation of adaptations and accommodations for students in inclusive and self-contained music classrooms.

Requirements

Chat Session

This course is asynchronous. Please contact the instructor to request a meeting.

Prerequisites

None

Required Text(s)

Hammel, A.M. & Hourigan, R.M. (2017). Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Label-Free Approach (second edition). New York. Oxford University Press.

 Hammel, A.M. (2017). Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Practical Resource. New York. Oxford University Press.

Learning Platform Information - Online Courses Only

Schoology is a learning management system that allows you to interact directly with your instructors, fellow students, and members of the greater VanderCook community.

The evening  before your class begins, be on the lookout for an email from Schoology with log-in instructions. Once you receive credentials, visit www.online.vandercook.edu to login. 

Some courses have specific online chat meeting times (please see course descriptions), while others have a flexible meeting schedule. You can expect all courses to meet together in a live online chat. If a live meeting time doesn’t work, you can work with your instructor to make other arrangements.

More information about Schoology can be found at www.schoology.com

Please see specific software/hardware requirements in the course description.

Online course grades are available within two weeks of the course(s) completion.  If you need a transcript, please CLICK HERE to access the online transcript request form. For a faster turnaround time, please submit the transcript request to the registrar prior to the end of your course(s).

Instructor

Lady Hammel 2022 HS 3 1 1

Alice Hammel

Dr. Alice Hammel, Virginia’s Outstanding Music Educator of the Year (2018), is a widely known music educator, author and clinician whose experience in music is extraordinarily diverse. She is a member of the faculty of James Madison University, and has many years of experience teaching instrumental and choral music in public and private schools. She also teaches online courses through many institutions throughout the United States. She has also maintained a large, independent flute studio for over 25 years. Dr. Hammel travels widely to universities during the school year to serve as in-residence scholar in the area of students with special needs. This travel, combined with state, national and international conference headline and keynote presentations, keeps Dr. Hammel well-informed of the needs of both pre-service and in-service music educators. During summer months, Dr. Hammel teaches in graduate programs for music educators around the United States. Her expertise in those teaching situations ranges from musicianship, pedagogy, and teaching students who learn differently. This wide demand places her in close collaboration with PreK-12 music educators who are seeking to become better teachers and musicians. Dr. Hammel is a co-author of four texts: Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Label-Free Approach (2nd ed., 2017), Teaching Music to Students with Autism, Winding It Back: Teaching to Individual Differences in Music Classroom and Ensemble Settings, and Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Practical Resource (2017). In addition, Dr. Hammel has contributed chapters to several Oxford University Press resources including Composing Our Future (Kaschub and Smith, eds.) and Exceptional Pedagogy (McCord and Blair, eds.). She has also written chapters for GIA and Routledge Publication resources. Dr. Hammel is a contributing author to a variety of resources available through the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and has published widely in music, arts, special and general education journals. Dr. Hammel has been affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for several years and has presented multiple workshops for arts educators and arts administrators through this association. She serves on the committee for the Kennedy Center National Forum: Examining the Intersection of Arts Education and Special Education, and serves on the planning committee for their annual national conference. Dr. Hammel is Chair of the National Association for Music Education Task Force on Students with Special Needs. She is on the Editorial Board of the Council for Exceptional Children – Division for the Arts, is a member of the Teacher Education and Editorial Board Committees, and Member at Large for the Organization of American Kodály Educators. In addition, she serves as an expert with the National Association for Music Education’s Solutions Music Group and is a Conn-Selmer Clinician. Dr. Hammel is currently President Elect of the Council for Exceptional Children – Division for the Arts. Dr. Hammel is a proud alumna of Shenandoah Conservatory (BME – magna cum laude and DMA) and Florida State University (MME). She holds post-doctoral certifications from the Organization of American Kodály Educators and the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. Dr. Hammel is a multiple award recipient honoring her commitment to music education and music teacher education. In 2016, Shenandoah University honored her with their Alumnae of Excellence Award. In 2017, James Madison University created a named award in her honor celebrating her years of scholarship and service dedicated to the inclusion of all students in music education.

The mission of VanderCook College of Music is to enrich the lives of present and future generations by developing uniquely skilled music teachers who exhibit strong character, professionalism, and a commitment to excellence.

© 2023 VanderCook College of Music. All Rights Reserved.
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