Elementary music specialists often teach the entire population of their school, or close to it. This can range from several hundred students to well over a thousand. Despite these large numbers, we bear both the right and responsibility to meet the various accommodations and modifications of the entire special education population. This task can prove to be incredibly daunting. Students with 504s and IEPs have a legal right to a specialized education that will allow them to fulfill their greatest potential, including in music class. This session will teach elementary educators about the vast vocabulary of educational terms necessary for them to use a shared language to communicate with general education and special education teachers at their campuses. Participants will also receive practical advice on how to best manage and organize all the accommodations they need to make for their students.
Target Audience
Elementary General Music Educators
Additional Notes
Clinician Info
Natasha Thurmon
Natasha Thurmon teaches K-5 general music, choir, strings, Recorder, and Orff ensemble at Boldt Elementary in the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, TX. She has a BME in Music Education from Pacific Lutheran University and an MM in Music Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She completed her Orff levels at Trinity University, and teaches Recorder at the San Jose State University Orff Levels Course. Natasha is past president of Central Texas Orff, and currently serves as a Trustee for the American Orff Schulwerk Association. She has presented at various state conferences, as well as at the national AOSA conference and for Orff chapter workshops. She serves as chair of the Communications Committee for her local union, Northside AFT.