- Hello everyone, welcome to the Preservation Hall Experience, Designing a Successful Learning Environment. The second in our free webinars series, focused on New Orleans Music and Art in Special Education. As you join us for this webinar series, we'd like to point out a few Zoom features here. On your left you have your microphone which will mute or unmute you at the appropriate times. The video feature that will start and stop your video as needed. The chat room feature which is being engaged with by other attendees of the webinars series and Mary from the Preservation Hall team. The live transcript feature And the expand minimize feature for your screen. At this time, we'd love to welcome and invite our learning community to introduce themselves and if comfortable and able, turn on your camera and say, hello. We're all here ready to engage with you and talk about things that are all ready to be discussed. Also in the chat box feature, we'd love to hear a little bit about yourself. Tell us your nickname or your stage name, where you're from, the city that you represent and your first concert or favorite concert that you've ever attended. For example, I'm Jammy Pammy or Panther, that's my rollerskating name And my favorite concert is Outkast at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, South Holland. How about you? I'll check the chat box and see what you guys throw in there. Hello Jodie from DC, Boyz II Men as your first concert, excellent "Motownphilly" And don't be shy our first concert may not have been our best concert. Rebecca Becca ATL, Debbie Gibson, Yes. Howard lebeck "Queen Ad Libing" Wow. That is a monumental show. "Purple Rain" in Greensboro, excellent. Rebecca from slide out first concert "Lake Street Dive" Wow. I've heard a lot about them. Heard a lot about them. "Across the Lake" Southern terms. So I'd like to introduce to you all our ASL interpreter, Laura Sicignano If you would like to pin Laura throughout the webinar you can do the participants tab. And for the rest of our panelists tonight, I'd like to introduce to you Bonny Dieterich an inclusion teacher, author, and disability advocate. Mr. Will Smith, a self-contained special education teacher and trumpeter at Preservation Hall and Ms. Meredith Sharpe a Neurological music therapist. Again, thank you for taking your evening or afternoon to be with us without further ado, We'd like to present to you our next in the series of Preservation Hall lessons webinar. Next slide, please. Tonight we'll be discussing, designing accessible learning spaces, experiential, accessible versus inaccessible, implementing music transitions experiential, verbal versus musical, and all of the resources and strategies that we've pulled from tonight's webinars series and the Q&A With the panelist tonight.

- Hello everybody. It's great to be here with you today. My name is Bonny Dieterich. I am half Asian, Korean and half Caucasian. I have short black hair and Brown eyes. I'm wearing a Navy blue shirt and I'm an amputee. Right now I'm sitting in my wheelchair with a virtual background of the hall in downtown New Orleans behind me. Let's begin by activating our minds. Take a few minutes to look at this image of the classroom on the slide. Think about what you notice what features of this space might be inaccessible. Let's take about 30 seconds to use the chat and share our thoughts. I see not a lot of room in between desks. There's backpacks on the floor. Couple more seconds. Anybody else? There's no space for movement. I noticed that there are a lot of things on the walls in this rail. Let's look... There is a lot of clutter as well. Let's look at the next image we have. Take about 30 seconds to look at this image of a classroom And what features in this space might be inaccessible. You can go ahead and use the chat to share your thoughts. There are invisible divisions between each working space. There's no flow Large space with the carpet. I'm noticing also that the sections in each workspace are very narrow. There's not a huge pathway between the chairs or between the furniture, which could be inaccessible. There's also no space between the chairs. Seeing that the words on the word wall are really high. We'll talk about that in a few minutes, in a way that you can change that in your own classroom. So now that we've looked at some classroom spaces that might be inaccessible, let's talk about accessible design elements by separating our space into three zones, high, middle, and low. So I'm sharing this information with you as a teacher and as a person with disabilities, I have cerebral palsy I'm an amputee and I'm blind in my left eye. So these are strategies that are helpful to learners of all ages. In the high zone, consider lighting sources that promote a calm learning space. We want to make sure that light that's from the Promethean board or smart board in the classroom doesn't contribute to excessive light which could be a distraction. Informational anchor charts should be near the student's eye level And to fix this, you might consider placing letter size copies of resources like word walls and anchor charts at each workspace for easy access. I fly these mini anchor charts into plastic sleeves for durability which allows students to work without interruption When they need a resource. We want to include displays that add visual interest without overwhelming learners. In the middle of the classroom, We want to make sure the furniture placement allows the shortest distances to travel. Tables with adjusted heights allow for students with wheelchairs to comfortably fit under or students who need to stand to be able to stand or sit lower on the floor. Open seating ensures collaborative learning. Open seating is really important to allow all students to engage in rich conversations and the learning that occurs in all areas of the room. I've been a participant in classes where I'm confined to the corner near the door in my wheelchair And that means that I wasn't able to fully participate in the learning. Down low, make sure you have wide pathways and clear door ways that allow access to all areas of the room. That you have labeled materials and learning tools it's organized in easily reachable places And you might consider placing materials and small section bins at each table with extras of items like sharpen pencils and erasers. Finally make sure your area rugs and carpets are secure to the floor. Here's an image of my own classroom space. Now that we've learned about accessible design features what features do you notice? You can use the chat to share your thoughts. I see the floor space is so spacious the high tables, plenty of space between tables. I can actually move my wheelchair among the in the space between all of the tables group work because nicely there's a lot of natural light and I keep the lights off near the window because it seems like excessive light access to materials on shelf. So you might notice we mentioned the bins, the unobstructed pathways I also chose colors that complimented the colors of the built-in cabinets and wall shelves. So let's learn more about how colors contribute to classroom atmosphere with Meredith on the next slide.

- Thank you Bonny. Hello everyone. My name is Meredith Sharpe. I am a Caucasian woman from Northern European descent. I'm wearing a yellow and gray striped shirt glasses and my hair is pulled back in a bun. My zoom background is the inside of Preservation Hall. I am a neurologic music therapist and the owner of Sharpe Notes Music Therapy a private practice that serves children and adults with disabilities in the New Orleans area. I've been practicing for 11 years And some of my favorite work is facilitating music groups within various school settings. So as we look at classroom atmosphere through research, environmental psychologists have discovered that the quality of the physical setting and its atmosphere affect a person's inner feelings and behavior, and the perception of a spaces atmosphere is a very individual experience because of this, It can be difficult to find conclusive evidence about how we should design a space but several studies have revealed certain trends in perceiving aspects of a rooms atmosphere. So when we think about lighting, there are several options. Studies have revealed that using natural light in a room helps decrease feelings of stress and anxiety and other surveys, dim or softer lights were weighted more pleasant, relaxing and calming. Use of full spectrum light which our eyes perceive as midday Sunlight have been found to increase productivity because this type of lighting illuminates colors in detail reducing eye strain and fatigue studies have further revealed that using combinations of these three are ideal and leave a positive impression. In our classrooms we may not always have many options but there may be little things we can do to improve the lighting atmosphere. For classrooms without any windows in which I have worked, I have brought in lamps. For bright overhead fluorescent lights, You can cover these with translucent material or a filter to create a softer lighting atmosphere. You may also change your lighting throughout the day depending on the activity or time of day. When it comes to colors, color preference, and impressions are such an individual experience that it's difficult to make conclusions about what colors to use But once again, let's consider some trends. One study revealed that we may actually respond to colors physiologically. Cooler colors with low intensity, such as certain blue or violet hues may decrease blood pressure and pulse promoting the feeling of relaxation. On the other hand, warmer colors with higher intensity, such as certain red or orange hues may increase heart rate and respiration and promote visual stimulation and activation. Colors can also affect our feeling of space in a room. White and lighter colors can make smaller spaces feel bigger while darker colors can make a larger space feel more intimate. In our classrooms, We more often than not have to work with the colors already in this space, as Bonny said, and we may be able to highlight or accent these colors with the materials that we bring in and use. Lastly, I want us to consider the presence of nature in our classrooms. This could be a plant, fall leaves, flowers or pictures and artwork conveying nature scenes. These visuals, along with listening to sounds of nature can promote mental wellbeing and relaxation. One study revealed that this kind of exposure to nature may decrease impulsivity and improve Decision-making. So incorporating these natural visuals and sounds is not only good for our students, but good for us as well as teachers therapists and facilitators. So I now like to turn it over to Will who has a picture of his classroom as well.

- Hi, my name's Will Smith. I'm an African-American male. I have short hair mingled gray and I'm wearing a light blue button down shirt. So when I look at this picture of my own class, having listened to the information that we were just given, I see that there are positives and negatives, maybe in the chat you could share what your impressions are by viewing it. I personally see that there is room for mobility is definitely maneuverability access the space between the chairs However, the desk are low and none of them seem to be appropriate for a wheelchair. So I see a lot of positives but can you tell me what you see? I'll give you a moment to put anything in the chat that you happen to observe. So you don't see very well there but there's a huge promethium board in front and behind where the orange there is a sink and a faucet and there's a little bathroom at the back of the room, perhaps better access. And I find that it gives kids a good area to move around And there's one kid who in particular wants to sit on the floor. So the bean bag is accommodating them.

- Great. So in addition to considering how we design and arrange our learning spaces, considering transitions and the use of musical transitions can also help our students feel safe, comfortable and organized. Transitions and change can be difficult for our students So helping them organize their thinking and behavior to successfully complete a transition is very important And music can be a powerful tool. Research has discovered that the systems in our brains that process music are the same systems we use in perception, memory, and language. Music conveys emotion and creates a sense of community So when we use music with the transition, there is a sense that we are doing this together. The structure of music organizes the timing of an activity, helps process information and improves attention. Research reveals that melodies with certain lyrics are effective for learning relating verbal information. One study found that using musical stimuli within a classroom help to manage group behavior and reduce time off task. For students with disabilities, music can bring awareness and help orient them to time, person and place. Combining music and movement activities can connect and integrate the mind and body for better organization and focus. Music therapist, Dena Register and Marcia Humpal conducted three case studies using musical transitions in an inclusive toddler classroom at an early childhood center a kindergarten class within a school serving students from a low socioeconomic background and an inclusive pre-K classroom at a public school setting. After completing these three cases studies, they found that using transitional sounds, music and songs helped decrease the time it took to transition, students responded faster and were less agitated. Students needed less verbal directives and students were able to become quiet and listen to their teacher. This research encourages us to try musical transitions in our own classrooms. So when It comes to implementing musical transitions, There are several strategies we can use. First, We need to ask ourselves what is the purpose of this transition? What do I want my students to do? And how do I want them to do it? Once you have determined your purpose there are a few aspects to take into account. Repetition of a musical transition can create a sense of a ritual in a day schedule, which conveys predictability and safety. Involving students in choosing transitional music or creating a transitional song, gives them a sense of ownership and helps them recognize their own needs. Involving movement timed with music of the transition can improve attention and direction following. Using a countdown can also prepare students for the exact transitional moment. After trying a musical transition, It is important to take note of what worked and didn't work. How can I make adjustments? So we'll continue talking about sounds to transition in a classroom and then I'll model how I've implemented this strategy in my own classroom. This is helpful for enabling learners to move to the next activity independently with little direction from the teacher. It also promotes positive classroom management. When you consider a transitional sound, choose a soft unique tone that will alert learners to take action while maintaining a sense of order. Students may need to move to the next activity or move within a large group. Introduce this routine and teach it like you would any other routine. Model and use repetition and practice that may include whole group rewards. It is also important to plan for additional time for this routine to reach mastery with the entire group. Students will likely not reach consistent mastery on their first few tries. Model your expectation and reward small improvements. In my classroom, I use a tone bar from the middle section of a xylophone to signal transitions for guided reading in math groups. I chose this tone because it was very different from the bell that signals lunch and recess at my school And the soft tone is also consistent with the calm learning environment that I want to maintain. My goal was to have students move in a timely and safe manner. So at first they wanted to rush and run because they thought it was a race But once we emphasized safety and paired our transition with a countdown timer, they were much more successful. In my classroom, One soft tone signals students to finish their activity and tidy their workspace. One minute later, two soft tones signal students to move to their next center or activity. We practiced this over a period of several days with modeling and repetition until we reached mastery for an orderly transition. I use this in a second grade classroom but I've also used it in other classrooms from kindergarten through fifth grade.

- [Will] Yeah with exploring transitional music, we all know that music can influence our mood It can make us just want to dance but it's also a powerful teaching tool. I don't use tones because I work with older students who respond more to songs. These are some of the songs that I use in my class. I use Beethoven mostly in the mornings when kids are just arriving. I use it, not just the transition but I use it for their gallery. Also, you'll see, there are several others the Pat Matheny music which is a song that starts very subtly and then picks up. I use when it's time for them to go to lunch. And after lunch, I want something very, very calming. So we play "What a Wonderful World." I use transitional music all throughout the day. I use the Preservation Hall song mostly when it's time for them to do math because they're all suddenly sleep when it's math time. And then at the end of the day, I always let them... this is a choice of my students was Pharrel's "I'm happy." And so every transitional song or your approach to transitional music has to be based on your individual students and how they respond to what you're doing. And just as Meredith said, this takes a while for them to get used to it But with a few short practices, they'll confirm and it helps a lot. We'll also be offering these selections so that you can listen to them later.

- Transitional sounds and traditional music And we also have original transitional songs when it comes to transitional songs, I like to think about them in three categories based on the purpose of the transition. This diagram also highlights the musical elements to consider when choosing or creating your own transitional song And it also provides examples of specific transitional songs. So let's first consider greeting songs and how they can relate to speech patterns. During your hello song, singing the word Hello With an open ascending interval ♪ Hello ♪ can convey a welcoming inviting message whereas singing the word goodbye with a descending interval ♪ Good bye ♪ conveys a sense of finality and ending. Depending if your students need to wake up or calm down you may choose to use an upbeat or slower tempo and embedding the opportunity for deep breathing can help students get ready to say goodbye and endings can further be emphasized with a countdown. Action songs refer to those transitions that require your students to perform an action such as cleaning up, lining up, washing hands, or preparing for the next activity. We have almost certainly either heard or used a cleanup song at one point in time. Some elements to consider are a steady beat to encourage focus and organization Clear lyrics that reflect the action repetition for learning and practice and a possible call and response format to encourage student engagement. Some of our students may need help transitioning when they're feeling anxious, are overstimulated or just need extra help going from an active activity to one where they need to sit at desks. Introducing elements of nature and adjusting the lighting during these songs can be very effective. Combining movement patterns, such as Pat, clap and roll with a steady beat can help regulate the mind and body. An example of this type of transition song can be found within our lesson "Adaptations" on the Preservation Hall website and this song aims to help students transition from being outside to then doing work at their desks. So the example is, ♪ Breathe in and stretch with arms up high ♪ ♪ Arms slowly down as I softly sigh ah ♪ ♪ Time to sit and focus my mind ♪ ♪ I will do my best and shine ♪ So you can see within the short little transition song or using deep breathing to help come to a calm or a place where you integrating a steady beat with a rhythmic and body pattern to help encourage focus and attention and then ending with encouraging positive lyrics. Our resources page highlights several books and websites with various transitional songs and the adaptive lessons page on the Preservation Hall website outlines a lesson in which you can work with your students to create an original transition song. Okay. So now that we've reviewed the benefits of using music transitions and types of music transitions, let's put it all together and we're going to try out a transition. So as our webinar comes to an end, we're synthesizing information and experiencing a transition. We will first facilitate a verbal transition and then experience the same transition through music. We'd like to ask you to take note of how each transition feels, how they differ from each other and how they may compliment each other. So now Bonny will walk us through the verbal transitions first.

- As we come to a close, we'd like to thank you for being here tonight and ask you to think of one thing you've learned in this webinar that you can implement in your own learning spaces. Make some time to think and list your ideas in the chat. Low, Medium, high strategy for designing spaces Should we try a musical transition?

- Let's do it. Good idea. Okay. So as we do the musical transition I'm first going to begin with a transitional sound to invite everyone into a moment of silence before we go into the transitional song, and this was actually done in one of those case studies that I mentioned earlier. ♪ We're coming to an end we've shared and taken turns ♪ ♪ Now let's take a moment to think ♪ ♪ Of one thing you learned ♪ ♪ Thank you for your time ♪ ♪ And attention you've given now your next action step ♪ ♪ Is to create your very own transition ♪ So I want to ask you kind of take a moment and describe in the chat, your experience of this musical transition and how it differed or complimented the verbal transition. So I'd love to hear your thoughts in the chat. The song is stuck in your head Yes. These songs get stuck in my head too Quite a bit There was a moment to process. Yes, music felt inspiring and that's the great thing about the musical transitions They allow that space for that processing time and absorbing the information And the music can set the mood or the tone that you want for the transition to agree. Great. So as the transitional song mentioned, we would like for you to take an action step by creating and implementing a transition in your own lesson, to help with this action step, please visit the Preservation Hall lessons website, where I have created some adaptive lessons and songs for you to use in your classrooms. You can find these materials under "The Elements of Music" lesson as well as take into account to our resources page at the end and all the wonderful resources that Mary has been putting in the chat as well. I now like to turn things over to Pam who will facilitate the question and answer portion of our webinar.

- Hello everyone I'm sorry about the little technical delay so wonderful webinar tonight, and many more to come as you can see on our next slide here, what's next? We have three more webinars series coming up that touch on "Music and mindfulness "with New Orleans Rhythm and Blues." "Thinking Outside the Box, Adapting New Orleans Jazz Instruments" and then July "Join the Second line, "Adapting Movements "and Mobility Devices in the Classroom." And now for our Q and A, you can turn your attention to the chat And we'll also be speaking with our panelists.

- Here's a question we have, what is the most frequent adaptation you make in your classrooms?

- So I can answer that. All of the adaptations that I presented on that slide are things that I use because I use a wheelchair and I have low vision And so I have to make sure that everything is clear and easy to read, but also that there's lots of space to travel and that things are in accessible places for me to reach.

- I know something I use in a lot of my groups when I go into classrooms, it's something Will touched on which was different on seating options as well. Like we'll have the great example of the bean bag chair I know some of the students I work with, they have these sort of movement disc type things that you can put in a chair. And so it gives the child who needs a sense of movement while they're sitting They can move, some prefer floor while others prefer a chair Sometimes I use the, like a carpet squares to help define boundaries for where they sit. So different seating options And arrangements is definitely one that I use quite a bit.

- And among the things that I use that we didn't really hit on, but I use fidgets and leg bands that go across the legs of their desk And this often helps bring them to a state of calm. Also like try to affect the lighting put in different ways Like if we're going to use the Promethean board for a whole lesson, I sometimes turn the lights out completely And we simply use the light of the Promethean board.

- Yeah, that's great. I was thinking that too I sometimes I'll use like a weighted blanket in the lap or something weighted in the lap as well.

- Okay. So we have a question that says what if my school does not have doorknobs or entry exits pathways that are accessible And I would say you should start by talking to your administration about ways to make sure your building is accessible to all learners and their families and that usually your County or district can help you identify ways to make your building more accessible to learners And then the next question says, can you give an example of something that surprised you when including a student with a disability in music?

- Ah that's a great question.

- Yes. I have a student who is extremely talented and he said he had no lessons. He plays piano giftedly I mean, I love to hear him play And I also allow him to listen to music during class through headphones because it makes him focus more. So I was extremely surprised and miss him very much till today. Yes. That's the most surprising element I've here but all kids react to music in some form.

- It's true. I was thinking of one too, where this is, again a point Will made earlier where it's so important to consider the song preference or style of music preference of your students. Because I had one student of mine who for whatever reason could not stand or really disliked the "ABC" song and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," I don't know for whatever reason those two songs were a trigger So that was good for me to know And remember to kind of use different kinds of music or different songs So that was something, a good learning lesson for me was truly learning my students and their preferences.

- And another thing of note for me was that, a lot of people consider transitional music is only for use with younger students, but many, many many students with disabilities have a greater time a greater hard time transitioning from one activity to another. So it's works and I teach in the middle school and it works quite well.

- That's a great point Will. I was actually facilitating a group earlier today with young adults, with autism spectrum disorder And one student was having trouble transitioning into the group and so using music, we use a lot of just rhythm steady with body sequences and to help him transition in and it worked really beautifully. Oh, that's a great I used to take a student to play piano as a brain break. Yes. It reactivated history to learn. Yes. Great. Yes. That's right. Let's see. What are your recommendations for accessibility in high school When the students switch in and out of classes?

- Again, I would say it depends on the temperament of your students. If they are typically calm students it's easier to use calm music, or maybe not But if you have kids who are rather high strong, I particularly found that classical music works and this is taken a bit of time to get them to adjust to being silent enough to listen to the music But it, just to me, it depends on the temperament of the students you teach.

- Let's see. Do you get any resistance from other teachers or administrators to your use of music in this way?

- I have not, but then it doesn't last all day. Typically my transitions are 35 to 40 seconds about that long, even less than a minute. So I have not.

- I haven't either. I find that most teachers, administrators are welcomed because they see it working so often more often than not And so many people are like, "Show me, teach me how you know, how to do that." So I haven't run into too much trouble either.

- I find that anything that promotes your calm classroom atmosphere and also contributes to classroom management, that's strong and purposeful is something that administration typically loves So once they find the purpose for your using music, they're typically on board with it.

- [Meredith] And do you use music transitions for distance learning? That's a great question.

- I actually use music transitions for distance learning. Right now, I haven been teaching from home all year and we can put them in our Google slides. We're using Google slides this year to present information over zoom and so it's easy to put little video clips of 10 seconds sounds in for transitions, such as breaks or gathering materials or just a stretch break So it works beautifully for distance learning as well.

- Yeah, I agree. I've this year I had to facilitate several of my groups virtually and through distance learning And I feel like as the group is progressing moment to moment evaluating how are my students responding What do they need in this moment? You know, what am I seeing? And so I'm constantly thinking of, "Okay how can I use the music or transition to get them "to either a calmer state or more focused state "or if they're feeling really tired of more awakened state." And I've been surprised how well it's worked virtually And what's really great too, is that often the parents or caregiver is right there with them So they're actually doing it with them or learning as well, which is even more powerful. So that's been a great combination and a great aspect of doing the virtual learning too. Certainly it has its difficulties. Like with the, sometimes there's a delay of sound or if your mic cuts out or the internet kind of is certainly has its difficulties at times, but overall I've had some good success.

- Great, great questions.

- Do your middle school... It's gone wait, can you read the question to me Meredith?

- No worry, it says do your middle schools feel connected to the music transitions?

- They do indeed in particular lunch and end of day, they really do. They've bought into it And I sort of bribed them in the beginning. It came with rewards for them to participate the way I liked them to. Initially they wanted to just dance and use it as a break time to do whatever they wanted but also slowly over time, they really adapted it and it's become a real integral part of what we do every day. So yes. And I wonder what generated that question. What's happening in your class that makes you think of that?

- She says middle school is such a unique age.

- They are very, very unique. They are trying to find themselves they're caught between being kiddie and wanting to be grown And so I think, yes, it helps to allow them to have sort of ownership of what we're doing. We have not done very much creating our own transitional songs, which is something I'm going to have to work on with them now, but they really enjoyed picking the song even though I only allowed them to have one because many of the songs they wanted were inappropriate So I couldn't, but yes it is a very unique time, but students are very unique. You have to handle them that way. You have to be knowledgeable and sensitive to whatever your particular student group is. And to find out what their interest is in music. Like many of my kids were not introduced to classical until I introduced them. And now they really didn't seem to want to tolerate it at first, but now they seem to understand that it signals a certain thing and different generates different story but most sometimes just make them want to get up and dance. Like when Pharrell plays, they're the most energetic right away they play in their things and cleaning up because they understand it's time to go. And with the Pres Hall song, which you get to look in the website and enjoy it, it helps when it's lunchtime because it's not such a slow tempo but is at a tempo that sort of stimulates them to get out of class if you can feel that.

- That's great. Do we have any more questions? Okay. Thank you so much everyone. These were great, great questions.

- [Mary] Thank you everyone. I think Pam was having some technical... Here she is. Okay. She's back.

- Hello I'm not sure if you can see me but we're just going to keep moving forward with the wonderful evening that we've had tonight And we wanted to close things out by letting everyone know that the resources from tonight's webinar will all be available in these links. We'll even drop some things in the chat for you. And let's give a round of applause to our panelists as well for providing all of their insight on how to pivot and move with the times and build and learn from the community How to hone in on each individual's needs within the classroom.