Alice Hammel Reading Reflection

I believe that public education should function within a democracy to give all children the same opportunities.  This may mean that we need to create a more individualized education to give students what they need.   In music education standards are very difficult to regulate.  Some band programs are only able to play Grade 3 repertoire, while others are sight-reading through Grad 6 rep.  A big problem right now is VBODA state assessment.  Many of the bands in the Northern Virginia section feel as if judges adjudicate more aggressively than in other parts of VA.  There are 2 solutions to this problem.  The first solution is to get rid of the name "State" assessment and individualize it by the band.  The second solution is to have every band perform for the same judges.  These solutions while seem extreme are the only possibilities that will fulfill a resolution.  Special education is a program in which students who have learning disabilities are able to learn in individualized learning environments.  Full inclusion of students is a current struggle due to the lack of professionals as well financial requirements. Even more so, standardized test begin to label students as a test grade rather than a percentage number.  In small rural counties, public schools do not get the same amount of funding as schools located in urban areas.  This gives the urban area kids with disabilities an unfair advantage with a better funded and better quality school.  Public funding effect students directly by the amount of extra curricular activities and quality of lessons.  Raising a child with a disability can be a very difficult task.  The social aspects of making sure they aren't being taken advantage of are a job in itself.  The five disability categories are cognition, communication, receptive and expressive languages, language and culture, behavioral, and emotional.  Cognition is the ability for students to receive, interpret, and memorize information.  Communication is pretty simple, it includes the ways people communicate with others.  Receptive and Expressive languages is a disability in which people may be unable to express their thoughts due to the limits of their knowledge of language.  Language and Culture is a disability in which a student may be unable to interpret a teacher because of their own upbringing.  Behavioral disabilities include inappropriate behavior at wrong times, the inability to process and make decisions on how to act in the current environment.  Emotional disabilities include depression, inability to socialize and form. relationships, and inappropriate behavior.   A label-free approach to music education is a difficult task.  I should preface this by saying I'm honestly still a tad confused on what it actually is.  I think individualizing students learning is very important and it is important to understand and see the "labels" that students have.  I think when you start calling students by their labels is when issues arise.  I think that treating all students the same will definitely eliminate all labels but will also hurt the classroom vibe.  Acknowledging that students all have different ways of learning, treating them all the same will prolong progress and may ultimately individualize and point out others inabilities.  Lastly I think it is important to recognize individuals labels, but don't ever let their labels constrain what you think their potential is.