July 29, 2025 • 24 mins
The hardest truth about teaching neurodivergent students is the unpredictability. You never know which "version" of your student will arrive each week—focused and ready for challenges, anxious but willing, or struggling with concepts they mastered weeks ago. This variability isn't a failure of teaching or learning; it's simply the reality of neurodivergent brains.
Contrary to misconception, adaptive teaching isn't the easy way out. It demands deeper pedagogical knowledge, thorough preparation, and keen observation skills. But its heart remains beautifully simple: know your student, know your pedagogy, and teach to the individual in front of you.
Ready to connect with other teachers on this journey? Join our free, private Facebook community for creative piano teachers by clicking this link! We're a supportive space for questions, brainstorming, and sharing experiences about teaching neurodivergent learners.
Want to be in on future Teacher Chats? Join the list here to get notified!
Links from today's episode:
My favorite musical coloring pages
Check out the Bubble Timer Blogpost
My favorite Comfort Fidget Tools/Toys
Note: The music puzzle mentioned in the episode is no longer available, but here is a similar set of velcro music puzzles Elizabeth often uses in lessons from Etsy
*As an Amazon Affiliate, I may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) if you purchase through the Amazon links, which helps support the podcast and ongoing projects and research.
Find the full transcript here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Elizabeth (00:00):
Happy last week of July, friends.
Am I the only one that feelslike maybe yesterday was the end
of June?
I remain firm in my belief thatJuly is the most deceptive
month of the entire calendaryear.
It makes you think that it willbe so lengthy and that August
(00:23):
is so very far away, but no,it's almost here.
This will be the last episodeof our summer series, "so I have
this student.
Thank you so much to everyonewho has sent feedback messages
on Facebook and Instagram andemails with the thumbs up that
(00:44):
you really enjoyed it or thatthis was helpful, and those of
you who also sent in some topicsand thoughts and teaching
quandaries.
Thank you very much for takingtime to do that.
On last week's episode, Imentioned the exciting news that
this fall the podcast willbecome a weekly episode podcast
(01:05):
rather than once or twicemonthly, which is very exciting.
With that news, I shared thatif you are enjoying the show and
would like to help keep itgoing, you can click "support
the podcast in the descriptionto help keep all this research
and work going, and I want tosay a huge thank you to our very
first supporter, susie.
(01:27):
Thank you so much, susie.
That is so encouraging and I'mso glad you're enjoying the
podcast.
If you're also enjoying thepodcast and you would like to
let me know that you're enjoyingit in a non tangible way, a
really easy thing you can do isleave a review on whichever
podcast app you enjoy listeningon.
(01:49):
If that's Apple or Spotify giveit a rating and share your
favorite episode, or just areally quick comment to let me
know that you're enjoying it,and that will also help those
platforms recommend the podcastto other listeners as well.
We'll have some new communityopportunities this fall I'm
(02:09):
really excited about.
We are going to relaunch thePiano Teachers Book Club.
This made a brief debut back in2020 and it was very, very fun.
We also have new mini courseson teaching coming and the
return of the well-loved teacherchats.
.
(02:30):
We had an amazing Summer summerTeacher teacher Chat chat this
past Friday and we had about 20teachers from around the world
join us.
They shared updates on theirstudios, they They showed us
their studios on Zooms, theyThey shared new things that
they're doing or trying and alot of them asked questions of
the group.
(02:50):
We met on Zoom for about anhour and a half and it was
absolutely the most joy-filledand delightful afternoon.
Thank you to all who attended.
If you're listening andthinking"hmm hmm, I would enjoy
that.
How do I get it on it?
Teacher chats are completelyfree and they are held virtually
(03:11):
on Zoom, so just click the linkin the podcast description to
get notified of the next teacherchat and also follow on
Facebook and Instagram.
I always announce the datesthere.
I'll have one more bit ofexciting community news to share
at the end of today's episode,so stick around to find that out
(03:33):
.
I love building a littlesuspense suspension here.
Now, on to today's topic and ourlast summer episode.
Today's teaching question is"how do you actually adapt
during the piano lesson andswitch to something else?
Do you have any tips foradapting in the moment or any
(03:55):
success stories from when you'vedone that?
I love this question.
This podcast is all aboutcreative and adaptive teaching
and teaching to the student, sothis is at the heart of
everything I do as a teacher andall we aim to share here at
Creative Piano Pedagogy.
I think this is likely a verycommon concern and question
(04:19):
amongst teachers who areteaching students with
disabilities or are starting torealize that that typical
approach is not working fortheir students.
Adapting sounds fantastic and,truthfully, it sounds simple,
but how do you actually do thatand what does it look like?
Let's dig in.
First, I want to preface thiswith a clarification and maybe a
(04:43):
slight myth- buster.
We do not wait until somethinggoes wrong in a lesson to start
to adapt.
We shouldn't wait until astudent is having consistent
meltdowns until we stop andthink about changing something
(05:03):
up or adapting something.
The goal is to be thinking inpreparation, in the planning
stages- "How should I approachthis piece or this activity or
this concept for this specificstudent?
How can I be prepared to pivot?
Let's start there and talk aboutplanning to pivot.
(05:28):
Let's start there and talkabout planning.
And actually, let's use mystudent as an example.
We're going to call her Emily.
She is delightful, bright and avery sweet 11-year-old who is
diagnosed with autism and ADHD,and I suspect processing delays
and dyslexia as well.
She absolutely loves music.
(05:51):
Her favorite song to play onthe piano is Mary had a Little
Lamb, and she is up for anyactivity or concept I want to
introduce to her, as long as itinvolves minimal music reading.
The process of reading musicreally stresses her out.
Even if we've had a fantasticand positive lesson, when the
(06:11):
music book comes out she hasextreme anxiety.
While the question of adaptingis at the front of so many
teachers' minds, I think there'sanother aspect of teaching
neurodivergent learners that canbe equally as frustrating,
confounding and puzzling.
You never know which version ofyour student will come to their
(06:35):
lesson each week.
Will it be the super focused,upbeat and positive student
who's up for tackling achallenge and is accepting of
suggestions?
Perhaps it will be the studentwho's a bit more anxious, more
subdued, but still happy to play, and then has a meltdown as
(06:55):
soon as they play somethingincorrectly correctly?
Or maybe it's the student whois really happy to be at piano
with you but forgets what thelines and spaces are on the
staff, they're getting left andright hands mixed up and it
feels like you're going back inprogress to what they learned
six or eight lessons ago.
All of this could be the sameperson on a given week, and this
(07:21):
is the really hard thing aboutteaching neurodivergent students
.
If you feel this frustration,please know you're not alone.
I've been teaching studentswith disabilities and extreme
behavior challenges for about 20years and this is still really
difficult for me at times, and Iknow it's difficult for a lot
(07:41):
of other experienced teachers.
However, knowing that I may getthese different versions of my
student actually helps megreatly in the planning process.
Let's keep using my studentagain for our planning purposes-
.
Emily Since I'm not sure whichversion of Emily will come to
(08:03):
piano this week, I'll prepareboth mentally and physically for
three scenarios we mentionedabove, above and let's go
through what it really lookslooks like and even a more
practical way.
Each week when Emily comes topiano, piano the first thing she
does is a coloring activity ofsome kind.
(08:25):
She really needs somethingsensory that also allows for
autonomy, so So I use thisopportunity to do music coloring
sheets with matching rhythms,note names, piano key names,
musical terms, that kind ofthing.
I'll link my favorite musicalcoloring sheets below.
(08:46):
They're made by .
Dr Melody Payne and they arereally wonderful.
They're a huge favorite in mypiano studio and I use them in
some capacity almost almostweekly.
So for Emily, Emily I'll setaside three coloring activities-
activities one One that's achallenge, something she finds
(09:07):
kind of , like recognizingspecific note names on the staff
.
I'll also prepare one that's inthe middle-, not too difficult
but has some newer things we'vethat That might be a little bit
challenging.
Then, Then I'll prepare one thatis completely a total review.
There are no new or verychallenging aspects to this
(09:30):
activity and it's something shecan just enjoy reviewing and
reinforcing in a fun andrelaxing way.
After the coloring sheet weusually do an ear training game.
Here's the cool thing- I canalmost accurately predict which
(09:51):
kind of ear training game I willuse when I notice which
coloring sheet she chooses.
If I can tell from her bodylanguage, communication and
processing that it needs to be abit of a lighter learning day
where we review and reinforcerather than tackle new
challenges, I will choose and doan ear training game where I
(10:16):
know she can be successful andlikely won't become upset or
have a meltdown.
But I'll always have thatconcept in mind that I want to
review- the one I want to use inthe game.
If I'm going to teach a newthing or reinforce a concept, I
then come up with those threeways of doing it that are
similar but that would fit thestudent for that day; and this
(10:41):
is really what I do for theentire lesson with Emily or any
student who is similar.
I use her body language,communication and processing
skills to help me know what todo next in the lesson.
I even use that to help me knowhow to phrase questions and
suggestions to her.
(11:01):
Her actions and behaviorscommunicate to me what she is
able to do that day and Iobserve her very carefully
throughout the entire lesson soI can very smoothly transition
us from activity to activity, toimprovisation, composing and
(11:22):
even music reading.
When students feel that you asthe teacher are trying your best
to pivot and learn the thingsthat trigger their frustrations,
it builds an enormous amount oftrust, and that trust is
crucial to a good student-teacher working relationship.
(11:44):
There is a caveat here thatsometimes neurodivergent
students will choose a moredifficult piece or activity,
concept when you give them theoption- and then halfway through
they'll get very overwhelmed.
When you can notice the signsof frustration and shutdown
(12:04):
coming, that is your cue topivot to one of those less
challenging levels of youractivity.
When that happens, I'm alwaysso glad that I have extra things
handy we can pivot to.
Some of you may have heard thephrase 'comfort toy, comfort
(12:25):
animal.
' Some of them (neurodivergentstudents) will have a stuffed
animal they'll bring with themor a fidget toy that literally
comforts them.
So in piano I do the same thing.
(12:45):
I'll choose something thestudent loves.
In Emily's case, it's Mary hada Little Lamb.
We'll do an improvisation onMary had a Little Lamb and I
might gently try to encouragethat we try it in a different
place on the piano.
Maybe she can swap with me andsit in the bass of the piano and
(13:06):
I'll sit in the treble.
Or we could try it with a newrhythm, new dynamics and a new
tonality, make up silly wordsfor it, but we'll use that
comfort thing as the basis forthat moment.
Something you might do is thinkabout keeping comfort activities
(13:27):
ready for your lessons,especially for those students
that tend to get overstimulatedor overwhelmed.
For Emily, this includes aVelcro music puzzle by Berg
Music Studio.
I'll link it below.
It is laminated and I addedadhesive Velcro to help with her
(13:48):
finger coordination, musclecontrol, motor planning, so she
can just stick each piecedirectly on the puzzle where it
goes.
She loves it.
I also have Play-Doh ready withmusic mats that I've made that
she can create notes, musicalsymbols, to help her remember
how to draw them and what theylook like.
(14:09):
Oh, by the way, I'm creatingsome music mats to share with
you soon so you can use themwith Play-Doh or tracing with
your students, and I thinkyou'll really enjoy them! You
can also use something like pipecleaners to make the music
symbols as well somethingsensory.
I'll also always have a rhythmor movement activity on standby.
(14:32):
This can be so helpful forstudents with sensory issues,
which really applies to mostneurodivergent students.
Movement can really help themregulate their emotions and
their stress.
So this is the time to havethose rhythm sticks, your drum
scarves or musical instrumentsready and do a really fun
(14:53):
activity off the bench.
And of course, my favorite calmdown tactic and lessons is- drum
roll- improvisation.
I'll just gently start playinga pattern on the black keys
that's very flowing and calmingand then, in a singing voice,
(15:14):
I'll say "would you like to makeup a song with me?
This song will be magicalbecause any black key you press
will automatically soundbeautiful.
Do you want to give it a try?
And I'll just keep playing andjust invite them to join me and
I'll say, "oh, do you want topress one with your right hand?
And I'll encourage themverbally as we go along.
(15:36):
I'll say, oh, that's beautiful.
Does your left hand want to trya few?
Oh, that's so lovely.
Can we keep going?
You know, and I'll use theircues as my.
You know my observation.
I'll keep observing them, butthis will help them to center
themselves and it also helpsthem to connect with you in that
(15:57):
moment of stress, so you cankind of help them calm down
together.
Another favorite of Emily's andall of my neurodivergent
students is the bubble timer.
I shared about this in a blog afew months ago so I'll link
that blog post for you below togive you a few ideas of how I
use it.
But this bubble timer isabsolutely amazing, no
(16:21):
exaggeration.
A huge goal of parents,therapists and teachers of
neurodivergent students whoexperience a lot of sensory
issues is for them to eventuallybe able to calm themselves down
and regulate themselves andjust realize when they're
frustrated.
They try to equip them withtools and strategies so that the
(16:43):
student can go through thosesteps mentally to regulate their
nervous system.
One of the pivotal steps is ina student realizing I need to
regulate myself and also I canregulate myself.
This is a huge, huge hurdle andbig milestone.
(17:05):
I keep my bubble timer either ontop of my upright piano or on
the side and when any of mystudents reach for it, if
they're four years old or 14years old, I do not correct them
and ask them to put it back.
There's usually a reason theyreach for it and here's one
example.
Emily reached for the bubbletimer a few weeks into piano
(17:29):
lessons when we started workingtogether, and I noticed each
week when she would reach forit, it was always when we were
trying to work on music readingtogether.
I shared this with her parentsand they were so shocked.
They actually had tears intheir eyes and they told me they
have been working on helpingher achieve and use calm down
(17:52):
strategies for years, like fiveyears.
They immediately went home andbought a bunch of bubble timers
for their house and school.
It's so cool that usingsomething so small and
inexpensive can help a studentin a piano lesson at home or at
school.
It's so cool.
(18:26):
Adaptive teaching is not areactionary approach.
It's a preventative andstudent-focused approach that is
deeply thoughtful, filled withindividual care for that student
and such a thorough knowledgeof the piece or concept being
taught that you can instantlypivot.
Adaptive teaching is not justfinding simplified versions of
(18:51):
classical music for your student.
Adaptive teaching is not theeasy way out and in fact, it's
not simplified at all.
It's actually very detailed andextremely complex, but the
heart of it is simple (19:04):
Know your student, know your pedagogy,
and teach to the student.
As you think through your falllessons and your students for
the upcoming year, I challengeyou to think of these three
levels of student engagementthat we talked about today as
(19:25):
you plan your lessons forstudents who might struggle with
overwhelm, sensory issues,focus, short attention spans or
other neurodivergence.
I encourage you to have somecomfort activities or strategies
at the ready for each lessonand be prepared to pivot based
(19:46):
on your students' body language,their focus and their
communication.
Adaptive teaching sounds trickyand overwhelming, but really
it's all about people.
Learning, knowing and observingyour student and helping
provide an atmosphere in whichthey can learn music and
(20:07):
experience the joy it brings.
At the same time, they'rebuilding trust with you, their
piano teacher.
What a beautiful venture thatis.
I promised I had one moreexciting community-themed bit of
news to share with you here atthe end.
So if you made it this far,woohoo! Thank you for listening.
(20:30):
If you're a reader or listenerand you're enjoying what you
hear and you'd be interested inconnecting with other
like-minded teachers who arealso on this journey of adaptive
and creative teaching, I wouldlove for you to join my free
Facebook group for creativepiano teachers and I know you
might be thinking, "oh, this isall.
(20:51):
We need Another Facebook groupfor piano teachers.
You know how I feel about someof those if you saw my recent
reel on Instagram or Facebook,but this is an intentionally
small and intimate group that istotally private.
Anything you share is kept inthe group, but it's a very safe,
encouraging, positive and trulyaffirming place to ask
(21:14):
questions, talk about yourout-of-the-box students and
brainstorm.
The teachers in this group areamazingly gifted and
compassionate and they are alsoon this journey of teaching
neurodivergent learners.
If you would like to join, justclick the link in the
description that says join theFacebook community and I'll
(21:35):
approve the requests as theycome in.
We would love to have you.
That's all for today's episode,our last episode in our summer
session.
We're going to take a littlebit of a break for the month of
August and then we'll be back inSeptember with an all new
season and our weekly episodes,and also some fun interviews
(22:00):
with people I think you'llreally enjoy hearing from.
I hope you enjoy the next fewweeks and I will look forward to
being back with you soon!
Happy last week of July, friends.
Am I the only one that feelslike maybe yesterday was the end
of June?
I remain firm in my belief thatJuly is the most deceptive
month of the entire calendaryear.
It makes you think that it willbe so lengthy and that August
(00:23):
is so very far away, but no,it's almost here.
This will be the last episodeof our summer series, "so I have
this student.
Thank you so much to everyonewho has sent feedback messages
on Facebook and Instagram andemails with the thumbs up that
(00:44):
you really enjoyed it or thatthis was helpful, and those of
you who also sent in some topicsand thoughts and teaching
quandaries.
Thank you very much for takingtime to do that.
On last week's episode, Imentioned the exciting news that
this fall the podcast willbecome a weekly episode podcast
(01:05):
rather than once or twicemonthly, which is very exciting.
With that news, I shared thatif you are enjoying the show and
would like to help keep itgoing, you can click "support
the podcast in the descriptionto help keep all this research
and work going, and I want tosay a huge thank you to our very
first supporter, susie.
(01:27):
Thank you so much, susie.
That is so encouraging and I'mso glad you're enjoying the
podcast.
If you're also enjoying thepodcast and you would like to
let me know that you're enjoyingit in a non tangible way, a
really easy thing you can do isleave a review on whichever
podcast app you enjoy listeningon.
(01:49):
If that's Apple or Spotify giveit a rating and share your
favorite episode, or just areally quick comment to let me
know that you're enjoying it,and that will also help those
platforms recommend the podcastto other listeners as well.
We'll have some new communityopportunities this fall I'm
(02:09):
really excited about.
We are going to relaunch thePiano Teachers Book Club.
This made a brief debut back in2020 and it was very, very fun.
We also have new mini courseson teaching coming and the
return of the well-loved teacherchats.
.
(02:30):
We had an amazing Summer summerTeacher teacher Chat chat this
past Friday and we had about 20teachers from around the world
join us.
They shared updates on theirstudios, they They showed us
their studios on Zooms, theyThey shared new things that
they're doing or trying and alot of them asked questions of
the group.
(02:50):
We met on Zoom for about anhour and a half and it was
absolutely the most joy-filledand delightful afternoon.
Thank you to all who attended.
If you're listening andthinking"hmm hmm, I would enjoy
that.
How do I get it on it?
Teacher chats are completelyfree and they are held virtually
(03:11):
on Zoom, so just click the linkin the podcast description to
get notified of the next teacherchat and also follow on
Facebook and Instagram.
I always announce the datesthere.
I'll have one more bit ofexciting community news to share
at the end of today's episode,so stick around to find that out
(03:33):
.
I love building a littlesuspense suspension here.
Now, on to today's topic and ourlast summer episode.
Today's teaching question is"how do you actually adapt
during the piano lesson andswitch to something else?
Do you have any tips foradapting in the moment or any
(03:55):
success stories from when you'vedone that?
I love this question.
This podcast is all aboutcreative and adaptive teaching
and teaching to the student, sothis is at the heart of
everything I do as a teacher andall we aim to share here at
Creative Piano Pedagogy.
I think this is likely a verycommon concern and question
(04:19):
amongst teachers who areteaching students with
disabilities or are starting torealize that that typical
approach is not working fortheir students.
Adapting sounds fantastic and,truthfully, it sounds simple,
but how do you actually do thatand what does it look like?
Let's dig in.
First, I want to preface thiswith a clarification and maybe a
(04:43):
slight myth- buster.
We do not wait until somethinggoes wrong in a lesson to start
to adapt.
We shouldn't wait until astudent is having consistent
meltdowns until we stop andthink about changing something
(05:03):
up or adapting something.
The goal is to be thinking inpreparation, in the planning
stages- "How should I approachthis piece or this activity or
this concept for this specificstudent?
How can I be prepared to pivot?
Let's start there and talk aboutplanning to pivot.
(05:28):
Let's start there and talkabout planning.
And actually, let's use mystudent as an example.
We're going to call her Emily.
She is delightful, bright and avery sweet 11-year-old who is
diagnosed with autism and ADHD,and I suspect processing delays
and dyslexia as well.
She absolutely loves music.
(05:51):
Her favorite song to play onthe piano is Mary had a Little
Lamb, and she is up for anyactivity or concept I want to
introduce to her, as long as itinvolves minimal music reading.
The process of reading musicreally stresses her out.
Even if we've had a fantasticand positive lesson, when the
(06:11):
music book comes out she hasextreme anxiety.
While the question of adaptingis at the front of so many
teachers' minds, I think there'sanother aspect of teaching
neurodivergent learners that canbe equally as frustrating,
confounding and puzzling.
You never know which version ofyour student will come to their
(06:35):
lesson each week.
Will it be the super focused,upbeat and positive student
who's up for tackling achallenge and is accepting of
suggestions?
Perhaps it will be the studentwho's a bit more anxious, more
subdued, but still happy to play, and then has a meltdown as
(06:55):
soon as they play somethingincorrectly correctly?
Or maybe it's the student whois really happy to be at piano
with you but forgets what thelines and spaces are on the
staff, they're getting left andright hands mixed up and it
feels like you're going back inprogress to what they learned
six or eight lessons ago.
All of this could be the sameperson on a given week, and this
(07:21):
is the really hard thing aboutteaching neurodivergent students
.
If you feel this frustration,please know you're not alone.
I've been teaching studentswith disabilities and extreme
behavior challenges for about 20years and this is still really
difficult for me at times, and Iknow it's difficult for a lot
(07:41):
of other experienced teachers.
However, knowing that I may getthese different versions of my
student actually helps megreatly in the planning process.
Let's keep using my studentagain for our planning purposes-
.
Emily Since I'm not sure whichversion of Emily will come to
(08:03):
piano this week, I'll prepareboth mentally and physically for
three scenarios we mentionedabove, above and let's go
through what it really lookslooks like and even a more
practical way.
Each week when Emily comes topiano, piano the first thing she
does is a coloring activity ofsome kind.
(08:25):
She really needs somethingsensory that also allows for
autonomy, so So I use thisopportunity to do music coloring
sheets with matching rhythms,note names, piano key names,
musical terms, that kind ofthing.
I'll link my favorite musicalcoloring sheets below.
(08:46):
They're made by .
Dr Melody Payne and they arereally wonderful.
They're a huge favorite in mypiano studio and I use them in
some capacity almost almostweekly.
So for Emily, Emily I'll setaside three coloring activities-
activities one One that's achallenge, something she finds
(09:07):
kind of , like recognizingspecific note names on the staff
.
I'll also prepare one that's inthe middle-, not too difficult
but has some newer things we'vethat That might be a little bit
challenging.
Then, Then I'll prepare one thatis completely a total review.
There are no new or verychallenging aspects to this
(09:30):
activity and it's something shecan just enjoy reviewing and
reinforcing in a fun andrelaxing way.
After the coloring sheet weusually do an ear training game.
Here's the cool thing- I canalmost accurately predict which
(09:51):
kind of ear training game I willuse when I notice which
coloring sheet she chooses.
If I can tell from her bodylanguage, communication and
processing that it needs to be abit of a lighter learning day
where we review and reinforcerather than tackle new
challenges, I will choose and doan ear training game where I
(10:16):
know she can be successful andlikely won't become upset or
have a meltdown.
But I'll always have thatconcept in mind that I want to
review- the one I want to use inthe game.
If I'm going to teach a newthing or reinforce a concept, I
then come up with those threeways of doing it that are
similar but that would fit thestudent for that day; and this
(10:41):
is really what I do for theentire lesson with Emily or any
student who is similar.
I use her body language,communication and processing
skills to help me know what todo next in the lesson.
I even use that to help me knowhow to phrase questions and
suggestions to her.
(11:01):
Her actions and behaviorscommunicate to me what she is
able to do that day and Iobserve her very carefully
throughout the entire lesson soI can very smoothly transition
us from activity to activity, toimprovisation, composing and
(11:22):
even music reading.
When students feel that you asthe teacher are trying your best
to pivot and learn the thingsthat trigger their frustrations,
it builds an enormous amount oftrust, and that trust is
crucial to a good student-teacher working relationship.
(11:44):
There is a caveat here thatsometimes neurodivergent
students will choose a moredifficult piece or activity,
concept when you give them theoption- and then halfway through
they'll get very overwhelmed.
When you can notice the signsof frustration and shutdown
(12:04):
coming, that is your cue topivot to one of those less
challenging levels of youractivity.
When that happens, I'm alwaysso glad that I have extra things
handy we can pivot to.
Some of you may have heard thephrase 'comfort toy, comfort
(12:25):
animal.
' Some of them (neurodivergentstudents) will have a stuffed
animal they'll bring with themor a fidget toy that literally
comforts them.
So in piano I do the same thing.
(12:45):
I'll choose something thestudent loves.
In Emily's case, it's Mary hada Little Lamb.
We'll do an improvisation onMary had a Little Lamb and I
might gently try to encouragethat we try it in a different
place on the piano.
Maybe she can swap with me andsit in the bass of the piano and
(13:06):
I'll sit in the treble.
Or we could try it with a newrhythm, new dynamics and a new
tonality, make up silly wordsfor it, but we'll use that
comfort thing as the basis forthat moment.
Something you might do is thinkabout keeping comfort activities
(13:27):
ready for your lessons,especially for those students
that tend to get overstimulatedor overwhelmed.
For Emily, this includes aVelcro music puzzle by Berg
Music Studio.
I'll link it below.
It is laminated and I addedadhesive Velcro to help with her
(13:48):
finger coordination, musclecontrol, motor planning, so she
can just stick each piecedirectly on the puzzle where it
goes.
She loves it.
I also have Play-Doh ready withmusic mats that I've made that
she can create notes, musicalsymbols, to help her remember
how to draw them and what theylook like.
(14:09):
Oh, by the way, I'm creatingsome music mats to share with
you soon so you can use themwith Play-Doh or tracing with
your students, and I thinkyou'll really enjoy them! You
can also use something like pipecleaners to make the music
symbols as well somethingsensory.
I'll also always have a rhythmor movement activity on standby.
(14:32):
This can be so helpful forstudents with sensory issues,
which really applies to mostneurodivergent students.
Movement can really help themregulate their emotions and
their stress.
So this is the time to havethose rhythm sticks, your drum
scarves or musical instrumentsready and do a really fun
(14:53):
activity off the bench.
And of course, my favorite calmdown tactic and lessons is- drum
roll- improvisation.
I'll just gently start playinga pattern on the black keys
that's very flowing and calmingand then, in a singing voice,
(15:14):
I'll say "would you like to makeup a song with me?
This song will be magicalbecause any black key you press
will automatically soundbeautiful.
Do you want to give it a try?
And I'll just keep playing andjust invite them to join me and
I'll say, "oh, do you want topress one with your right hand?
And I'll encourage themverbally as we go along.
(15:36):
I'll say, oh, that's beautiful.
Does your left hand want to trya few?
Oh, that's so lovely.
Can we keep going?
You know, and I'll use theircues as my.
You know my observation.
I'll keep observing them, butthis will help them to center
themselves and it also helpsthem to connect with you in that
(15:57):
moment of stress, so you cankind of help them calm down
together.
Another favorite of Emily's andall of my neurodivergent
students is the bubble timer.
I shared about this in a blog afew months ago so I'll link
that blog post for you below togive you a few ideas of how I
use it.
But this bubble timer isabsolutely amazing, no
(16:21):
exaggeration.
A huge goal of parents,therapists and teachers of
neurodivergent students whoexperience a lot of sensory
issues is for them to eventuallybe able to calm themselves down
and regulate themselves andjust realize when they're
frustrated.
They try to equip them withtools and strategies so that the
(16:43):
student can go through thosesteps mentally to regulate their
nervous system.
One of the pivotal steps is ina student realizing I need to
regulate myself and also I canregulate myself.
This is a huge, huge hurdle andbig milestone.
(17:05):
I keep my bubble timer either ontop of my upright piano or on
the side and when any of mystudents reach for it, if
they're four years old or 14years old, I do not correct them
and ask them to put it back.
There's usually a reason theyreach for it and here's one
example.
Emily reached for the bubbletimer a few weeks into piano
(17:29):
lessons when we started workingtogether, and I noticed each
week when she would reach forit, it was always when we were
trying to work on music readingtogether.
I shared this with her parentsand they were so shocked.
They actually had tears intheir eyes and they told me they
have been working on helpingher achieve and use calm down
(17:52):
strategies for years, like fiveyears.
They immediately went home andbought a bunch of bubble timers
for their house and school.
It's so cool that usingsomething so small and
inexpensive can help a studentin a piano lesson at home or at
school.
It's so cool.
(18:26):
Adaptive teaching is not areactionary approach.
It's a preventative andstudent-focused approach that is
deeply thoughtful, filled withindividual care for that student
and such a thorough knowledgeof the piece or concept being
taught that you can instantlypivot.
Adaptive teaching is not justfinding simplified versions of
(18:51):
classical music for your student.
Adaptive teaching is not theeasy way out and in fact, it's
not simplified at all.
It's actually very detailed andextremely complex, but the
heart of it is simple (19:04):
Know your student, know your pedagogy,
and teach to the student.
As you think through your falllessons and your students for
the upcoming year, I challengeyou to think of these three
levels of student engagementthat we talked about today as
(19:25):
you plan your lessons forstudents who might struggle with
overwhelm, sensory issues,focus, short attention spans or
other neurodivergence.
I encourage you to have somecomfort activities or strategies
at the ready for each lessonand be prepared to pivot based
(19:46):
on your students' body language,their focus and their
communication.
Adaptive teaching sounds trickyand overwhelming, but really
it's all about people.
Learning, knowing and observingyour student and helping
provide an atmosphere in whichthey can learn music and
(20:07):
experience the joy it brings.
At the same time, they'rebuilding trust with you, their
piano teacher.
What a beautiful venture thatis.
I promised I had one moreexciting community-themed bit of
news to share with you here atthe end.
So if you made it this far,woohoo! Thank you for listening.
(20:30):
If you're a reader or listenerand you're enjoying what you
hear and you'd be interested inconnecting with other
like-minded teachers who arealso on this journey of adaptive
and creative teaching, I wouldlove for you to join my free
Facebook group for creativepiano teachers and I know you
might be thinking, "oh, this isall.
(20:51):
We need Another Facebook groupfor piano teachers.
You know how I feel about someof those if you saw my recent
reel on Instagram or Facebook,but this is an intentionally
small and intimate group that istotally private.
Anything you share is kept inthe group, but it's a very safe,
encouraging, positive and trulyaffirming place to ask
(21:14):
questions, talk about yourout-of-the-box students and
brainstorm.
The teachers in this group areamazingly gifted and
compassionate and they are alsoon this journey of teaching
neurodivergent learners.
If you would like to join, justclick the link in the
description that says join theFacebook community and I'll
(21:35):
approve the requests as theycome in.
We would love to have you.
That's all for today's episode,our last episode in our summer
session.
We're going to take a littlebit of a break for the month of
August and then we'll be back inSeptember with an all new
season and our weekly episodes,and also some fun interviews
(22:00):
with people I think you'llreally enjoy hearing from.
I hope you enjoy the next fewweeks and I will look forward to
being back with you soon!
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