Alakazamakazoo!

Hap Palmer...sounds so 70's and so outdated.  But, with all seriousness he does have some great music!  This above video is a great activity for the kiddos around Halloween time.  One of my supervisors uses this song as a simple movement activity.  My favorite way that I've observed is with scarves, or I suppose anything with colors.  Each student has a different colored scarf. During the ingredients part of the song, you sing "Put in the [color] and put in the [color] stir them in my witches brew".  The student then places their color scarf into a pot or bag of "ingredients".  This works on the student's attention span because they have to concentrate to listen for their color.  Obviously, it can also be an academic activity to simply learn the colors.  Thank you Hap Palmer!

Another great activity to help improve fine motor skills and to provide sensory experiences is by using the parachute with balloons.  I saw this done in one of my high school groups.  My supervisor used a large parachute and white balloons as ghosts.  I'm not sure what song she used, but I'm using the "Ghostbuster's" theme song.

Those are just a couple of Halloween ideas.  Hope you enjoy.  I'll have more up later this week!

When you're in God's will....

My internship is flying by.  It amazes me.  I love my internship.  I love the kids I work with throughout this experience.  My supervisors are so amazing.  I couldn't ask for better people to work with.  They all encourage me.  I get tons of positive feedback on my plans, and great constructive criticism.  Today one of the teachers of a class I work with came up to me and said "Tasia, you are doing such a great job.  The kids love you.  They love all your activities and you keep them engaged.  You are doing so wonderful."  Maybe I'm tooting my own horn, but hey I've worked hard to hear that!  Now, I know I'm not perfect and I won't always have great days, but I know that this is what I was born to do!  God created me just for this purpose.  


A long time ago, before I even decided to get a music degree I always knew I wanted to help people AND I always knew I would somehow or another end up in GA.  God opened door after door for me and look where I am today.  I am doing what I love to do.  I'm singing, my favorite thing ever, and I'm hanging out with kids who I can help.  Folks, it doesn't get any sweeter than this.  Speaking of sweetness,  there is a high school kid that told me "I like you".  I was doing a relaxation activity and he was so zoned in to it that his feelings came spilling out!  My supervisor and I couldn't do anything but laugh after we left that session. 


I really wish I could put in to words how I feel about my career.  It's so amazing.  I can not wait to get a job and start making money.  haha! I love what I do, but working for free sucks big time!  However, I do know that God will ALWAYS provide for me no matter what. 


Halloween session plans are so much fun.  Here is an awesome, awesome activity (if you're willing to spend a few bucks). 


What you will need: 
Black foam board
Orange construction paper
Velcro
Hot Glue Gun
LED small Christmas lights (I bought mine from Walmart for $7)


First you need to cut out your pumpkin.  You may want a box cutter to cut out your eyes, nose and mouth.  However, when you cut out the features you can't use them to velcro back on to the Jack-o-Lantern because it has to be bigger.  You can use them as a size guide to see how much bigger you need to cut your features.  I also highly recommend laminating all of the pieces that way you can use it over and over again. 

I added small pieces of velcro to the features so that the kids can pull the features off as if they are carving the pumpkin.  
Next hot glue some of the foam board scraps to the pumpkin.  It gives it a 3D looks plus lifts it up to make room for the LED lights.  After you have all of this hot glued, remove the features to place the lights....

It's so awesome, right? haha.  All I did was use a knife to punch small holes in each feature and then pushed the lights through.  I then put velcro on the battery pack on the back of my board.  You can then remove the lights for other activities.  


I suppose you can use any pumpkin carving song with this visual.  I used "I'm a Pumpkin" to the tune of "I'm a Nut".  You should be able to find the lyrics online.  If not, let me know and I will definitely send them your way!  Hope you enjoy!

Assessments

You notice the first three letters in the word "assessment"....that's where it causes the most pain. haha.  This week I've been working on simply deciding which assessment to use on 3 different students I've chosen.  For some odd reason, I pick 3 completely different diagnosis.  This means 3 completely different assessments.  I guess the practice is good, right?

For all of you music therapist out there I recommend the Westplate.  It is user friendly.  However, it is out of print because it is so popular.  Go find an older therapist who has a copy! It is worth looking over.

I have been making some pretty adorable visuals for my sessions, if I do say so myself.

This particular activity I wrote a little song for my purpose.  There are 10 different color leaves.  The students meet my friend "Willow" and she asks for help putting her leaves back on.  My song lyrics were:

My leaves are falling, falling down

My leaves are falling all around

My leaves are falling, falling down

Will you help me put them back?

I would provide the chords, but it's really just a chant.  It is appropriate for elementary aged kids, obviously.  However, it was suggested by a supervisor to change the lyrics to make it more hip and then it could be appropriate for low functioning MS or HS kids.  

There are 5 acorns and 1 squirrel.  I did not write this song.  It is a piggy back that I found from the internet:

Five Little Acorsn (tune: 5 little ducks)

5 little acorns swaying in a tree

Hanging from a branch as high as can be.

Along came the wind and blew one away.

Four little acorns were left to sway.

Continue through song counting down to one...last verse:

Down came a squirrel from high in the tree

Searching for food as fast as can be

He saw those acorns small and round

And hid them in a hole that he dug in the ground

Slacker!

Sorry I've slacked off and haven't kept my blog up to date!  This internship is keeping me very busy and making me sleepy!  However, I love it and I am so thankful for this opportunity.

This week I've had the opportunity to hang out with my "kiddos" in music therapy sessions.  It is such an eye-opener to watch these kids out of music and then in music.  There is such a huge contrast!  One student, who sincerely almost brought tears to my eyes, amazed me in the session.  When I saw her outside of music she was almost disoriented from reality, talking non-stop about nothing at all, and was very sensitive to sound.  But, when I saw her in music she was the happiest child alive.  She opened her mouth and I have never heard such an amazing voice.  She sang with such passion.  She added trills and slides and harmonizations to everything the MT was singing.  I was in complete shock!  She is so good, it wouldn't surprise me to hear her on the radio one day!  I love the power of music.

I have a higher-functioning group, aka they're mainly behavioral.  Long story short, one student continued to give me the evil eye through out the entire session and told me "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" (Funny thing is I was in the corner minding my own business).  The assistant was a woman and she eventually had to put him in "time out"  because of his bad behavior and I over heard her say that he was going to learn how to respect women.  So, he's going to be surprised when he finds out I'm not a push-over.  I feel bad for these kids who come from terrible lifestyles and have to play the hand they are dealt.  It's tough, but my therapist finds ways to get these kids to express themselves appropriately.

Next week I start leading one activity in each of my groups.  This means I have 21 activities next week!  My weekend won't be as relaxing as I had hoped.

On a side note, I just want to say, I'm so incredibly thankful for my friends.  The real ones.