Every student deserves a music education.
But wanting to be inclusive in your general music classroom and knowing how to do it are two very different things. If you've ever watched a student disengage during music and wondered what you were missing, you're in the right place.
The gap between desire and reality
Most general music teachers care deeply about inclusion. They also carry full rosters, limited planning time, and professional development that rarely speaks to their classroom. Special education training exists -- but it's not designed with the music room in mind. Music education training exists -- but students with disabilities are often an afterthought.
That gap is where too many educators fall through.
Meet Them in Music exists to close it.
I'm Dr. P. Eric Bottorff, and I've spent my career working to close that gap.
- K-4 general music, South East Michigan
- Michigan Music Teacher of the Year, 2023
- Difference Maker (2024) University of Michigan Dearborn
- Ed.D. in Educational Leadership
- K-12 administrator certificate
- District content area leader
I teach K-4 general music in South East Michigan, where I've spent years figuring out what it actually looks like to meet every student in the music room -- not in theory, but on a Tuesday at 9 a.m. with 20 kids and a substitute paraprofessional you've never met.
I hold an Ed.D. and a K-12 administrator certificate, and I serve as a district leader for music education. In 2023, I was named Michigan Music Teacher of the Year -- an honor I'm proud of, and one that only deepened my conviction that the students most often left out of the conversation deserve the best we have to offer.
What I’ve learned is that when we design music experiences that start where every student is, the music room becomes the favorite place in the school. Our job is to help students see joy in musicking and success through our support.
What you'll find here
Meet Them in Music is where that practitioner knowledge lives.
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Song library
A library of songs, each analyzed for musical concepts, activities, and adaptations for students with disabilities.
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Blog
Research-grounded strategies written for the music room, not the journal. Practical, not preachy.
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Resources
Classroom-ready tools designed around the principle that variability in learners is the starting point for good teaching.
The framework here draws on Universal Design for Learning: the idea that barriers to learning live in the environment and the materials, not in the student. When we design music experiences that anticipate a wide range of needs from the start, more students access the music. That's not accommodation. That's just good teaching.
Let's work together.
If you're looking for a keynote speaker, a professional development clinician, or a consultant who can help your district think more carefully about students with disabilities in the music room, I'd love to talk.
My sessions are actionable, research-grounded, and built around the actual challenges music teachers face every day.