Sound Systems...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amy Koegel on June 26, 2008 at 11:12am

Is this a really big room? What are the speakers for? My husband is a sound design/sound engineering expert and he helps design "smart" classrooms for Northwestern University. I can try to help you if I know more about what you want.

Amy

Permalink Reply by Connie on June 27, 2008 at 9:37pm

I don't know much about sound systems but I know that I like the Boise sound system when I connect it up to my IPOD in the classroom. The sound quality is really good.

Permalink Reply by Linda Barta on July 13, 2008 at 9:55pm

I have used a sound system in my classroom. I cannot think of a con! The system I used has an additional pass around mike for students. The pass around mike was served as a great classroom management tool. Students understood that they were not to be talking unless they held the microphone. It worked REALLY well for literature discussions.

My student population is made up of English Language Learners at varying levels. One of the challenges that English Learners can often experience is problems with consonant discrimination. Many students cannot clearly discriminate phonemes. This improved dramatically with the sound system. I didn't have to repeat myself nearly as much as before I was using the system.

You know those students who barely speak above a whisper? I can't tell you how much the system helped in that area.

Finally, the reason that I acquired the system in the first place is that I have nodes on my vocal cords. I am also a singer. I've only been teaching for 5 years. I was able to manage the nodes as a vocalist, but adding teaching to the mix has proven to be too much for my cords. The sound system allowed me to teach using my regular speaking voice. It alleviated the strain caused my constant strain of speaking in a "presentation voice." The results were immediate!

My singing voice is EXTREMELY important to me, so it was very important that I find a remedy that would allow me to continue singing.

Ultimately, my principal (not fully understanding its value) elected not to make the purchase. The system was very expensive, and I partially understand why she found herself unable to rationalize the expense for one teacher. However, the benefits were certainly worth the cost.

My answer to the problem was to research less expensive systems. I found several, but none as sophisticated as the one I tried for 3 months. Most don't have an additional pass-around mic, but I am exploring a workaround for that too.

I hope my comments are helpful to you in your pursuit of grant funding for the system.

If you wouldn't mind sharing, to whom are you applying?

Permalink Reply by LStavros on July 16, 2008 at 7:26pm

Amy, the sound system speakers are amazing. My principal purchased and installed them in my classroom at the end of April, and it has postively changed the atmosphere in my class. Students, specifically ELs, need to hear how sounds are produced clearly. The speakers came with two microphones, one for the teacher and one for the students to share. You can also plug it into your computer to watch dvds, mp3 player for classical music etc. One advantage I discovered was during independent work time. I kept my microphone on while working with a small group, and I noticed that the remainder of my students stayed on task bc they felt as if I was right next to them. Overall, the speaker system allows you to use a normal talking voice!