Let's start out with a simple picture story.
Emily is sitting in the front of the class. She is able to hear the problem correctly.
Suzy has five apples. Her horse eats two. One apple has worms. How many apples can Suzy eat?
Jim is sitting in the back of the classroom. He hears the picture story much differently.
Suzy has apples. Horse eats worms. How many can Suzy eat? But Jim isn't the only one not catching the whole story.
So there are a couple of studies that say kids in classrooms miss 30-50% of what a teacher says every day.
Then if a kid sits in the back of the room versus the front of the room, there is a distinct difference in what they can hear too.
Another study out of Florida said when a student sits in the back row, every three feet that they are away from their teacher, they are missing more and more and more, even up to 50%.
So we want to make every seat in the classroom equal. So the kids in the back row get the same information as the kids in the front row.
Well there's all kinds of things that can cause noise in a classroom. Inside the classroom you have other children who are talking or shuffling their papers or moving their chairs or their desks that causes a certain amount of noise.
There are ventilation systems that you don't necessarily think of. Fans. Air conditioning. Heating. There is noise outside in the hallway. Construction outside the building.
And all those things contribute to the background noise that our kids are listening in.
Kids need the signal or the teacher's voice about 15db above all of that noise.
But in the average American classroom the signal only gets about 4db above that noise. Which is not a loud enough signal for kids to hear.
The US Department of Ed, estimates anywhere between 30-40% of kids on any given day, have up to a moderate hearing loss due to ear infection, allergies other ear, nose and throat issues.
So that is 7-8 kids in a classroom that have unrecognized hearing loss which can lead to special education referrals that really weren't necessary.
So kids losing a little bit of ground every year, and then need additional help.
As we hear from people across the country, there's a lot of implementations in school districts of classroom audio systems. It's not a new idea.
But it's kind of new to us to think this way. That classroom audio systems should go in classes so kids can hear.
In other school districts across the country and even some in Nebraska, it's a standard sort of equipment for school classrooms.
I just put it around my neck and turn it on, and then the only time I turn it off would be if I am teaching a small reading group. Anytime I wouldn't want my voice being amplified throughout the whole room.
Students are more attentive. I can whisper and they can still hear me. I never have to use a loud voice.
The objective for is for all students to achieve at high levels. And I feel that this system aids in that objective.
Soundfield on: What do know about the two letters that say th th th at the beginning of three. What two letters say th th th. Do you know?
Soundfield Off [Barely audible]: Th says th th th. But look Th says th th th. It starts with t, but we don't hear that ta ta sound like we hear in Tiggy tiger.
Soundfield On: [Much louder and clearer]: But it does start with a T. Great work. Crisscross legs. Crisscross legs. Hands in your laps. Good job.
It helps me and the other kids hear better.
I like it because it's kind of like a movie theater.
And what's interesting about LPS is they're really working on students becoming student leaders and student teachers and all the reciprocal teaching that is going on between each student.
Asking one student, "Tell me how you got to that math problem." Give me your reasoning behind it.
So with a microphone students can explain what they would have done before. But now their voice is slightly amplified, and very clear and filling the room.
So every student in that classroom gets to hear how they got to that math problem. Students are now learning from each other because they can hear each other.
Because all of the letters are capital. And when they are capital they make it...the reader wants them to make it like you read it loud.
What really struck me about this technology is that it addresses a basic need. This hearing well in the classroom isn't a fad. Not like the latest gadget, but like lights are a classroom technology.
You wouldn't decide to light half the classroom close to the teacher. And the kids in the back, well...they can learn to read in the dark. It will be just fine. You would never say that.
And I really think that the soundfield system is a technology like lights, like air conditioning and heating. It's just making an environment that's conducive to learning.
I think anytime a child is not engaged fully for whatever reason. In this case, their ability to hear instruction, has an effect in the long term.
So our job as educators is to make that sure we have the optimal learning environment where children can hear and have access to the curriculum as much as humanly possible.
Well if students can't hear what the teacher is saying, if they can't hear the instruction, if they can't hear the directions and of course they can't complete the tasks and the work we would like them to do.
We don't know what they know. And so it's incredibly important for them to be able to access the directions so they can show us what they know.
Some students look like they're having behavior problems, but they're not. It's the fact that they didn't hear what we said. Couldn't understand what we said. And so they just don't do what we ask them to do.
So it's not just for children with special education needs, it's for all children.
The Hear to Learn project is an initial pilot program to really test out these ideas. We'll put 100 soundfields in 100 classrooms in four elementary schools, and then we'll watch what happens.
And study with key measures about what the previous literature has shown and do we see that for Lincoln.
We're right now raising funds to pay for each soundfield. We have a partnership with the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation. We have a fund there called Hear to Learn.
And any kind of monetary donation would be greatly appreciated.
I'm a teacher. Everyone stretch out teacher. Teacher. I feel that students are able to hear me more clearly and all students are able to have access to the same information.
And that just aids in giving a classroom environment that is set up for high achievement for all students.