Are Your Students Hearing And Being Heard?

Posted by Calypso Admin
Wednesday March 17th, 2010 | 3 Comments

Here's a very personal case for why it's so important for students to hear and be heard in the classroom.  This was posted by 2009-2010 Be Heard School Grant winner, Margaret Knox-Ingle, M.Ed. from Holly Grove Elementary in Holly Springs, NC.  Ms. Knox-Ingle is a true champion for her students and teachers.  Thank you for sharing your story. 

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Guest Blogger:

Margaret Knox Ingle, M. Ed.

Technology Specialist

Holly Grove Elementary School

2009-2010 Be Heard|School Grant Recipient

Last year my school, Holly Grove Elementary School in Holly Springs, NC, was one of Calypso’s first Be Heard|School Grant winners which provided wireless classroom voice amplification equipment and installation for all of our classrooms. This is a technology often overlooked, but of great consequence in the classroom. Of course, I am ecstatic that I was able to make this happen for the students and teachers at my school, but on another level I mourn. I mourn over missed opportunities for my own son...his school didn't have this.

I am the parent of a teen with a mild hearing loss that went undetected for far too long and resulted in missed opportunities to build a strong foundation in early literacy development. My son’s elementary experience was incredibly frustrating and his confidence as a learner irrevocably damaged simply because he couldn’t hear normal classroom instruction. I truly believe that had his school invested in a classroom voice amplification system the painful struggles we endured in learning to read could have been alleviated.

It is my belief that classroom voice amplification systems should be standard equipment in all K-12 classrooms as surely as rich visual presentation equipment is now.  With classroom instruction so heavily dependent on auditory information, schools must take responsibility for ensuring all their students can equitably hear the nuances and subtleties of language and sound. 

Think of it like this, we wouldn’t presume to teach our students in poorly lit classrooms where seeing is a challenge.  So, why do we teach our students in an environment where hearing is a challenge?  A classroom without amplification is like watching the metamorphosis of a butterfly on a black and white, 13” TV…few students would attend or get much value out of such an experience.

Since the installation of our Be Heard|School Grant voice amplification systems last fall, the feedback from teachers and students has been very positive. Many teachers are reporting that they find their students to be more attentive and eager to participate, especially when they share the microphone!  I just wish my child could have had the same opportunity.