5 interactive ways for teachers to control noise at school
Anyone who’s spent time in classrooms, multi-purpose halls, or even home schooling their our own kids, will understand how hard it is to manage the noise made by children. It’s little wonder that teachers have had to come up with all sorts of strategies for managing noise in their classrooms.
The Avenue Interior Systems team have researched a variety of noise monitoring apps designed to help teachers control classroom noise. The apps use the microphone on your computer to let kids know when their sound level is appropriate – and when they aren’t using their “inside voices”. The options shown below are all free and work in conjunction with your classroom computer and projector.
And don’t worry, we aren’t doing ourselves out of a job! In most cases, classrooms will require some form of absorbent noise control on the walls and ceilings – as well as teaching students to use their “inside voices”.
Calm Counter
How it works: This simple meter shows noise levels from green (good) to red (bad). The only setting you need to worry about is the microphone sensitivity.
Cool features: Calm Counter doesn’t have any fancy bells and whistles, which can be a good thing. It’s extremely easy to use, and the visual display makes it simple for kids to see when they’re being too noisy.
Bouncy Balls
How it works: The louder the classroom, the higher the balls fly! The goal is to keep the balls hanging out at the bottom. When the noise level rises too high, the program will alert students with your choice of a “shh!” or loud beep.
Cool features: You can change the balls to bubbles, emojis, or even eyeballs! Bouncy Balls is also the only free classroom noise monitor app with an audible alarm when kids pass the noise threshold.
Classcraft Classroom Noise Monitor
How it works: A volume meter on the screen changes to reflect the amount of noise in the classroom. If the noise crosses the max line, a pop-up on the screen states that students have been too loud. There’s no audible alert, only the visual warning.
Cool features: You can set a timer at the beginning if you like, turning this into a game to see if the class can find the buried treasure without any noise violations.
Zero Noise Classroom by Google Chrome
How it works: Teachers can set a timer for this classroom noise monitor, and current sound levels appear in the background as it runs. Light shades indicate quiet, while darker grey means the classroom has gotten louder. When a red stripe displays, it means the noise has passed the maximum level (there’s no audible alert).
Cool features: Because this classroom noise monitor displays “noise history” from start to finish, it’s a fun way to see just how often a class is passing the noisy threshold. Try it as a challenge: if a class can finish 30 minutes of group work without hitting the red a single time, they earn a prize.
Too Noisy Lite
How it works: The noise meter changes from a happy blue sky to dark clouds as noise increases.
Cool features: The free version of this classroom noise monitor app is simple and effective.
Find out more about reducing noise in the classroom
While these noise control apps help to teach children to use quieter voices in the classroom, they can’t reduce a classroom’s reverberation and echo. Reverberation will still be present even when the class uses quieter voices.
Avenue Interior Systems has a range of solutions to help reduce reverberant noise in your classroom. Reach out to us today at 1300 827 177.
