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The classroom environment is an important space for any learning experience but can also be an obstacle for a DHH student. Examine your own classroom and consider the following tips to help enhance your DHH student's learning.
Appropriate Classroom Setting
- Be aware that sunlight coming from windows, and overhead lights can make speech reading very difficult. It also makes watching for cues difficult due to glare.
- Make sure your classroom is well lit. Lamps are not enough.
Tips for equipment and maintenance
- Identify one staff member who is responsible for checking equipment.
- Check in with student that they are wearing hearing aids, and that the batteries are functioning properly.
- Check the DM system every day to ensure it is working properly, and is charged.
- Remember to turn off the DM system whenever you leave the room. The student and others in the classroom will hear everything picked up by the microphone, including staffroom conversations and time in the bathroom.
Tips for a quieter classroom
- Use carpets or mats whenever possible. Hard surfaces reflect sound and make listening more difficult.
- Cover hard, reflective surfaces with sound absorbing materials such as cork boards and cloth.
- Keep the classroom door closed.
- Put tennis balls on the legs of chairs and tables.
- Close the drapes on the windows.
View the "Classroom Acoustics" video, presented by the SDHHS, to get a sense of what sound is like in a typical classroom and how it impacts your students.
Tips for Seating
- If possible, allow flexible seating options in the classroom so the student can move to the optimal hearing location for different activities.
- Have the DHH student sit near the front in assemblies or for whole school presentations. Classes can sit one in front of the other in lines so the class/DHH student is not singled out and the younger classes can still see. If the DHH student is older, have the whole class sit near the front if possible, to avoid being singled out.
- Seat the child away from students who can be distracting or noisy.
- Seat the class in a horseshoe or circle when working as a group.
Header Image by Public Domain PicturesChair image by Max Pixel
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