Friday, January 14, 2011

The Front Row Initiative Brings

Every Student to the Head of the Class

    For students, sitting in the back of the classroom can negatively affect their academic performance.   It can be tough to pay attention and take good notes when they are so far away from the action. With the Front Row Initiative Program all students can hear the teacher clearly.

    Front Row is an amplification system that provides an optimal learning condition in the classroom. Speakers are placed in the classroom and the teacher wears a microphone resembling a necklace. The teacher talks into the device and their voice is amplified so as not to have any “dead zones” in the classroom.

Batalla, Read and Skane schools are piloting the Front Row Initiative Program in some of their classrooms, and they are already seeing the benefits.

CESAR BATALLA SCHOOL

Jacqueline Considine –Teacher

    Front Row Pro was installed into my classroom in May of 2010 and teaching has never been the same since.  Teaching and learning have been made easier and more effective through the use of the Front Row Pro System.  It enhances my lessons, especially when modeling, and facilitates it student success through the use of the hand-held microphone.  The one caution that I was immediately aware of when first introducing the system to my class was that those students diagnosed with attention-deficit disorders and/or heightened auditory sensitivity became observably overwhelmed with intrigue asking a multitude of questions about the system and how it functioned.  As a result, it was necessary for me to integrate Front Row Pro at a slower pace, starting with science and social studies pr ior to our basic curriculum.  It was fully integrated within one month.

    The Front Row system frequently becomes a motivator and clarifier as the audio center of my classroom.  It ties together the smartboard and my computer for interactive lessons and activities to enhance student engagement and learning.  By ensuring that my voice is clarified and evenly distributed around the classroom, the Front Row sound system is tremendously helpful especially to English language learners who need to hear every phoneme clearly enunciated.  It has been my experience that Front Row Pro significantly lessens behavioral issues t hrough enhancing student awareness and motivation.  With the incorporation of Front Row Pro, students are aware that as they verbally participate in oral reading, writer’s workshops and/or class discussion, they will be clearly heard and understood by all in the room.  This motivates them to become more fluent readers, to be more accurate when it comes to responses and in general, aids them in progressing towards achieving their academic goals.  In order to give students equal access to verbal instruction, Front Row Pro keeps my voice consistently close to each student’s ears.  In this way, each child essentially has a “front row seat.”

READ SCHOOL

Ethel Basileo –Teacher

    The benefits to using the Front Row Pro are that the students hear me more clearly and tend to listen more attentively.  The students love to talk into the microphone; even the shy students enjoy using the microphone and it gives me the opportunity to hear their quiet voices.  The Front Row seems to motivate and excite the children.

Sandra McLeod, Principal

Read School began the Front Row Initiative at the end of the 2009 – 2010 school year and it will continue during the 2010 – 2011 school year. [The program] is being implemented in one kindergarten classroom and one first grade classroom. Teachers are discovering that the program is great for phonemic awareness because the students can hear the sounds clearly.  In literacy instruction, it makes it easier for the students to listen to and follow directions.  Teachers find it beneficial during read aloud and shared readings because all students can hear the instruction.  The teachers also find it equitable for seating arrangements because all students can hear the teacher no matter where their seats are.

There is also a microphone available for students to use.  Students use it during their morning meetings, reading their writing assignments aloud.  The use of the microphone helps the tentative speaker speak in the classroom.

SKANE SCHOOL

Lillian Trembley – Teacher

    Our new Front Row sound system is great.  It allows me a hands-free way to gain the students’ attention throughout the day.  It also has allowed me to hook up the computer to be heard by the entire classroom at once.  The system allows me to be heard by all students throughout the classroom no matter where they are.  The students love using the hand-held microphone.  It has promoted language development and is helping to build self-esteem and confidence in the children.  It has been a wonderful addition to our classroom.

    I have used sound field systems and such for many years now and the Front Row system works well.  I have said for many years that these systems work well for all students – not just for those children with hearing impairments.  As a teacher, I never have to raise my voice to be heard and the children respond well to the amplified sound system.  I use the pass around microphone during our “circle” times; the children love talking into it.  Even those children who do not speak eventually come around and will make a sound or two into the microphone.  It encourages them to participate in their own way.

Three Kings Make a

Special Apperance at Marin School

    Children and parents packed the auditorium of Luis Munoz Marin School Wedenesday, January 6th  to celebrate Three Kings Day.

Three Kings Day, or Epiphany, is a Christian feast day that commemorates principally the visitation of the biblical Magi to the baby Jesus, carrying gold, myrrh, and frankincense.

Music and celebration also filled the air as there was a musical selection by students from the school.