While there is nothing like a classroom full of students working together and talking out problems, there are times when quiet conversion turns to students talking over the groups around them. And while using
CHAMPS clear voice levels....sometimes students have a tough time understanding what a Voice Level 2 (Quiet Conversations) sound like. To solve this problem are a couple of noise meter tech tools that can help.
Bouncy Balls is a free online noise meter than shows the volume of the noise in a room by displaying a set of colorful bouncing balls (or emojis) on your screen. The louder students are, the higher and more frequently the balls bounce on the screen. Simply go to the website (
www.bouncyballs.org), click "Begin Bouncing" and then click on the microphone icon to allow the site to access your Chromebook's microphone.
Zero Noise Classroom is a noise meter and countdown timer that is built into one convenient Chrome app. After you install and launch
Zero Noise Classroom, you can set the timer and adjust the goal for the volume of noise in your classroom. When the countdown timer expires a chime sounds and the percentage of time above the volume limit is displayed. Give it a try....it's actually pretty slick.
On a side note....be aware that most of the districts Smart Carts don't have microphones hooked up them so you will need to access the sites via your issued Chromebook and display it that way.
Zero Noise Classroom is a noise meter and countdown timer that is built into one convenient Chrome app. After you install and launch Zero Noise Classroom, you can set the timer and adjust the goal for the volume of noise in your classroom. When the countdown timer expires a chime sounds and the percentage of time above the volume limit is displayed. Give it a try....it's actually pretty slick.