Classroom Strategies

Classroom Strategies

It is important students with hearing loss have a learning environment that is conducive. The following strategies are simple and easy to apply to any classroom.

Seating:

Seat the student toward the front of the room and to one side with the better ear toward the class room sound field. The best set-up is the semicircle, which allows the student to see the faces of the teacher and the other students. Permit the student to move his/her seat if instruction is being given in another part of the room.
Don't seat this student too close to audio-visual equipment, such as film projectors or air vents in the room. The noise of the motor and fan will drown out the sound of voices in the film, class, etc.

Focus:
Ensure that the student is paying attention before giving instructions. Make sure that the student has an uninterrupted view of the teacher's face. During discussions, ask questions to make sure the student with the hearing loss understands.

Support:
Set up a buddy system. The buddy can repeat your directions, give the hearing impaired student a photocopy of notes taken during films, repeat information coming over the PA system, making sure the hearing impaired student knows about important dates and cancellations. ·

Belonging:
Encourage participation in extracurricular activities.

How to support with Vocabulary Development?

Vocabulary and complex sentence structures are often misunderstood by hard of hearing and deaf students. When they appear not to understand, try:

• Repeating the same words
• Rephrasing
• Simplifying the language
• Pre-teaching new vocabulary before a new unit, particularly in the content areas.
• Using full length sentences. Single words or incomplete phrases may not convey full meaning to someone who is having difficulty hearing what is being said.

What is Sound Discrimination?

The ability to hear the difference in sounds such as a long I in bike vs the short I in milk. The side bar has a website with a variety of different exercises that will enable the student in a fun and interactive way to practice the subtle differences in the sounds. A simple exercise is to have piece of paper with a long (a) on it and an (a) with a cross through it . Making sure to put your hand in front of your mouth, say the word and the student points to the long (a) or the other. Making sure to mix the words up and reward with a token for every one he/she gets right, this turns it into a great game. Most students with hearing loss are very good at reading lips so remember to cover your mouth.

Tips for Creating a Good Listening Environment

• If your classroom is too noisy here are some simple tips to help make the environment quieter:
• Place some rugs or carpet in the room if there are none.
• Hang window treatments such as curtains or blinds.
• Hang soft materials such as felt or corkboard on the walls.
• Hang soft materials such as flags or student artwork around the room and from the ceiling.
• Turn off noisy equipment when it is not in use.
• Try to keep windows and doors closed when possible.
  Replace noisy light fixtures