How was your classroom arranged this last school year? How did the arrangement affect your instructional practice? How did it affect student learning? Do you think having an audio system might have made a positive difference for everyone in the classroom? 

In the first part of this series, I covered the various challenges that teachers face when dealing with sound in the classroom. When taking hearing loss, distance, and sound absorption into consideration, it can be hard for educators to find their teacher voice. So, what allows educators to be heard and can help improve teaching and learning in the classroom?

A long time ago in a classroom far away, a 20-something student sat in a class titled Speech Communication in the Classroom. The professor explained that among the many concepts learned in the course, one of the most important would be finding your voice. Throughout the semester, each student had multiple opportunities to stand and deliver his or her lesson to the class. Of course, each student would receive a grade and comments on their performance. At the end, the entire class would receive an impromptu mini lesson on teacher voice. Personally, I thought this old man couldn’t hear! I was not entirely wrong, but that is another story.