Better Hearing and Speech Month: Listen Up!

This week, we are encouraging both students and staff to Listen Up!  Several years ago, our school district moved to 1:1 technology, which has been completely amazing.  Student engagement and learning continue to grow and evolve.   It has been a very rewarding experience, and we welcome the continuous learning that comes along with it.

With the increased use of technology in our school as well as at home, we find ourselves becoming hearing cheerleaders.  (I can't think of one student who does not have some type of gaming system, iPhone, iPad, etc. at home.  It's our reality.)  So, we created two Listen Up! posters that we shared with the classroom teachers and have posted throughout the school.

We included several QR codes for students to scan which link to an interactive sound ruler at Noisy Planet, a hearing loss simulator at Starkey Hearing Technologies, and a video.  You can access video here or watch it below.

If you're looking for other helpful websites for hearing, check these out!

Kids' Quest (offered through the CDC)
Kids Health
Noisy Planet
McGraw Hill: How You Hear
The Interactive Ear

The Interactive Ear is presented by Amplifon

This is probably my favorite!  It's called Dangerous Decibels: Virtual Exhibit.  It's an interactive site where kids can learn about what sound is, how we hear, how loud sounds really are, how sounds are measured, how to save your ears, and a hearing loss simulation.  This site also includes a test at the end of if you'd like some type of assessment of learning.

Finally, we are also offering hearing screenings to staff one day before school and another day after school.  It'll be helpful for them and a great skill brush-up for us!

What are you doing to raise awareness during BHSM?

Better Hearing and Speech Month Kickoff

We are always excited about Better Hearing and Speech Month as we are able to highlight information about Hearing and Communication all month! At the school we work at this year we are planning small things to do for students and staff to raise their awareness not just one day but all month. To kick off BHSM this week on Friday May 1, we are providing water and peppermints to staff to remind them to protect their voice so they can teach on! We are also hanging posters with QR codes to educate both students and teachers about voice disorders (with some help from some students). 

Below are some snaps putting together the water bottle labels:

I took the labels off the purchased water and then wrapped our own labels around.

This is the end product! We sure hope they love it!

You can get the water labels and some great posters to kickoff your own BHSM fun with this Freebie at our TPT store. 

        

Last year we posted about our fun BHSM fact cards, you can still get them here. Also stay tuned for more helpful tips about communication and hearing. We will be posting something every week! 

The National Hearing Test

In celebration of Better Hearing and Speech Month, The National Hearing Test is offering a free hearing screen for you (an $8 value)!  I just tried it myself, and it's super easy.

First, you need to have access to phone that uses a wall-mounted jack.  You cannot use a cell phone.

There is a short survey about your hearing that is taken at the beginning to gather information for the National Institute of Health which funds the program.

Next find a quiet room.  You will hear a three-digit sequence presented in a background of white noise.  You  have 10 seconds to enter those three digits into the phone before the next set is presented. (Don't worry, this is more than enough time!)   I started in the right year, listened to approximately 30 different number sequences and then did the same in the left ear.  The results were then shared with me…slightly below the normal range in both the right and left ear.  (Must be all of the talking I do!)  The entire process took me approximately 10 minutes.

Please note that this is only a screening, and if you have additional concerns, you should contact an audiologist to seek a more in-depth evaluation.

You can find this free test here.

BHSM: Raising Awareness

It's that time of year again for holding the last few IEP meetings, testing like crazy, finishing assessments, writing progress reports, holding transition meetings, teaching the last of whatever target we can still squeeze in, supporting field trips…I think you get the point.  It's busy, right?  Then, suddenly, Better Hearing and Speech Month is here!  We created an easy FREEBIE for you to use at our TpT store.  Use it as you wish!  We chose to tape the "facts" to pieces of chocolate and place them in a basket for our co-workers.  We are asking them to hold on to the facts until later in the month when we will have a drawing (i.e. pick a fact) for a gift card.  

What are you doing for BHSM?  Leave a comment!

Better Hearing and Speech Month Kick-Off

May will be here in a few, short hours, which means that the kick-off for Better Hearing and Speech Month is here, too.  YIKES!  How am I not ready for this?  Wasn't it just the start of April?  I always seem to find that May sneaks up on me.  Maybe it's because we just finished state testing.  Maybe it's because the end of the school year is winding down.  Maybe it's because I'm just that forgetful.  Who knows!?  What I DO know is that I always find a way to make BHSM happen!

With last minute evaluations in full-swing, I wanted to share several resources that I've found over the last few months that have been helpful for me in the screening and evaluation processes.

Informal Elementary Language Sampling Checklist
This resource is thorough, comprehensive, and well-organized.  I really like this checklist because it covers so many areas, including listening comprehension, semantics, morphology, fluency, oral peripheral, intelligibility, MLU, literacy/narrative skills…and I could go on and on.

Preschool-Speechie
Preschool Speechie has several great resources for the pre-school population. These are very easy to use…check out their TpT store.  Here are just a few:
          Following Directions Hierarchy
          WH Hierarchy for Pre-Schoolers
          Language Sample Summary Preschool Checklist Part 1
          Language Sample Summary Preschool Checklist Part 2

The Helpful Counselor
This pragmatic resource is a four-point rating scale for the pre-K and elementary levels.  It focuses on three main areas: social play and emotional development, communication, and emotional regulation.  These three areas are further  broken into more specific areas.  It's a very helpful resource in looking at student strengths and needs.

Do you have any great resources to share?  Please comment on them!