hearAll Assessment Recorder from Learning Resources – Giveaway!

Learning Resources sent me a great product called the hearAll Assessment Recorder. I love the tag line – “Who says teachers can’t be in two places at once?” Gosh, if only I could physically be in more than one place at a time…. I could get so much more done! With the hearAll Assessment Recorder I may not be able to physically be in two places but I can accomplish more than one task at a time!

Learning Resources describes the hearAll Assessment Recorder as:

Hear way beyond! Authentically assess students’ skills and participation in small groups. Designed with 4 omni-directional microphones to capture clear recordings with dramatically reduced background noise. Play back, download and share files (WAV or MP3) with specialists or parents, or upload to portfolios. Records up to 4 hours of audio from reading groups, learning centers, listening and speaking activities, speech therapy and more!

• Provides an extra set of “ears” when the teacher cannot be there
• Designed for group use — offers clear recordings with dramatically reduced background noise
• Captures students’ natural speech and interactions
• Hear which students are involved, participate or lead the group
• Facilitates passive assessment for students reluctant to talk when teacher is present
• Save several recordings over time to review or compare later
• Is ideal for assessment in reading groups, centers, listening and speaking, intervention, dramatic play areas, speech and language therapy, and more
• Is self-contained plus downloads to your computer (PC, Mac) so you can send files to other teachers, parents and specialists
• Upload to your class website, virtual learning network or assessment files
• Choose the file format/size that’s right for you
• Adapts to various activities and students’ needs
• Helps you navigate the controls and recordings
• Allows the teacher to listen quietly to recordings
• Eliminates the cost of replacement batteries
• Is stylish, unobtrusive and conveniently portable

The hearAll is like a tape recorder without the tape. All you need to do is turn it on, hit record and it starts recording right away. Now, if you’re thinking, “So…how can I use this in a classroom environment?” let me just tell you – the possibilities are endless! When I first introduced the hearAll into my classroom, I told my students that during our reading station time I wanted to make sure they were all on task. I would place the hearAll on a different table each day to see what they were discussing. My students LOVE it! They beg for the hearAll to be on their table so they can show me they are on task and following directions. Of course, that’s one simple idea but there are so many more uses for the hearAll. Here are a few of my favorite ideas:

• Use it to record student reading conferences: My students progress through the stories in our reading series at their own pace. It’s a great way for me to differentiate their reading materials. Recording students while they read helps me to be able to take more detailed anecdotal records on their reading abilities. I can review the recording at the end of the day and make notes about which strategies or skills my students are having difficulty with. I can also use these recordings at parent conferences to point out their child’s strengths and weakness when it comes to fluency and comprehension. It also helps me when I have several students who are ready to pass their story. I can only read with so many kiddos in a day! I can have them read their story and record it with the hearAll.

 

• Use it to record students reading sight words: If you teach K-2, I am sure one of your most favorite activities is hearing your kiddos read their sight words to you. 😉 It’s time consuming to have a classroom full of students read their sight words to you. The hearAll gives me another set of “ears” to listen to students read their words. Hit record, give your students their sight word list or flashcards and have them read through them. I would make sure the students are close by so you can keep an eye on them and make sure other students aren’t telling them the words.

 

• Use it to record mastery of other skills in the classroom: How many of you are working on getting your kiddos to count to 120 or skip count by 5’s and 10’s? Listening to a student skip count to 120 by 10’s might not seem like a very time consuming task but multiply that by a classroom full of students and it could seem to take forever! If I only had time to do more one-on-one assessments like these on a daily basis but unfortunately I don’t have enough time as it is! Luckily….the hearAll can help! Use the hearAll to record students skip counting, reciting their ABC’s, etc. Review the recording at the end of the day and check off which skills your students have mastered.

 

• Use it to conduct “interviews”: Sometimes when I read a story to my students I like to do character interviews. I assign students character parts and choose a “reporter.” The reporter (which could be myself or another student) asks the characters questions about why they acted a certain way or how they felt when a certain event happened. The students respond as if they actually were the character. The hearAll is a fun way to record the lesson and encourage reluctant speakers.

 

• Use it to improve classroom management: I have a very talkative class. Sometimes they just don’t realize how loud they are. I have used the hearAll a few times to show students just how noisy they can be at times. It’s pretty eye (and ear!) opening to them. I’ve also used it a couple of times when we were taking a test just to see who I could catch talking during the test. It’s also good for teachers to record positive vs. negative interactions. I teach in a PBIS school and the big hype is having 4 positive interactions for every 1 negative. It’s interesting to record the class for awhile and then review at the end of the day. It’s eye opening to see who I called on more often, who was given praise, who was called down, etc. It just helps me refine my management skills.

 

All of this and…..  NO BATTERIES! The hearAll is lightweight, plugs into your computer to upload files and recharge, and is a pretty nifty looking little gadget which the students love! Thanks to Learning Resources for such a neat tool to use in my classroom! And the best part is – I get to give one away to one lucky reader out there!

To earn an entry you may do any or all of the following: (make sure you enter in the Rafflecopter widget below!!!)

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• Leave a comment on this post explaining how you would use the hearAll in your own classroom

The giveaway is open from today, December 13, and will end at 12:01 am on December 20. A winner will be announced on December 21. Good luck to all who enter and thanks to Learning Resources for an awesome product! 🙂

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