Thank you to all who took the time to share their experiences and opinions.
I also have had a few requests for a HIT, so here it is. For those who are
interested, do a rsearch and many educational stores carry this- but compare
prices! I have seen it for 34.99. There's another product out there and is
hand-held and emits a noise to get attention when a button is pressed. I
forgot what its name is, but many catalogs with the Zapper carry that as
well. Anyone own one?
I am still out on whether I am going to order one... in priciple I can see
its merits, however I worry about those who want to "test" the system,
causing further disruptions too!
Kim Monaco
School Library Media Specialist
Bellerose Ave. Elementary School
East Northport, NY 11731
http://www.northport.k12.ny.us
kmonaco@northport.k12.ny.us (sept.-june)
*********************the results...********************
Twenty or so years ago I worked in a k-5 building who had one of these in
their lunch room. The kids loved to make it go red and then quiet down
again. It was not very effective for keeping quiet.
****************
Good Morning
I do not use it but my art teacher has it in her room as do the classroom
teachers in their common instruction areas. I think the all agree it is
worth the money. I know the art teachers rule is when the light turns read
it is quiet art time. no ifs ands or buts
*******************
I have one in my classroom. It works really well, and the kids love it.
You can set the noise level so that kids can be a little louder during group
work or quiet during other times. The drawback though is that if something
is dropped in front of the tracker then it turns to yellow or red. Some
kids intentionally try to do this! Imagine that!!!
*****************************************
The school I taught in last year had a Yacker Tracker-like light in the
cafeteria. The Yacker Tracker on the LLWean website looks more
sophisticated in that it can be set. I don't think it was particularly
successful in the cafeteria. Kids go to lunch with the intent of
talking. The deal was that when the red light went off for the 3rd time,
they had to be silent. The kids pretty much ignored it and accepted the
consequences at least 3 times a week.
I think it might work better in a library because kids have different
expectations, there is not such a huge crowd in the library, and there are
furnishings that absorb noise: carpet, books, curtains. You could set the
Yacker Tracker at a much lower level and give only 1 warning. For the
price, it is worth a try.
*******************
Year before last some staff members purchased one of these for our
cafeteria. There was a big flap and it is no longer being used. I don't know
if it was because most of the staff thinks that students should be able to
talk in a reasonable tone during lunch, or if it was because students talked
louder to see if the light would come on : ).
*****************************
I have it and it's in the closet. The kids were fasinated by it. They
would go over to it and clap or yell to make it go off. I have the low
setting too sensitive and the next setting too much. It's a great idea but
it didn't work for me.
**************************
I used to sub in a school that had one, but I never thougth about using one
in the library. It would be great for checkout time, as that's the time of
day I really DREAD!!! Isn't that a horrible thing for a librarian to say?
But, 25 or so kids on their feet, all walking around in the same area at
the same time --- it doesn't take long for the noise level to rise past my
acceptibility!
I'd like to hear what comments you receive back from people. Less that $50
is a great price.
The school I subbed in had one in their cafeteria and was very effective.
Thanks for sharing the info and your idea.
************************
We don't have one of these in our library. However we had one of these in
our cafeteria at a school that I previous taught at. The idea is cute. But
what happened at our school was that the kids got so excited when they were
quiet enough to get it to turn green that they clapped and squealed and sent
it back to red.
****************************
Our elementary had one for the computer lab (which was part of the library)
that they used. It was very useful cause the kids learned what was
acceptable and what was not. The problem was you have to back up the
threats that are made with no exception or nothing will work. At first it
was turned so not much noise was allowed then it was turned so a little was
allowable and the light very seldom came on. We also used rewards if the
light did not come on for periods of time then expanded it to entire class
time. It is no longer used but I liked it.
*****************************
My speech teacher who shares a conference room off my library had requested
one of them for next year. It arrived before the end of school and she
experimented a little with it. It seems good and she thought it might be a
good idea for the libraryas well. I plan on observing it in action this year
and may buy one next year if it's successful.
***********************************************
I used the Yakker Trakker in our elementary library with success. You can
set it to pick up a whisper on up. I kept it at moderate talking level and
rewarded classes that didn't set the red light off. We had a competition
each grading period for the class that kept the "noise down". I paid about
$30 for it two years ago. It developed a short in the wiring so that it
stayed on yellow, but I am planning on buying another one this year. Some
students would intentionally slam a book down or clunk chairs in order to
trigger the red light, but all classes were more conscious of noise level.
It prevented me from having to remind them of being quiet and provided an
objective method of rewarding quiet classes. Thanks for providing the
website where they can be found.
******************************************
the last result I cannot find, but it stated that students found that this
was "demoralizing"- and to summarize we should be finding a better way.
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