Thursday, July 23, 2015

Some of what teachers are saying about the Yacker Tracker

"This Yacker Tracker is not being used as a toy but as a tool in assisting classroom management in a kindergarten classroom. It does everything I had hoped it would. When the red light goes off and the siren sounds because the classroom is too loud, I don't have to say a thing. I would suggest that some kind of consequence be associated with it, however. After keeping it for a week for the children to get used to, I added a consequence for each time the siren went off. If there is no consequence, it can become a toy and the children will intentionally speak loudly to get it to go off (especially when the siren is not on). I've found it a great help and no longer have to have it on all the time."
D. Laramie

"This is really a great device for monitoring noise in any environment. We are using it in a hospital setting to inform staff and visitors when the noise level is too high. It is big enough to be seen and small enough to move around. There is no argument about what is too loud and it becomes the nagging nanny instead of some concerned person.

In conclusion, if you need to control noise levels and constant reminders don't seem to work, give this thing a try. It doesn't care if you give it a dirty look, it still flashes red and it won't go away."
Marilyn Janis Anderson

"The class loves the traffic light! They are always asking to have it on. This lets the children monitor their own noise level. It keeps me (the teacher) from saying "I think you are too loud" and worrying that maybe I am in a glunky mood and a little more sensitive that day. Now it is the traffic light that lets the kids know they are too loud. They know that the yellow is a warning. If it goes to red they lose some recess time. We brought this light up to the lunch room and all the teachers couldn't believe how quiet the lunch room was. Both the young eaters and the older grades were much more aware of their own noise. I recommend it to schools!"
 jlr

"The Yakker Trakker takes the work out of quieting a classroom. I teach high school math. When I first turned the machine on I thought the siren was too soft but the kids absolutely hate it. If you set it to 50 or 60 decibels it does go off with even a slight bit of noise. I use this mode for a penalty. If the kids are being loud I set it to 60 for 2 minutes. The yakker trakker will go off a lot in those two minutes but you will be shocked at how quiet your class becomes after those 2 minutes. Classroom talking is definitely a snowball effect. If you stop the momentum with the yakker trakker it will soon die out. I do wish they made a 65 dB level because I find that 60 is too sensitive and 70 is not sensitive enough. Other than that I must say that I LOVE the yakker trakker. It has really changed my life!!! I no longer find myself yelling at my period 5 class. If they are talking all I have to do is start tracking the yacking. Thanks Yakker Trakker."
Jeremy

#yackertracker
#originalyackertracker
#yackertrackerreview
#originalyackertrackerreview

2 comments:

  1. I tried it today and even 50 decibals isn't sensitive enough! It does work. When plugged in the lights are all lit and the sound works when I click the button on the back. I had my students scream and it did go to red. But other unacceptable noise didn't even move it to yellow. I don't think I am being unreasonable. They were loud. Could my ceiling be too high or something causing the sound to register properly. I don't know. I really want this to work. Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
  2. *causing the sound to NOT register properly.

    ReplyDelete