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Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Farias—Why I became a teacher

Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Farias—Why I became a teacher

There are over three million teachers in the U.S., and they all have a reason for doing what they do. Teachers understand the importance of their role in students’ lives and in shaping tomorrow’s generation, and they work hard to make that impact a positive one. Although teachers realize how vital the profession is, they all have their individual motives as to why they decided to become a teacher.

Jose Farias began his teaching career in August of 2017, and is teaching 7th and 8th grade Reading classes at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, Utah. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in English Teaching from Brigham Young University, he was anxious to begin his teaching career and to learn right along with his students.

A Love for Learning and Teaching

“I developed this love for learning and teaching in school. I was always a good student because I cared about my grades. Being successful was a big priority in my life because of my upbringing. It also helped that I naturally enjoyed learning more information in every subject,” Farias said.

Farias also stated that learning was enjoyable because of the great teachers he had. He remembers a particular teacher from the 6th grade, Ms. Borgen. “Her class was always so effective, and entertaining as well. I remember wanting to be a teacher like her,” he recalled.

Mr. Farias is a teacher simply because he loves to teach. He is passionate about the subjects he teaches, like grammar, reading, and writing. He likes the satisfaction of having his students improve in those areas and giving them an education that matters. Farias wants his students to not only be good at those skills, but also be inspired to learn more. He loves getting to know his students and building a close relationship with them so he can truly help them, especially those who are the most disruptive and may be struggling the most.

Being a teacher, however, comes with its challenges as well. Farias stated that he did not expect teaching to be so exhausting. “It’s fun, but you get really tired,” he said. “It’s a lot of energy to put in.”

Working Through the Challenges

Farias shared how he kept going through the first couple of weeks teaching. “Working through exhaustion is difficult, but I find that taking time for myself has been the biggest help. Besides coffee and sleep, taking some time to just relax and give my brain a break makes me feel better. I’m usually more mentally than physically exhausted, so giving myself time to breathe is the best. I’ve also started using a microphone in my class for the sake of my voice. It definitely makes me less tired by the end of the day because I don’t have to yell or raise my voice.”

Joel P. Jensen Middle School is equipped with Audio Enhancement’s Classroom Audio Systems, which allows teachers to speak through a microphone to distribute their voice evenly throughout the classroom.

Mr. Farias hopes to have his students show improvement in their reading levels. “If they are really low level or really high level, I want all my kids to improve this year. Wherever they are, even just a few notches, I want them to learn more. That’s my goal.”

He also stated that a characteristic every teacher needs to have to succeed is love. “To be a teacher, you have to be a very loving person. That’s it. You really have to love what you do and you have to really love the people you work with. The teachers, the kids, the boss. You have to be really loving and really open. You have to care.”

We thank Mr. Farias and the many teachers around the world who are passionate about what they do; who work through their exhaustion to make a difference in many students’ lives; and who love and care every day.

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Flipped Teaching: How does it benefit students?

Flipped Teaching: How does it benefit students?

At home, a 7th grade student, Michael, watches his teacher’s lecture about photosynthesis online and takes notes. In class the next day, Michael’s class gets into small groups to read an assigned text on photosynthesis and to take more notes. The groups work together to create a storyboard that shows the process of photosynthesis. Michael’s teacher checks students’ understanding through questioning and observation. As discussed in a previous post, flipped teaching is an effective way to transition to a more facilitative learning environment. There are many articles, how-tos, and opinions regarding flipped teaching, but in the end, the question is: how does it benefit students?

  1. Flipping the classroom can be a more efficient way to teach. One study showed that high school students spend an average of 38 hours per week on homework. The flipped learning method reduces work being done at home, allowing learning to occur more efficiently. Flipped teaching also gives students more time with the teacher, allowing them to not only be taught through their lectures, but to have them available to answer questions during the practice part of their learning.
  2. Flipping the classroom can produce significant learning gains. When a flipped model was implemented at Clintondale High School in Clinton Township, Michigan, the entire 9th grade failure rate went down 33% in one year, the English class failure rate decreased from 52% to 19%, and the Math class failure rate decreased from 44% to 13%.
  3. Flipping the classroom can fill in learning gaps. Every school year, students who miss class lose valuable instruction. If it’s the teacher that needs to miss school, entire classes can fall behind while a substitute fills in. However, teachers who use flipped classroom technology can easily upload their lectures for students to learn the material at home, allowing the learning process to continue seamlessly. Parents can also access class material and can more easily explain concepts to their children and help them to understand better.
  4. Flipping the classroom promotes student collaboration and student-centered learning. In a flipped classroom setting, students are not passively soaking in information by simply listening to a lecture. At home, students have the freedom of replaying parts of the lecture they didn’t understand, allowing them to understand the lesson even better. Class time is used more efficiently as teachers answer questions from their students, who had to actively seek to understand the material before arriving in class. While in class, students can take control over their own learning by working with other students to master the lessons they learned at home. This route empowers each student to take an active role in their own education.

Flipped teaching, with time and preparation, can benefit your students in many ways. Its goal, just like many other teaching methods, is to improve student learning and achievement and help students reach their highest potential. Have you tried implementing flipped learning into your classroom?

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How Audio Enhancement Can Make Your School EPIC

How Audio Enhancement Can Make Your School EPIC

Forty years ago, schools looked completely different than they do now. Changes in curriculum and advances in technology have brought education into a new era. Audio Enhancement started out with the mission to help all students hear evenly in the classroom, and just like technology has advanced in the past few decades, Audio Enhancement has worked hard to make learning more and more effective.

Introducing EPIC (Education Paging & Intercom Communications) System™! Built specifically for K-12 education, EPIC System provides the latest technology to make communication in your school not only easy, but extra efficient. With a two-way intercom that’s hands-free for teachers, customizable paging and bell zones, and integration of SAFE (Signal Alert for Education) System™, EPIC System will bring your school communication to the next era.

EPIC System makes it a breeze for the front office to communicate with any classroom in the school. With an interactive campus map and touchscreen monitor, front office staff have the whole school at their fingertips. They simply press on the classroom with which they want to communicate and chime in. The teacher responds through an ambient microphone and the lesson is not greatly interrupted.

With just a few taps on the touchscreen, school bells can be customized for different zones and different days.

The touchscreen monitor also facilitates paging and bell scheduling. There’s no need to call a technician to change the school bell system, and no more are the days of interrupting testing and other classrooms in the school with bells that don’t pertain to them. With just a few taps on the touchscreen, bells can be customized for different zones and different days. Plus, you can change up the sound of your bells to any MP3 song. Play the school’s fight song on game days or a Christmas song on the last day before winter break, and dance your way to class!

SAFE System provides that extra peace of mind to not only teachers and staff, but to students and their parents as well.

EPIC System incorporates SAFE System, which provides discreet alert buttons on teacher microphones and in the front office that can be pressed to send a signal through the EPIC System server, alerting first responders. SAFE System provides that extra peace of mind to not only teachers and staff, but to students and their parents as well. In case of medical emergencies, bullying, or the ever-growing violence in schools, the right people could be notified and on the way within seconds.

As stated above, schools were completely different 40 years ago. The world and its technology has advanced, so there is no reason for schools not to incorporate technology that could make them more efficient, effective, and safe. EPIC System was developed to simplify schoolwide  communication, giving administrators more time to focus on shaping the leaders of tomorrow.

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Fidgeting: The new key to success in the classroom?

Fidgeting: The new key to success in the classroom?

As discussed in our Classroom Audio blog, classrooms are noisy. In addition to the myriad of mechanical and environmental sounds, there’s often a symphony of pen clicks, squeaky chairs, tapping feet, bouncing knees, and all sorts of small noises. These motions, defined as “fidgets,” can seem like a distraction from the learning environment and something that needs to be stopped. Continue reading “Fidgeting: The new key to success in the classroom?”

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Employee Spotlight: Alex North, Territory Sales Manager

Employee Spotlight: Alex North, Territory Sales Manager

After teaching for four years, Alex North made his way to Audio Enhancement, where he continues to make an impact in education. North is the Territory Sales Manager over Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. He is dedicated to not only bringing Audio Enhancement to more schools in his region, but to making sure each of those schools is using the technology to make classrooms more effective. Continue reading “Employee Spotlight: Alex North, Territory Sales Manager”

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Social-Emotional Learning in Schools—Why It’s Important

Student happy with classroom audio

Social-Emotional Learning in Schools—Why It’s Important

Children across the nation attend school to prepare for tomorrow, to learn academic skills to become the workers and citizens of the future. However, to truly prepare, schools must not only teach math, science, and English, but also the social and emotional skills everyone needs to become a wholesome, responsible adult. Continue reading “Social-Emotional Learning in Schools—Why It’s Important”

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