Kimmirut school magnifies teacher's voice
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Kimmirut (Dec 18/00) - Low self-esteem and average school grades used to dog Jodi Jaffray's nine-year-old son.
That changed when Qaqqalik School in Kimmirut got a phonic ear system to help several children diagnosed with hearing difficulties.
"My son has a central auditory processing problem, which means he can hear fine but has trouble focusing on what is the most important sound," said Jaffray.
"This system singles out the teacher's voice, allowing kids to focus on it.
"It has made a huge difference for him, he never wanted to go to school before and now he does and his marks have gone from average to As and Bs."
The $1,500 system consists of an unobtrusive headset with a small microphone worn by the teacher and four speakers.
Co-principal Patricia Smith says the system has helped all students.
"I can't say exactly how many kids have hearing problems, but we know that out of our 150 students many of them do," said Smith.
"We've found that using the phonic ear system has benefitted all of the students in the class because everyone can focus on the teacher's words.
The advantage of the teacher wearing the headset is two-fold, says Smith.
It doesn't single out a child with a problem, and it gives the teacher's voice a break.
"I've taught with it myself and it really saves your voice, you can speak in normal tones and everything is heard."
Kimmirut District Education Authority intends to purchase two more systems and equip all classes with the technology.
