How To Use A Voice Recorder In A Classroom

Transcription

1 Using the Digital Voice Recorder for Reading Assessments Casey Wise Instructional Technologist Garden City Public Schools

2 Using the Sony Digital Voice Recorder for Reading Assessment During this training will be discussing how you can utilize a voice recorder to help you with reading assessments and DRA testing. Teachers have a tremendous amount of work to do during their day, add into that listening and assessing each student s reading ability, and you have a serious time crunch. With the voice recorder, students will be able to record their own readings allowing the teacher to conitue with classroom instruction. Assessing can then take place at a time when the teacher is less busy. I have posted all the resources for this course on the district technology in-services website. The handout and a video tutorial are posted there for your use. The direct link to this page is; Course Objectives After completing this training you will be able to utilize a digital voice recorder to record student readings and assess fluency and accuracy of these readings. You will use the digital voice recorder to record each student reading the prescribed passage. You will transfer the recordings to the computer using the recorder s accompanying software. You will use the recordings from the computer to assess student fluency and accuracy. What You Will Need During this traing the materials will be provided for you. To utilize this in your classroom you will need the following materials Digitla Voice Recorder: During the training we will use the Sony ICD-PX720. It runs around $60.00 and can purchased at Staples and Target. The concepts in this lesson can be accomplished with other recorders, but the software and recorder operations will be different. Recorder Software: The Sony recorder comes with software that we will use in this training to help you assess the students recordings. Laptop/Desktop: You will have to install the software on a computer that you can easily access. 1

3 The Sony Voice Recorder Microphone Jack Built-in Microphone Display Divide Button Record/Pause Button Rewind/fast backward Button Stop Button Speaker Headphone Jack Erase Button Volume Display/Menu Button Repeat Button Play/Enter Button Cue/Fast Forward Button Not Seen on Left side: Hold/On-Off Switch USB Connector Using the Recorder The voice recorder is very simple to use. A nice feature of this recorder is that each time you hit record and then stop, it creates a new file. This division of files will help you when listening to your students files at a later time. Now you will be able to listen to the recordings on the device if need be, but transferring them to the computer will allow you to change the names and catalog them for your records. To record a file: 1. Set the device down on the desk or hold it in your hand. Either method will work fine. When recording students, you may have to encourage them to speak louder or hold it in their hands if they speak softly. 2. Press the record button. 3. Read the passage. 4. Press the stop button. 2

4 Listening to the recordings: 1. If you choose to listen to the recordings on the device, you can use the forward and backward buttons above the speaker to choose the file. They are numbered so you will have to keep track of the order in which the students read in. 2. Push the play button to hear the recording. 3. You can rewind and fast forward the recording using the buttons above the speaker. Training Your Students: When training your students to make their recordings, teach them the following process. 1. Have them take the recorder and their book into the hall or another quiet place where they can read. It will be helpful if they can sit at a desk or table. 2. The students should open their book up to the page they are going to read and get ready. 3. When they press the Record button, have them say their name, the date, and the book they are reading from. This will help you later when listening to the files. For example; Casey Wise, August 1 st, Harry Potter 4. When they are done they will press the stop button and return to class. 5. The next student will follow the same directions. There is no need to add space in between the recordings. Erasing the recordings on the device: When you are done with the recordings you can delete them off the device. It must be done one at a time or all at once. 1. To erase a single recording, skip to the recording so that it is displayed on the screen. 2. Press and hold down the erase button on the right side, 3. When the word Erase is blinking on the display, press the erase button again. 4. To erase all the recordings at once, press and hold down the display button. 5. Use the forward button to move through the menus until the words All Erase on the display. 6. Press the enter button to erase all the recordings on the device. There are other features that allow you to setup folders and do various other tasks, but for the purpose of this training you will not need these functions. 3

5 Using the Digital Voice Editor Software The Sony voice recorder comes with a piece of software which allows you to easily transfer recordings from your device to your computer. This process will allow you to easily edit and store your students recordings for their records and for assessing. Connect your recorder to the computer using the USB cable provided with it. Once the recorder is connected, you can start up the Sony Digital Editor software. The Software Interface: When you open the software the following screen is what you will be working with. Save Button Delete Button Folders on Recorder Files on Recorder File Information Playback functions Locations on your computer. Playing Recordings: To listen to the files through your computer using the software, highlight the file you wish to listen to and then use the controls at the bottom to play the file. The controls allow you to fast 4

6 forward, rewind, change the volume, and speed up and slow down along with various other features. Editing the File Names: When you open the software you can see that all the files are numbered in consecutive order starting with number Highlight the recording you wish to rename. 2. Right click on the recording, select Rename from the list. 3. Type in the name you want the file to have. I would suggest you type in the student name and date of the recording/assessing. (see example above on file 3) 4. Click outside of the highlighted box. Saving the Recordings onto Your Computer: When you are ready you can transfer the songs from your device to your computer. As you can see below, the device files are located on the left and my computer locations are on the right. 1. First, create a folder on your computer where you will move the files to. Above, I have made a folder on my Desktop named Class recordings You can name these folders whatever you wish. 2. When you highlight your folder, its contents will be displayed in the bottom window on the right. 3. To move a file onto your computer, simply highlight it on the left, left click on the file, and drag it over to the window on the bottom right of the screen. Release the mouse button. 4. You will now see a copy of your file on the right side. Notice in the example above I have moved all three files over and they appear on both sides (still on the device and a copy on the computer). 5

7 5. To move multiple files at once, highlight them all on the left side, click and drag the entire group over to the right side. Deleting Files on the Device: Once you have saved your files onto the computer, simply highlight the files you want to remove from the device and click the delete key on your computer, or hit the delete icon at the top of the software window. Let s Record Something! In this activity you will record yourself reading a passage of text from Dr Seuss s Fox in Socks. 1. Record yourself reading the following passage from the book. 2. When finished, plug your recorder into the computer 3. Rename your file appropriately. 4. Transfer your recording over to your H:/ drive. 5. Listen to the recording and assess your fluency and accuracy. Socks Box Knox Knox in box. Fox in socks. Knox on fox in socks in box. Socks on Knox and Knox in box. Fox in socks on box on Knox. Chicks with bricks come. Chicks with blocks come. Chicks with Bricks and blocks and clocks come. Look, sir. Look, sir. Mr. Knox, sir. Let's do tricks with bricks and blocks, sir. Let s do tricks with chicks and clocks, sir. First, I'll make a quick trick brick stack. Then I'll make a quick trick block stack. You can make a quick trick chick stack. You can make a trick clock stack. And here's a new trick, Mr. Knox... Socks on chicks and chicks on fox. Fox on clocks on bricks and blocks. bricks and blocks on Knox on blocks. Now we come to ticks and tocks, sir. Try to say this Mr. Knox, sir... Clocks on fox tick. Clocks on Knox tock. Six sick bricks tick. Six sick chicks tock. Lyrics from the song adaptation of Dr Seuss s Fox in Socks and copied from m/lyrics/seuss- 6

8 dr/574416/fox-in-sockslyrics/ 1

9 Ways to Use My New Recorder in Class Now that we have learned how to use the device for recording student readings, how else can I use the device in my class? Record sample readings for students to listen to during centers. Record directions for a center so that you do not have to re-explain them to every group. Let students narrate videos. Let students record books for use in lower grades. Other Ideas??? What We Have Learned In this training we have learned, How to use a digital voice recorder to record something Teach the students to record their readings. Connect the recorder to the computer Rename the recordings using the supplied software. Transfer the recordings over to your computer for storage. Remove the recordings from the device. As you go back to your classroom, please keep in mind that I will be able to help you if needed. Please see my contact information on the title page of this handout if you need further assistance. I have also posted a video tutorial, on how to use the software, on the district s technology inservice website. The tutorial can be found at the address below. I will also be sending out a couple of surveys during the next few weeks. The first will be an evaluation survey of the initial training. The second will be an evaluation of your use of the information learned in the training, how frequently you are using the devices, your success 2

10 and/or struggles with it, and your feelings regarding how it has affected your classroom instruction. 8