Having a quiet classroom is a dream of every teacher. This kind of situation makes them can explain materials peacefully and the students will be able to absorb the materials well. However, it is not easy to make your classroom always quiet. So, you may need the best online noise level meter for your classroom.
Classcraft Volume Meter
With Classcraft volume meter, you are able to monitor the noise levels in your classroom in seconds and it can make students accountable for keeping their classroom quiet. As explained on the Classcraft site, this web tool can allow teachers to manage their classroom by setting a maximum volume threshold of their choosing. If the class is noisy, the horizontal bar will fill up. The volume also fluctuates in real time.
With this web tool, students are able to see how close they are getting to the maximum and the teacher can adjust it anytime. If the noise is below the limit, students earn ‘treasure’ when the meter is stopped. However, if students are too loud, they lose their opportunity at the reward as explained on the Classcraft site. If you are the teacher, you are able to set a timer if you want the volume meter to work for a specific period of time.
This web tool is free to use so that you are able to use it anytime and anywhere without having a Classcraft account. This tool is also simple and can be used by all ages. This tool can be used on Android mobile browsers, desktop browsers, or it can be downloaded from Google Play Store or App Store.
Students are also able to take part to set the maximum threshold where it can be done by testing out the volume and it will make classroom management a collective effort. It also can help teachers choose the maximum level which is right for their class.
If you use a Premium account, the Volume Meter will be a part of the bigger Classcraft game and it means that students are able to get real rewards such as Experience Points and Gold Pieces if they can be quiet successfully or get a penalty if the teacher chooses (losing Health Points, or HP) as cited from ClassCraft site.
Bouncy Balls
If you want a more colourful and cheerful noise level meter, you are able to use Bouncy Balls. In this online noise level meter, you are able to choose the theme whether plastic, emoji, numbers, bubbles or eyeballs. It will be interesting for students. You are also able to adjust the sensitivity and total. Besides, you are also permitted to choose noise alert whether no sound, beep, or shush.
When you use this noise level meter, you have to make sure to allow the microphone by clicking on the microphone icon on the top right of the screen.
So, in this tool, if a bunch of balls of different sizes balance, it means that the situation is quiet. So, to make the students quiet, you can challenge them to always make these balls balanced during the class.
If the students are then very loud, the sign is that the balls jump high in the air. If it happens, students have to be quiet again to balance the balls again.
The look of this tool is funny so that younger students will likely be excited when this tool is being used. However, the drawback of this tool is that since the balls are interesting and it will jump high when the students are too loud, it may distract the focus of the students.
Too Noisy
There is also Too Noisy. As explained on the Classcraft site, this app offers a free browser tool and paid mobile apps. If you access Google Play Store, you will find that the cost for Too Noisy Pro is €5,49.
If you use this tool, you will see there is an arrow which spins left and right on a dial like a speed meter in a car. If the volume of the noise is low, the arrow will be in the green and yellow range. However, if the students are very loud, you will see that the arrow shows to oranges and reds where it warns students that they have hit the maximum of the volume.
You can also see that behind the meter, there is a blue sky completed with clouds and a happy emoji. If the students in your class are loud, you will see that the sky becomes orange, the clouds become grey and the emoji frowns. If the maximum volume is hit, the entire sky will be dark gray and black and the emoji will turn into a crying face.
This tool is simple to use and the shifting colors and changing emojis are also interesting for students so that they will be pushed to be quiet in an acceptable range. However, for some students, this tool may be too childish because of the cartoon look.
Calm Counter
Calm Counter is another noise level meter that you are able to use. If you use this web tool, you will see the noise level from green to red where the green one is good and the red one is bad. You have to set the microphone sensitivity to suit your microphone and classroom. On the Clam Counter site, it suggests you to use your built-in microphone or plug in your USB microphone to allow this groovy noise level monitor.
When you use this web tool, your browser will prompt you to ask whether it is okay to connect to your microphone. This noise level monitor is easy to use for everyone and the appearance of the tool is also simple so that it will not distract your students.
If you like this noise level meter, you are able to access the Calm Counter website directly and then press to start using the microphone. As explained earlier, you are able to adjust the microphone sensitivity as you want.