Benefits of Program
There are many benefits of using the Qball in the classroom. The Qball helps to manage classroom discussions because when someone has the Qball it is their turn to speak. It also helps to increase student engagement by making participating in discussions and sharing ideas more fun. Everyone wants the chance to catch and throw the Qball, but in order to do so they are going to have to engage and participate. The Qball makes participating more of a game, and all kids love playing games in the classroom. The Qball would help with our speaking and listening standards by making students want to speak more and express their thoughts as well as making it easier for students to listen.
Many students have soft or quiet voices and it is hard for them to be heard by other students. This is a daily problem in my classroom. I can pass them the teacher microphone, but it wastes precious learning time walking around to each student to hold the teacher microphone. That microphone also can not be thrown; it is fragile and hard, so it would be hard to catch and would easily break. Because of this many students are not heard by the entire classroom when they are speaking or sharing. According to the Qball website “Studies have shown that a child's cognitive auditory processing is not fully developed until age 15. In order to comprehend speech clearly, they need to hear at more than 2X the level of your average adult! The Qball helps ensure that everyone can be heard clearly, especially students who tend to be shy or soft spoken.” Even things like ambient noise from recess going on outside to the heater make hearing quieter students very difficult. The Qball is quick and easy to use, so it would easily be able to eliminate these challenges making sharing and listening accessible to all students.
