Let’s talk about how to set up a classroom with bluetooth headphones!

I have a lot of things going on in my self-contained classroom throughout the school day.  Thankfully, I have iPads in my classroom that allow me to quickly set up centers and reinforce my students.  iPads and technology can get noisy quickly, so I needed to find a solution to decrease the noise in my classroom.  Headphones are obviously the answer, right?! Yes, but, I teach a young group and learned the hard way that just any headphones do not work for my students.

First, students chew on and through the audio cord – which then renders the headphones useless. Second, they bend and stretch the headphones all around their body, which leads to them breaking.  No matter what I did, the headphones never lasted a full school year – let alone half of a school year.  That is until I found these kids’ bluetooth headphones.

The Best Headphones, EVER

I love these Bluetooth headphones because they are super bendy and flexible – and they stand up to throwing or accidental falls, too! These headphones have been a lifesaver in my classroom!  Not only is my classroom quieter, but none of these have been broken which means that a whole set of headphones has lasted me a full school year! 

If you have more than one iPad or device in your classroom then you need multiple sets of headphones which can make pairing multiple headphones to multiple devices a nightmare.  Switching my class headphones to Bluetooth headphones was a bit of a learning curve for my team and me.  That’s why I want to share these tips with you:

Pairing and Labeling

First, make sure the Bluetooth is turned off on all of your devices and keep all of your headphones off.  Next, put a number on each of your devices (I like numbers 1-10 but you can use letters or shapes, too).  Then, begin pairing your headphones one at a time to each device by turning on one headphone and one device’s Bluetooth.  Once one headphone is paired with one device, number those headphones with the same number that is on the device (So if the iPad is labeled 1, then your paired headphones need to be labeled 1).  

Make sure that no other Bluetooth headphones get paired to the device you are working on – to do this, only turn on one set of headphones and one device’s Bluetooth at a time. 

Shut Down

Additionally, at the end of the day, when charging your headphones and devices, turn off each device’s Bluetooth.  This helps for super easy and quick pairing in the mornings because all you have to do is turn on the device Bluetooth and turn on your headphones. 

Storing and Charging

Last, you will need an easy way to store and charge all of your devices and headphones at the end of every day.  I store and charge mine using this device charging station and a basket.

For more technology tips, read Holly’s post: Focus on Five: Setting up Technology.  

There you have it.  I am all about things being easy and efficient in my classroom so I hope these tips helped you!  Please let me know if you have any questions and I will get back to you.  Thanks for reading!