It's not uncommon for teachers to lose their voices the first week of school. We do a lot of talking in our jobs, and many times we're not used to doing so much after summer vacation.
My voice feels fine, though, and I haven't heard anyone else complain about losing their voice. Most odd....
I haven't lost my voice either, although I've had a sore throat at the end of the day every day this week. That's not terribly uncommon for any given day or week where I do most of the talking for any (or all!) of the class period.
ReplyDeleteThe debate teacher lost his voice due to what I believe is mold. His new room this year, was subject to a water leak from the outside. The previous teacher had a constant series of upper respiratory infections because rather than removing the carpet and underlay after months of seeping leaks, they simply steam cleaned the floor. As a result, kids come from there with sore throats and the teacher is already concerned about missing classes for his debate squad. Just another example of doing something cheap and paying for it down the road.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good with my voice....it is a bit stressed, but no sore throat or too much cracking. This year, I have tried to go easy on my throat.
ReplyDeleteI used to lose my voice at the beginning of every school year... then my kids reached toddlerhood and beyond. They are now 4 and 6, and I haven't lost my voice since. They keep my vocal chords nice and supple during the summers!
ReplyDeleteYour staff speech pathologist should be able to give a short inservice on voice preservation techniques. Classroom amplification devices where you wear a microphone are great too, and there is some evidence that they improve student performance by improving the signal to noise ratio.
ReplyDeleteHey first full week I got food poisoning or such. Doctor asked if I had been exposed to any illneses...."ho ho I teach in public school, they are little germ packets walking around."
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