Help, I have no voice!

It’s not until you no longer have your voice that you realise how much you rely on it as a teacher.

My job requires me to talk and of course sing.  I lost my voice at the end of June 2015, which thankfully was near the end of the summer term so my classes were near an end, but I had videos to create for the new ‘Music Time’ plans that I created.  It only started to get back to normal at the beginning of September; that’s a long time!

I don’t think that I did myself any favours at the start of loosing my voice as I although I cancelled my music classes for a week I carried on as normal with my other work and at home.  I believe this delayed my recovery considerably.

We as teachers must look after our voice. This article is well worth a read to help you take care of your voice.  It is written for singing teachers but there are elements from it all teachers can take away https://www.singup.org/knowledge-hub/how-tos-guides/voice-rescue/

Some quotes that I found interesting from the article:

'Crowd control' is an art in all lessons … Successful methods include raising the arm, playing a particular tune or chord, simply 'being quiet' and waiting, using a percussion sound, or drawing a certain sign on a blackboard.

One of the most important things to be aware of is that when you are ill with anything, especially with a sore throat or hoarse voice, you must take extra care not to strain or over-use the voice. Teachers rarely feel they can take time off, but  you can change your lesson plans and materials to minimise the amount of speaking you have to do.

I will definitely be taking care of my voice the next time I have the feeling a sore throat is on its way!

Anne :)