There’s the usual once-every-few-years article about how teachers’ voices are their best, most used tool in the Times Educational Supplement (here). It’s right, of course – teachers do use their voices more than actors or singers… and they get less training. It isn’t for the lack of trying, I promise: we regularly market to schools. Nor is it a lack of willingness on the part of the schools – they simply can’t find the time to get enough people together at any one place in any one time.
The tyranny of the bell (as teachers call it) means it’s almost impossible to organise training during school hours; after hours are almost a dead loss as teaching staff crawl into the training sessions knackered from the day’s work! :)
So what to do?
This isn’t a comprehensive list, of course, but it’s a start… our tip half dozen, in fact. We’ve listed below hints and tips which relate specifically to teachers. Scattered throughout the rest of this blog you’ll find good advice on your voice and how to protect it and teachers should read (and act on!) that – this is more targeted advice – just for you, ‘cos your special… ;)
Beware of your writing tools – if you’re in an old-style school using chalkboards you’ll probably know about the problems of using chalk in terms of your voice. All you have to do is look at your clothing to see the effects of chalk dust… dust that you’ll have been breathing in. Think about ways you can avoid that – perhaps, for example, simply by breathing out as you write whenever possible.
If you’re in a less anachronistic school, you’ll be using whiteboards. The pens you use are barely any better than chalk because the fumes can dry out your throat and voice just as fast as anything else.
Make absolutely sure you’re teaching environment is well ventilated and consider changing the make of whiteboard marker if you need to.
Check your pitch – when you’re faced with a challenging class (classroom management is often an issue with the teachers we work with) the chances are that you’ve become a little stressed, tired or anxious. This will almost inevitably mean your voice rises in pitch – and that’s bad for the long term survival of your voice (not to mention your credibility in the classroom!). Take a moment to stop, check and drop your voice’s pitch. It doesn’t need to be much, just enough to get it back to where you’d pitch it if you were talking normally, rather than raising your voice. Raising the volume doesn’t automatically mean raising the pitch, but all too often they tend to go together if you’re not careful.
Think about your background noise – particularly if you’re teaching any kind of tech. Machinery will give off a general hum and if you’re trying to compete with that you’re asking for trouble. Ask yourself what you can do to reduce the ambient noise: chances are you can even turn something off! (Okay, and here I can hear teachers across the land shouting at me that they can’t possible turn anything off because it takes too long to turn it back on again but I promise you, from experience, I’ve never found a school or college where something couldn’t be turned off, or down!) It might just be that you turn off speakers that you’re not using, rather than just turning them down, or it could be that a motor, or computer can be shut down… whatever it is, cut it if you can.
Check your water – you’ll have read, no doubt, the (wrong) advice that you should drink cool water when you’re presenting… The truth is, however, that you should drink before you use your voice. That means, as a teacher, drinking whenever you can to maintain your body’s ability to secrete the lubricants that protect your vocal folds. The water itself can’t do it for the obvious reason that the only time water will touch your vocal folds is when you’re taking water down to your lungs – and therefore drowning! What the water does do, however, is give your voice the ability to produce things to protect itself.
By the way, it’s also worthwhile thinking of humidifiers in the classroom, particularly if your teaching environment is dry, warm or has any reasonable amount of technology in it. A room of computers, for example, throws out a lot of warm, dry air!
Learn to project – projecting is different from simply shouting or being loud. If you get any opportunity to take an INSET on voice, how to protect it or how to use it, take it! Some research we read a while ago suggests that losing your voice was the second most common reason for teachers leaving the profession early (after stress). What’s more, the two issues are related!
Re-arrange your room – you may not be able to do this, but think about it. In our experience it’s all too common for classrooms to be laid out without any regard to the needs of the teacher. Why should the convenience/logistics of the desks dictate how you stand, where your desk is and how you face the pupils and your screen (if you’re using a projector for powerpoint or better alternatives!) ? Imagine your room without any desks in it, think about it hard, design the perfect layout in your mind, so that you can face your pupils and your computer etc without twisting, turning or raising your neck. Then see about trying to set your room up like that!
One particularly common issue we find is that teachers tend to put their desks (or have their desks put) in inappropriate places, so that they have raise their heads as they sit – this stretching of their necks and vocal folds can have serious long term consequences on their voices! Check that you’re sitting naturally when you can see all your pupils – and be natural we don’t mean “as you’re used to”! What you’re used to and what is in your ideal/best interests are different!
Okay, that’s it – our top half dozen. They’re not comprehensive but it’s a start! :) If you’re a teacher or any other kind of educator and you’ve got a question or suggestion, let us know!
