Skip to main content

No Voice


I've been fighting some kind of congestion for a few days. The medicine is helping. I've been trying to get lots of sleep, too...that's not working as well. I keep waking up around two or three A.M. and I'm up for the day. So I shouldn't be surprised to wake up today (at 2:23 am) with no voice. 

 Every teacher has experienced this...teaching with little to no voice. Physically, I'm feeling better than I have in the past few days. Today I have to face my seventh-graders with no voice. It's days like these where I realize how much I rely on my voice. It's also days like these when I'm reminded how awesome my students really are. Usually, I'm greeted with help as I whisper and croak my way through instructions.

They help each other out more. They offer me help. It reminds me of how grateful I am that I get to spend my days working with these kind students. 

 Wish me luck today! Oh, and if you're going to NCTE, hope to see you there...
Sharing this as a slice at Two Writing Teachers. 
Read more slices there! 

Labels:

Comments

  1. Margaret SimonNovember 19, 2019 at 6:33 AM

    I look forward to seeing you this week. Hope your voice returns before Thursday. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Melanie MeehanNovember 19, 2019 at 7:06 AM

    Looking forward to seeing you this week, and hope your voice comes back. It's SO hard to be voiceless on ourselves AND on the people around us! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erika VictorNovember 19, 2019 at 7:06 AM

    I hope your day passed relatively easily. I think I remember you losing your voice last year too. Happily this has not happened to me in recent memory. Enjoy NCTE!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Adrienne G.November 19, 2019 at 8:48 AM

    I hope this passes quickly. Are you astounding people by telling them you feel fine, you just can't talk? It's one upside of laryngitis. I went through a few years when I lost my voice around the same time every year. It was weird. I wish you a quick recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stacey ShubitzNovember 19, 2019 at 3:13 PM

    Teaching without a voice is beyond tough. I feel for you. Hope it’s back by NCTE. (I had to bail on it this year because of my ankle. Walking is beyond challenging.)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts. I love comments!

Popular posts from this blog

Whatever Happened To...

Sharing this post on Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Do you ever wonder whatever happened to your students after the year you spend together? I imagine how my students are finding life...are they happy? Successful? Do they still read? Write? What is going on with them?   I taught fifth grade for eight years. Fifth grade was such a fun year to teach because the students were still young enough that school was something they loved and old enough that they could show some real signs of independence. Fifth grade is the oldest grade in our elementary schools, so the students enjoyed their final year before moving onto middle school and the challenges that came with that new adventure.  2007 was a tough year for me personally. My dad collapsed in September of that year and then died in March of that same school year. He lived thousands of miles away, so my mind was definitely unfocused that year...but that year, Catie was in my class.  Catie was a quiet stude...
29 comments
Read more

Chasing My Dream

I'm doing it. I'm chasing my dream. I've always wanted to run writing retreats and workshops for people, but I've always been too scared to do anything about it...until now. I don't know what's changed...maybe I've changed. I'm not allowing the fear to stop me anymore. I've started Selah Writing Retreats.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting the business end in order. I thought I would hate that...I don't. It's scary, but I am surprising myself with how efficient I am. Yesterday I went to a bank to set up a bank account. The woman I met with was kind and helpful and so enthusiastic about my dream. My website is set up. I've done lots of work on it. I hope you stop by and let me know what you think. It's  selahwritingretreats.com . Balancing creative with business has been challenging but fun. Creating the website, getting a federal tax id, making business cards, planning dates... My favorite voxer group is called Butt Ki...
21 comments
Read more

Saying Goodbye

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, & Anna for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at  Two Writing Teachers .  Today is the last day of sixth grade. My students will leave this classroom and they will magically turn into seventh graders. I am sad. We have to say goodbye. Goodbye to our time together. It turns out...I'm not good at saying goodbye. Emotions overwhelm me and I pull back...I want to be strong for them. Today I want to BE in the moment as much as possible. I want to talk with my students and remember our good times together. I want to pay attention to the final moments of our community. We created strong communities this year and we took care of each other.  They are ready. Summer is waiting. Seventh grade is waiting. They have written and read and created and communicated and grown every single day. I'm proud of each of my students. I ...
13 comments
Read more