As much as we as music educators hate to admit it, it's almost inevitable...........THE LOST VOICE. We have a nice summer of saving our voices (except for maybe the possible rare scream on a roller coaster).....no yelling at kids (except for band directors, and you should be using a bullhorn!!).........no talking in loud, echo-y auditoriums.........no frequent singing over and over and over....................

THEN it hits. After the first week or so of school, you notice it. The voice is raspy. You're clearing your throat more than you were. Your throat might be a little sore in the mornings. And, for some of us unlucky ones, the fever hits. The throat is so sore, you feel like you have a knife in it. It's strep! Or, you can't talk at all! How can this be prevented? And, how can we keep from using up ALL our sick days when it keeps persisting and persisting?

POSSIBLE CAUSES

Mold and Other Allergens
Coincidentally, the start of school can also be a high allergen count time of year. Much of my problem comes from allergens, and it seems to get worse as I get older. Make sure your school is stringent on checking for mold in the rooms, especially older rooms or rooms where leaks might occur. It's not that noticable until you realize that you feel better once you're OUT of the room for a couple of days, like the weekend. (No, you might not be able to blame it all on the kids!). Another clue to this is that teachers at your end of the building might be complaining about the same thing. If another teacher shares your room and complains about symptoms such as funny throat or headaches, it's time to insist to your administrator that your room be checked for mold. Tell them it's a CHILD health hazard! If that doesn't work, let your NEA or teacher organization rep know that you suspect there might be a mold problem and ask them the best recourse. Make sure you follow the chain of command.

Kids and Their Illnesses
Kids bring with them all sorts of bugs and germs. And, in this day of two working parents or single parenthood, many parents make the decision to send their kids to school no matter how sick they are. At my school, we have had instances when a child was throwing up with a fever, and parents hoped to sneak them in anyway. It doesn't make for a healthy atmosphere, and until it's noticed, and the parent comes to pick up the child, the germs are being spread all over the place!

Make sure you keep that instant antibacterial hand cleaner handy. (Kindergarten teachers won't live without it). Wipe down instruments as much as possible between use, especially mallets and other instruments that come in direct contact with hands. (With your administrator's permission, keep a can of Lysol handy. If he/she won't allow that, keep some Clorox wipes, or just make sure kids use the hand cleaner after handling instruments.). Keep germicide mouthpiece cleaner on hand for mouthpieces and recorders. (You can also get a solution of this to soak recorders in, available wherever recorders are sold, such as Plank Road Publishing and West Music.) If you're an elementary teacher, you might want to request (tactfully) that if the kids can wash their hands before music, that would be great. (This isn't often possible. Do remember that most elementary teachers really emphasize cleanliness and hand washing, but can't always monitor their kids in the bathroom as much as they'd and we'd like!). Hopefully, middle school and high school kids are more aware of this. It's highly likely that middle school and high school kids aren't as likely to get ill because of their awareness of handwashing, the fact that they've probably developed immunity to these annoying little diseases as they get older, or the fact that they might be allowed to stay home alone when they're sick.

OVERWORKED!
Much of the problem just comes from us, as musicians, overusing our voice. Even if you teach instrumental music, you sing patterns to kids when modeling. We talk to the kids. We lecture the kids. We use our voices quite a bit. If you have a large room, you might invest in a karaoke machine or set up a portable sound system and use the mike. Don't YELL at the kids to get quiet! That's counterproductive anyway, because you know what they'll do? They'll just get louder! Come up with a signal for quiet. Model once, then let the kids sing, singing only when you need to for correction (and that's a tough one for me, because I like to sing just because I like the songs!). Allow students the chance to "teach" by having them demonstrate or describe the objective you're teaching. Allow other students to do the modeling. Rely on CD's of the songs, as long as the quality of the singing is what you want. (Don't have a CD of a man singing if you want your children to use their head voices! Use recordings demonstrating proper child singing).

Don't fall in the habit of having videos handy, though, for several reasons: Unless you can prove it, it breaks copyright laws if you show videos for "entertainment" purposes and cannot back up the curricular use. Students are TV'ed and videoed out, especially after summer. They really won't pay that much attention. Videos should be used to enhance your curriculum, and then sparingly.

Other Solutions to Saving the Voice

From Rhonda Schilling: Rhonda records herself reading books she loves to use in reading class.She recorded them onto her computer (via a mic and cool edit software) into a wav. file, then put them on a CD.Now, all she has to do is pop in the cd, get out the book, and "read" to her students! (Note: Cool Edit will also covert to a mp3, which you can burn and play on a CD player).

Rhonda also highly advocates the workshops from the Voice Care Network. Ideas she got from the workshops (in blue):
First off: See if you can get an appointment with an ear nose and throat
physician (specifically the voice person if you have a specific person)
7 categories to watch for:
1. Self-Monitoring: listen for hoarseness...don't deny it!!
2. Recovery: give yourself at least 1 hour of no talking (downtime) each
evening (ideally all evening).
3. Warm-up: Do vocal warm-ups in the shower as the humidity helps your
vocal folds.
4.Maintenance of General Health and Managing stress (both eustress and
distress): during your busy seasons when your voice starts to
go...prioritize your voice use.
5. Hydration/Lubrication of Vocal folds: use steam as much as possible,
drink 64-80 oz of liquid a day.
6. Conditioning your voice: Get your voice conditioned 3-4 weeks before
school begins.
7. Efficiency - if you are using your voice efficiently you should not be
fatigued vocally at the end of the day...but you will still need recovery
time daily to prevent problems.