Fellow teachers - How are we supposed to teach with masks on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't plan to lecture very much. I will assign work via Google Classroom and prerecorded videos. Instead of read alouds, I'll show a video online of the book, for example.

Expect a lot of complaints about you to your principal. Maybe you’re just not cut out to be a teacher.

I doubt that very much. We are being told to use technology as much as possible. And the more I make prerecorded videos of what I am teaching, the easier it would be to have true hybrid instruction.

We aren't supposed to lecture in elementary school very much anyhow.

Plus, the more we get students used to using the online classroom options, the easier a time they will have it if we have to go to full time distance learning again.

[Anonymous]

Other countries figured it out. Are we that incompetent?

[Anonymous]

SOmeone posted a link to the humanity shield. It’s expensive but I’ll try that if my district says it’s okay. I’ll deduct it from my taxes.

[Anonymous]

Teachers need to speak clearly to kids otherwise kids with delays are unable to understand fully. Enunciation is important in early elementary. If kids can't hear the sounds and see how your mouth moves, they struggle with understanding. Not all the kids are like that but some kids need it.

[Anonymous]

I teach elementary self-contained special education. I spend a significant portion of my day redirecting, repeating myself, and managing behavior. I talk constantly, out of necessity. Many kids can't read independently, so I have to deliver all my content myself. I can't just give quick directions and then assign them a reading/response. I also teach phonics for 45 minutes a day. I am going to have to make prerecorded videos of myself teaching and show them in class. It is not physically possible for me to speak audibly and clearly through a mask for seven hours a day at a volume that can be heard across the classroom and over the regular hustle and bustle of daily activities.
My husband works in healthcare and wears a mask all day. He does NOT talk all day and he does NOT have to lecture to a large group of people through a mask. He also doesn't manage the behavior of his patients, entertain them, or repeat himself three times after he gives instructions. He's not expected to hang out with a group of unmasked patients for hours on end, either. Not the same job! Sorry folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't plan to lecture very much. I will assign work via Google Classroom and prerecorded videos. Instead of read alouds, I'll show a video online of the book, for example.

Expect a lot of complaints about you to your principal. Maybe you’re just not cut out to be a teacher.

I doubt that very much. We are being told to use technology as much as possible. And the more I make prerecorded videos of what I am teaching, the easier it would be to have true hybrid instruction.

We aren't supposed to lecture in elementary school very much anyhow.

This is a perfect example of why the quality of schools has plummeted. Teachers just follow orders. But they also are clueless, and don’t understand why parents are so unhappy with their child’s education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just a matter of getting used to it. Medical personnel do it all the time. My family has been working on wearing them more for when the kids go to school and we have all built up to a few hours comfortably in one week’s time.

Yeah, but they are having shorter conversations, and they’re not trying to project their voices to be heard from the back of the room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same way medical professionals and all other essential personnel have managed for months.

I truly don’t understand the commitment of some teachers to the idea that they are less capable than everyone else. It doesn’t instill confidence in their judgment as professionals.

Do you not see the difference between speaking loudly in a mask and trying to be heard on the other side of the room vs having a conversation with someone in front of you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't plan to lecture very much. I will assign work via Google Classroom and prerecorded videos. Instead of read alouds, I'll show a video online of the book, for example.

Expect a lot of complaints about you to your principal. Maybe you’re just not cut out to be a teacher.

I doubt that very much. We are being told to use technology as much as possible. And the more I make prerecorded videos of what I am teaching, the easier it would be to have true hybrid instruction.

We aren't supposed to lecture in elementary school very much anyhow.

This is a perfect example of why the quality of schools has plummeted. Teachers just follow orders. But they also are clueless, and don’t understand why parents are so unhappy with their child’s education.

When you don’t follow orders, you get placed on a PIP and are fired. That’s what happened to the person in my position before me.

[Anonymous]

Same way as without. How is this even a question? Deaf students will ask for additional accomodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SOmeone posted a link to the humanity shield. It’s expensive but I’ll try that if my district says it’s okay. I’ll deduct it from my taxes.

That’s not how taxes actually work. You get a $250 teacher credit max for classroom supplies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same way medical professionals and all other essential personnel have managed for months.

I truly don’t understand the commitment of some teachers to the idea that they are less capable than everyone else. It doesn’t instill confidence in their judgment as professionals.

+1

You can't complain about not being treated professionally when you don't behave like a professional.

Not many other professions involve being heard from across the room. Can we please just let the teachers discuss their ideas instead of chiming in by trying to shame them for having questions about how to effectively do their jobs in this new environment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach elementary self-contained special education. I spend a significant portion of my day redirecting, repeating myself, and managing behavior. I talk constantly, out of necessity. Many kids can't read independently, so I have to deliver all my content myself. I can't just give quick directions and then assign them a reading/response. I also teach phonics for 45 minutes a day. I am going to have to make prerecorded videos of myself teaching and show them in class. It is not physically possible for me to speak audibly and clearly through a mask for seven hours a day at a volume that can be heard across the classroom and over the regular hustle and bustle of daily activities.
My husband works in healthcare and wears a mask all day. He does NOT talk all day and he does NOT have to lecture to a large group of people through a mask. He also doesn't manage the behavior of his patients, entertain them, or repeat himself three times after he gives instructions. He's not expected to hang out with a group of unmasked patients for hours on end, either. Not the same job! Sorry folks.

I will not be eating lunch while my students eat because I don’t want to be unmasked around 15 people.

The other issue is that when I lost my 30 min duty free lunch, the administrator who scheduled me to teach 4 classes back to back just ran into a huge problem. I can’t be legally required to work 8 hours without a bathroom break. He’s going to have to find someone to spot me briefly every single M and Th that we are in person. Too bad the staff bathroom is diagonally so far that I have to walk down two hallways no matter which direction I head. I teach just one class on T and F. I guess it looked like a good idea to him at the time, but someone else is going to angry at him now.

[Anonymous]

you are scheduled to teach 4 classes on one day and 1 class on another day???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same way as without. How is this even a question? Deaf students will ask for additional accomodations.

Have you heard how muffled people sound with face masks? Desks are going to be spread as far apart as possible which is going to make it hard for students to hear us. I’m hoping my admin will let us use face shields during whole group instruction. If you’re not a teacher, please find another thread to comment on.