I’m back and while I appreciate seeing the kids, I’m exhausted teaching with the mask on all day. I find myself nearly shouting each class so the remote kids can hear me (they are on a giant screen in the back) and as a result of barely drinking water and shouting I am developing a sore throat. This weekend so far, I have had barely any energy and find myself unable to do much more than lounge on my bed. I feel bad for my actual children who want to do things on the weekend, but I just can’t. Hopefully this exhaustion will lessen but I doubt it.
The 2021 School Year and Coronavirus
- Thread starter Megs
- Start date
It should get easier. Breath and voice control are important and you have to build up that muscle. Good luck!
I hear you on the shouting. Between my faceshield and double mask at work, nobody can hear me and I have to shout all the time. My throat gets dried up from all the shouting and then I start coughing and get worried that people are going to think I have corona!
OMG same!! I also tend to develop a cough during weather changes (and it has suddenly gotten cold here) because I get post-nasal drip (I am very sensitive to cold and also have dust allergies). I was worried my students thought I was sick. Since I rarely take off my mask I also have not been drinking enough, which hasn’t helped. Ugh.
I have a endocrine disorder and one of my worst symptoms is chronic dry mouth. Made even worse when I have to do excessive speaking(like an orientation non stop talking for a more than a hour). The two things that I use to help is Young Living thieves lozenges because of the clove they numb out my throat. Some sort of lozenge might help just make sure it doesn’t have menthol in them, because it dose help numb out your throat it does make it dryer in turn making your problem worse. My other problem is at night I have difficulty sleeping with my dry mouth. I found out about this product from a keto FB group and I can no longer sleep without it they are called xylimelts it;s a small disk that you stick to the inside of your mouth on your gums, you can do one disk on each side. They make such a huge difference in my dry mouth and not drinking water all night long. The only thing that I would like to mention is if you do try the xylitmelts keep is them away from your pets because they do contain xylitol which is fine for us but deadly to animals. I get them on Amazon but you can also get them at CVS or Walgreens.
Thanks for asking!
I have been so busy and it has been a major clusterf**k mess. Kids need to go back into schools. Smaller class sizes and a modified shortened school day to allow for more time to sanitize would have been the ideal way to reopen. Seriously online learning is in total contradiction of child development. 7 hrs staring at the screen is not the way young children learn.
So I’ve made some tweaks to my lifestyle that have helped a lot:
1. I stopped drinking alcohol. I am a moderate drinker, one glass at most with my evening meal, but I decided the wine was making me sleepy. I notice I have more energy.
2. I stopped walking to work and am now taking the bus. I was wearing myself out trying to avoid the bus.
3. I switched mask brands and feel like I can breathe better. At work I try to drink more water and take a few mask breaks outside.
I’ve tested twice so far and so far, no Covid even though I am interacting with students everyday. I really hope our numbers don’t keep increasing (in NY, we’ve had a recent uptick).
1. I stopped drinking alcohol. I am a moderate drinker, one glass at most with my evening meal, but I decided the wine was making me sleepy. I notice I have more energy.
2. I stopped walking to work and am now taking the bus. I was wearing myself out trying to avoid the bus.
3. I switched mask brands and feel like I can breathe better. At work I try to drink more water and take a few mask breaks outside.
I’ve tested twice so far and so far, no Covid even though I am interacting with students everyday. I really hope our numbers don’t keep increasing (in NY, we’ve had a recent uptick).
I'm so glad you’re doing (relatively) okay! May I ask which mask brand you like?
You are absolutely correct about development being hampered through online education.
But at the same time we have a pandemic. it's a lose lose situation.
The latest data is very worrisome: Europe is seeing an increase in Covid patients that is mostly due to schools reopening, and countries there are starting considering a second lockdown.
Further the latest and biggest ever study on Covid-19 infection transmission which was done in India reveals that kids are as contagious as adults, in contradiction to earlier assessments.
This pandemic will have affected a whole generation. There is no doubt that education will suffer.
Doing remote learning is far from ideal but better than not educating at all - given the pandemic situation.
Couldn't agree more! I think our district is getting ready for a hybrid model (half days in school, other half online) soon, but our infection rate spiked a bit after Labor Day weekend. So I'm not sure if it will happen.
I like Soomlab’s Airqueen mask. High quality and very breathable. You can reuse after sterilizing up to 10x but I just throw mine out because I have makeup on it and find it gross. I was wearing the KF94 masks but they are thicker than the Airqueens. My colleague who wears the same KF94s has no issues breathing with them (neither do my kids), but I am more sensitive to them for some reason. I’ve recommended the Airqueens to so many colleagues who also love them.
Well I am losing half my class as their parents decided they want their kids to get back inside the schools. Main reason is that the parents find it too much work sitting there working with their kids for 7 hours. It wasn't something they expected. They expected their 6 - 7 year olds to be utterly independent I guess. So next week I find out where and what I would be teaching. This is so stressful. I am hoping I get moved back into the classroom. I am not too worry as cases out in the county have been extremely low.
Kids went back all day every day Oct 1. First Covid + student on Tuesday after a kegger attended by the bulk of 2 upper classes. So more to come in a bit. Those quarantined include one young man who won't go to state because he sat by someone in a class. Enough.
Long time not being here! I am back in the classroom but unfortunately at a different school as there was no in class opening at the one I was at. It's fine I have a few friends at this new school. I am teaching special education (students with mild intellectual disabilities and learning disabilities) and esl. It definitely is different teaching with a mask on and kids not being able to do group work. No team sports either. It is still stressful but not the same kind as online.