A Teacher's Voice - A Voical Hygiene Workshop-BL20
A Teacher's Voice - A Voical Hygiene Workshop-BL20
A Teacher's Voice - A Voical Hygiene Workshop-BL20
Hygiene Workshop
Bethany Lormis
WKU SLP 508
Fall 2020
Audience Background
The audience chosen for this vocal hygiene workshop is Thomas Tygart,
superintendent of my school district, along with the teachers from each school. Mr.
Tygart is concerned about the number of teachers using sick days due to voice related
problems, and he wishes to hold a workshop during the next training day. This
presentation is meant to provide a basic and practical workshop to help teachers in the
school district practice healthier voice habits and reduce the number of staff using time
off due to voice issues, as students benefit greatly from having teachers that are
consistently in the classroom.
Ugh...Another Workshop
Yes, you will be here for more than 30 minutes, but for good reason!
You talk for at least seven hours every day...over a dozen+ children...playing on iPads
without headphones...or leaning upside down out of their seats making George of the
Jungle sounds.
Your voice is your greatest tool. Your students depend on your voice to instruct and
guide them through their school day.
So let’s buckle up and learn some strategies to keep our voices healthy, and maybe
we’ll have a couple laughs along the way.
Basic Terminology
● Have you heard of the terms vocal misuse and vocal abuse?
● Well, another term used more often now is phonotrauma: “Voice use patterns
Pitch: the register of our voice (too high, too low, pitch breaks)
Loudness: volume
Resonance: Hypernasal/hyponasal
**Fill this out based on your current voice symptoms or your most recent
experience with voice issues
How many of you have experienced one or
more of these symptoms for more than 3
days?
( (# of people who answered yes) / (# of people in here) ) x 100 = % who have experienced vocal damage
How do we damage our voice?
Functional Causes Psychogenic Causes Organic Causes
Duke Health (2018, March 6). Voice therapy helps teacher return to singing [Video]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiI8lvupvvI
fyrTV (2016, October 16). I lose my voice!!! [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsnEx7Zhrlo
Herrmann, D., Katz, R., Piliavsky, L., & Rice,, S. (2008). Efficacy of breathing exercises and relaxation techniques for patients with
neurological disorders [PDF]. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/Events/convention/handouts/2008/2216_Katz_Rachael/
LinguaHealth (2012, December 5). Speech-language pathology: The vocal cords in action [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2okeYVclQo
McFarland Clinic (2013, August 20). Full procedure- FIberoptic laryngoscopy with Dr. Hermsen
References
Osborne Head & Neck Institution (2014, May 5). Laryngitis [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnfRCMhk-WY
TedXTalks (2017, February 2). What makes a good teacher great? Azul Terronez [Video]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrU6YJle6Q4