Today, I have no voice. Between my recent bout of influenza (yes, right on the heels of my spring break illness) and my choir rehearsal last night, my throat has apparently had it with my abusive ways. Of course, Fridays are my lab days, where I teach three computer music lab sections back to back. I bet you see the fun starting already, don’t you? Here are the possible solutions I considered.
Scenario #1: Cancel Class
No way. Today was all about me teaching the kids how to work the portable recorders they’ll be using for their next project, and I really don’t want to waste class time doing that. Besides, I FEEL fine!
Scenario #2: Try to Talk Anyway
By about 9:30, I realized there was no way this was going to work. I had been up for an hour and a half, done lots of productive coughing, downed some tea with honey, and given my voice plenty of chances to show itself. No luck. Best I could produce was a gargling whisper once in a while. Besides, I’ve abused my vocal chords a lot in the past 6 months, and I’m starting to worry that I’ll do permanent damage. Scratch that idea.
Scenario #3: Charades!
I briefly considered trying to convey my short lecture on the M-Audio MicroTrack Recorder through gestures and pointing. Then I laughed at myself on my students’ behalf and moved on.
Scenario #4: Typing Frenzy
This actually had some promise! I type everything out, they read it as we go along, and I show them the buttons as they read. Of course, everyone reads at different speeds, and it’s hard for them to look at the text and look at the recorder at the same time. Okay, fail.
Scenario #5: Text-to-Speech!
A nice improvement on scenario #4: type everything out, but have the computer read it to them while I demonstrate! The computerized voices are pretty funny, and I knew there would be a lot of giggling, but this seemed like the best option for getting the information out there in a way that made sense. We have a winner!
The kids were surprisingly sympathetic for the most part, and I think it went well! They definitely laughed at the computerized voice at first, but they were good about taking notes and helping me out when someone had a question. Class ended up only being about 15 minutes long because of it, but at least they got the information they needed. Mission accomplished! Time to go home and not talk all evening.
Is it dumb that I’m worrying about whether my voice will be back in time for World Dungeons & Dragons Day tomorrow?
