If I'm being perfectly honest, I hate teaching from behind a mask. I mean, half of my job is teaching pronunciation and that's hard to do when our students can't see how our mouths are producing the sounds. And, as you said, learning everyone's names when you can't really match a face to the name is just about impossible. That said, I absolutely believe they're a necessity at the moment.
So, I have had to innovate (just like everyone). I've recorded video of myself pronouncing certain things and I tried to make it kind of over-the-top to take away some of the weirdness of it all. (I'll admit I shamelessly ripped off those Old Spice commercials from a few years ago. Mixed results.) In that same spirit, I'm asking students to take a goofy selfie and I'm putting that picture on name cards. (And I really hate making college-age students use name cards, but it's the only way I have even a small chance of learning names.)
My point is that while I agree with you 100%, masks are a necessary evil but it detracts from the overall teaching and learning experience, I'm trying to stay positive and, through innovation, find new ways to interact with my classroom and my students.
Anyway. Thanks as always for a thought-provoking post.
If I'm being perfectly honest, I hate teaching from behind a mask. I mean, half of my job is teaching pronunciation and that's hard to do when our students can't see how our mouths are producing the sounds. And, as you said, learning everyone's names when you can't really match a face to the name is just about impossible. That said, I absolutely believe they're a necessity at the moment.
So, I have had to innovate (just like everyone). I've recorded video of myself pronouncing certain things and I tried to make it kind of over-the-top to take away some of the weirdness of it all. (I'll admit I shamelessly ripped off those Old Spice commercials from a few years ago. Mixed results.) In that same spirit, I'm asking students to take a goofy selfie and I'm putting that picture on name cards. (And I really hate making college-age students use name cards, but it's the only way I have even a small chance of learning names.)
My point is that while I agree with you 100%, masks are a necessary evil but it detracts from the overall teaching and learning experience, I'm trying to stay positive and, through innovation, find new ways to interact with my classroom and my students.
Anyway. Thanks as always for a thought-provoking post.