Mask Recommendations and Tips for Teaching in a Mask

Wake Forest School of Law professor Brenda Gibson teaches new first year students in her Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research class.

Many of you are heading back into the classroom next week and are wondering about logistics. Our next couple of posts will cover masks as well as strategies for teaching in a physically distanced classroom. For this post, we’re going to focus on masks.

What Mask Should I Buy?

We have received some questions about the best type of mask to teach in and the truth is, we don’t really know! This is all new to us, too! Keeping in mind CDC recommendations regarding masks and the WFU Cloth Face Covering Policy, we wanted to use this post as a way for you all to share your recommendations with one another using the Comments section below.

Christa Colyer, Professor of Chemistry has been doing her own informal research by ordering a number of different types for herself this summer and testing them for comfort, functionality, and voice clarity. Here are a few of her recommendations:

• Hyperlite Mountain Gear Face Masks (1 pack of 5 for $20)
  “One of the most comfortable ones I’ve tried, which has little muffling of my voice, (although they’re not very stylish!)”
• Rothy’s The Mask (1 pack of 2 for $25)
  “These are my personal favorite – they fit well and they don’t seem to muffle my voice as much as the more ‘traditional’ surgical mask style.”
• Modern American V2 Petite Black Mask (1 pack of 6 for $40)
  “I have to buy the “petite” size in these masks – who knew there were different sizes?! – and then these fit really well and they don’t muffle my voice. You can also buy stylish mask covers to wear overtop of these masks if you aren’t fond of plain black.”

Have you found a mask you would recommend for teaching? Share with your colleagues (really!) in the comments below.

Tips for Teaching in a Mask

Here is a short article and also a short video with some practical tips for teaching in a mask:

• 3 tips on teaching while wearing a mask, Indiana University
• Teaching While Wearing a Mask (4:14 video from TriCounty Technical College)

We also welcome blog contributions on these topics as well as your experiences in the classroom this fall!