The "I Love My Job" Thread

[Sundae]

What she said.
And hot.

Just came here to add that I have the loudest whistle in the world.
It might be because it's new, because it looks the same as the school issue ones, even down to the lanyard. But when I blow it EVERYONE notices. Including the children at the far reaches of the field or on the Timber Trail (wooden play area) who haven't already reacted to the previous whistle. Or maybe it's my blowing skill

It's loud enough to hurt my ears.
And I do not have sensitive hearing.

I love the power.

[Lamplighter]

Always use the right tool for the job.

[infinite monkey]

My friend has the loudest whistle I've ever heard, and that's without the tool.

We'll all be drunk and arguing, as we're wont to do, and she'll get mad that no one will listen to her and she'll whistle. Last time I about beat her ass...because it really really hurts my ears. My ears are sensitive, I guess.

I sure do miss them. But I bet if she whistled from her new home 30 miles away I'd still hear her!

[monster]

Why wouldn't the school give you a whistle and lanyard?

[classicman]

Sundae really knows how to blow a

whistle..

[monster]

....but she has to pay for it herself?

[limey]

[thread drift]
That's nothing Monster. We are discussing setting up a First Responders squad in my community, so that help, provided by trained volunteers, can arrive at certain types of medical emergencies ahead of the ambulance. We are expected to raise the £3,000 or so required to buy the essential equipment ourselves. Huh?
[/thread drift]

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by monster

Why wouldn't the school give you a whistle and lanyard?

I am not a lunchtime supervisor.
I probably could have made a case and got one, but at least this way it is my private property and I can keep it in my personal drawer. It cannot be borrowed and not returned, like 90% of the other whistles in school. I've also bought a different lanyard (Angry Birds), just to make it 100% clear.

I swear there must be a blackmarket trade in whistles in Bierton. Thy simply disappear (teachers have them for PE as well as lining up morning and lunchtime, dinner ladies for calling classes into different lunch sitting or getting the attention of children at a distance - we have a large school field). And there are never any when they need them!

Mrs M's bell has gone missing this month. She uses it to signal Tidy Up Time when the children are in our outside area. We're all baffled by its disappearance.

No, I'm not buying my own to replace it.

[monster]

weird. that's a lot of whistling. So you have one in case Tiger/Tennant don't hear the whistle? Are they not super-sensistive to noise? Wait... is Tennant an Aspie kid or just one you've taken a shine to? I get so confused, I probably need more caffeine

[Sundae]

No, I have a whistle in case I spot a random child shinning up a netball post. Or squeezing through the hedge into the nature reserve (where there are deep ponds masked by reeds). Or throwing something over the gate into the road (which really annoys our neighbours). Or a child in Year 3 deliberately pushing over a Reception child. All of the above real circumstances.

Don't worry about the £2.50 I spent if it makes me happy.
I once spent far more on cigarettes.

Tennant does not have Autism, but is Tiger's best friend and constant companion, so yes, I have a lot of contact with him. And yes I have taken a shine to him, but the same can be said for many of the children in my class. Same with K who I can't quote as she has speech development problems, but is with Tiger much of the time. I have never had to blow my whistle to get their attention, but I'd be a lousy school employee if I did not try to react to any of the behaviour listed above.

ETA should perhaps have said - I cover 40 minutes at lunchtime every day and one 15 minute break a week.
Although I am employed primarily to work with Tiger, the school has 5 hours a week to employ me as it sees fit.
I work at lunch time because Tiger broke his wrist at lunchtime back before he received his statement. No one knew. in fact even his parents didn't realise after they picked him up form school - it took until he was changing clothes for bed from what I remember.

Another TA also covers lunch for the boy she is employed to look after.
She acts as part-translator, part-counsellor and part-bouncer - she's on the door at lunchtime making sure the children don't come into school and wander about. But her pupil is older than Tiger.

[monster]

Hey I gave up worrying about your spending a long time ago -there is no hope for you . it just seems weird you didn't get issued with one when they require you to supervise kids in that way! But I think I'd get my own too -sharing whistles -ew. i even get skeevy about the life guards sharing whistles and they can dunk them in the chlorinated pool. They only use whistles here to signal the end of lunch. I asked Hector what they do to attract your attention if you're doing bad things and he said they just come over to you.

Poor Tiger, that must have been scary for him.

[Sundae]

What I find odd is that the teachers share their whistles, but are all so worried about sharing things with children. They wondered at me using the outside water fountain for example - because the children use it. And they very rarely eat homemade cakes or biscuits, and certainly not those made in class, despite supervising the washing of hands first. I mean I know children are - generally - less hygenic than adults, but germs are germs are germs.

Feel free to laugh like a drain when I come down with something awful in the next week or so.

[TheMercenary]

Acme Thunderer, loudest whistle eva. Used by rugby referees the world over.

http://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/xcart/home.php?cat=1

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Sundae

I mean I know children are - generally - less hygenic than adults, but germs are germs are germs.

Kids are a lot less hygenic than adults. They stick their hands down their pants to scratch at their butt cracks. They rub snot off with the back of their hand instead of getting a tissue. They pick at the bottoms of their shoes, after those same shoes went walking through the bathroom where the boys regularly have aiming problems. And when they have those first signs of getting sick, they get even less conscientious, not more. Children are filthy, filthy creatures.

[Sundae]

I guess what I meant is, germs from the mouth
And trust me, I do know how icky they can be.

I was lucky to sit near "accident boy" at CineNite last night.
He's the one who had brown tipped fingernails the other week.
He was already in his PE top, so I assume he'd had a problem of some sort earlier in the day. I didn't know whether the pong was from the previous situation.

I behaved abominably.
I asked him if he needed to go to the toilet and then directed him to the nearest teacher.

In my (slight) defence, I had seated myself pretty much in the middle of the room, as it was close to Tiger and in truth I'd steered him there because it's the most helpful location in terms of helping to hand out drinks and hotdogs during Intermission.

But yes, as I suspected he had had another... evacuation. And the poor teacher had to do a thorough decontamination. He went home in the school's spare clothes.

All that aside, another reason to love my job; at lunchtime the children decided to do an imprompu conga line around the field. Small groups of children occasionally do this, but this was quite spectacular. I'd guess 2/3 of the school joined in, from the cool year 6's to the giggling Receptioners. It was only the whistle for lining up that stopped it.

No idea why this one hit it off so well, just chance I guess. And a windy day, which often whips them up into some kind of frenzy. A conga frenzy this time