The "I Love My Job" Thread - Page 3

monster · 10-06-2011, 10:42 AM

kids and cats go crazy on windy days.

Sundae · 10-06-2011, 10:53 AM

There was a programme on 5 live about education and failing schools in general.
I felt so sorry for one school governor, who suggested a small part of his school's problem was the exposed location, and the old design of the buildings that meant children had to queue up outside classrooms on windy days.

The amount of scoffage he came in for!
Some teachers & ex-teachers mailed and texted in support, but the public were all, "Bring back the cane! How pathetic! Children can't behave because of the wind?! They would behave if we employed ex-Army staff to thrash the badness out of them."

But as you say, it does make a difference!
I flew a kite with Tiger today in our one-to-one. He said some lovely full sentences about Autumn, including "The leaves are dancing!" and "Autumn is good for kites."

Dagney · 10-06-2011, 05:43 PM

I'm digging my job these days because it's allowed me to do what I really love to do. (I'm now developing and delivering training materials to a multinational support team). I've also had a chance to see a lot more of the world than I would have otherwise - (Currently, I'm in Pune India - and am enjoying being here for the Festival season and the start of Diwali).

HungLikeJesus · 10-06-2011, 07:35 PM

Wow! That's a long way from North Cackalacky!

Dagney · 10-07-2011, 11:51 AM

28 hours of flying - but definitely worth it

My second trip this year - and I have found that I LOVE India - the people, the culture, the food....worth every single one of my immunizations

Sundae · 10-07-2011, 02:33 PM

Oh wow. Always wanted to visit India, even if it was just as a tourist.
Never could persuade anyone to come with me.
One of my first decisions of single life was to go to Sri Lanka. It was exquisite, but sadly the closest I ever came to India as things went downhill financially from there (for me I mean).

Photos. And lots, please.
Mundane, every day, food & drink, shops & cars.
If I could go back in time I would take 100s. But it was print film in those days and I felt extravagent using a whole roll!

ETA - K (mentioned previously, Tiger's friend with speech difficulties) is coming on so fast now. She is getting far more help and it shows, although she did come back from the Summer holiday with improved speech, so home is obviously working hard too. There are many words and phrases I can now understand, and I feel I am talking with a little girl, rather than just indulging a toddler (something I hated, knowing there is a bright spark there)

Yesterday she was obviously angling for a sticker. Tennant got one for eating all his dinner. And I sort of guessed that was what she wanted too, although it was 20 minutes later. I checked with one of our signers after lunch who confirmed that she was trying to sign "food finish", although it was a little fast (I wouldn't have known the difference anyway).

I was so proud of her. I had given her a sticker anyway, which said she had been good at lunchtime. Mrs K checked her lunchbox and we both gave her another one, because she had eaten all her food. It's not really an issue with her (although it can be with Tennant) but more a reward for her communication.

I'm picking up some Maketon, but without official training I will never be fluent. And K does adapt some, or sign fast or inaccurately. As long as I keep asking I'll pick up her usual ones - it's up to the experts to teach it properly.

Dagney · 10-07-2011, 04:55 PM

Sundae, you could come with me, I'd love the company

I fly from NC to Newark NJ (2hours), then over the ocean to Frankfurt Germany (11hours) (I pretend to wave at England, although I know I'm nowhere near it!) Then after a 4hr layover, it's another 11 hour flight into Pune, India. We're going out and about tomorrow, (later today?) so I'll take lots of photos as we go

(Shopping for sari's and kurtas, and baubles and things)

Sundae · 10-09-2011, 07:01 AM

I'll wave back - at least I'll wave at the sky just in case.

Sundae · 10-11-2011, 12:21 PM

Harvest Festival.

I come home every day with completely inappropriate lyrics in my head to Cauliflowers Are Fluffy, Cabbage is Green. I seem to be creating a Halloween version.

Brown potatoes in maggoty heaps
Come and poke your eyes out when everyone sleeps....

Anyway.

They've pretty much all behaved beautifully at the rehearsals.
Oddly, Tiger was paired with the most disruptive boy in the class, which means he walks with him to the church and sits next to him during the service. That's the trouble with working part time - I wasn't there to add input.

Neither have gone off the rails, just needed lots of reminders to behave (A. needs this anyway, all the time, but Tiger is mostly good if not distracted). Although both have been shouted at (not by me!) every single walk there and back.

Despite general input from the class teacher, Tiger is unintelligible when he reads his part.
I've simply not had the time to work on this with him as it is Assessment Week (a series of tests the children must sit) and the time we have together reading and in conversation work is more important than getting his Harvest Festival lines done well. No-one watching would be able to tell the difference between him and 2/3 of the class anyway.

He is so proud of being able to read his lines. But he puts his head down and gabbles. I'm sure we could work on a BIG VOICE, but as I say, you choose what you give time to do.

And watching him join in the actions for Hooray for Harvest is lovely.
He loves singing.

limey · 10-12-2011, 12:24 PM

It is so lovely to read your joyful reports Sundae. They always make me smile (and I don't even like children!)

Sundae · 10-12-2011, 04:05 PM

Off to Stoke Breune tomorrow - Canal Museum and Narrow Boat trip.
Day out my class and the class above.
I'm looking forward to it, just hope we have no travel sick children on the coach.
I might embarrass myself by retching along with them...

Oh - we had an exciting day today.
We were just settling down for some numeracy work on the carpet and Mr Headteacher stuck his head round the door and said, "The alarm is about to go off. It's not a drill, okay." Now in hindsight, we were the nearest classroom to the staffroom, which had just filled with smoke. He was trying to warn us to evacuate immediately, without frightening the children.

What we understood him to say was the alarm is about to go off, but you can ignore it as we're not actually having a fire drill.

Common sense meant we got moving as soon as we saw the class next door filing out.

It was an electrical fault in the staffroom dishwasher. A bit of smoke and nothing else. But it meant we were out of school for about half an hour, and we got to hear two fire engines wailing up the Aylesbury Road towards us (we were on the field and couldn't see them when they arrived).

We pulled together some school spirit and sang some Harvest Festival songs and a couple of the more upbeat ones about God. Tiger was pretty unperturbed, but I made sure I was there to answer his questions in a logical manner. In fact I'm more concerned about how he fared this afternoon as they were doing Taste as part of Exploring Our Senses. He might not have been up for the blindfolded taste test, given that he is still very fussy about what he eats and definitely does not let other people put surprises in his mouth! But I explained this to the teacher and TA covering the session and they assured me they would allow him to choose how far he participated.

No doubt I'll go in tomorrow and he will have sailed through it all with no problems, making me look neurotic

limey · 10-12-2011, 04:39 PM

Ooh! Stoke Bruerne

Sundae · 10-13-2011, 12:28 PM

Stoke Bruerne was lovely.
It always seems to be push, push, push on trips.
A bit hurry up and wait.
This one went pretty smoothly. Not saying there aren't things I would change though. I wasn't going to moan, but really... don't fill the coach up from the front! That way no-one has to run the gaunlet of occupied seats AND you can let the known travel-sickers sit at the front because they are the seats that remain, rather than having to shout at every child getting on "No, not those seats!"

Anyway.

Was a sunshine and clouds day when we left Bierton, and continued to be apparently.
But in Northamptonshire it wasn't cold, but it was overcast.
It's grim up North.

We were split into three groups which did the three different activities in a different order. Each group was further split amongst teachers, TAs and parent volunteers.

My group went to the Museum first.
Only four out of seven wanted to try on the hats.
One chap in a cap and one with a scarf, simulating the mufflers that men on the boats wore. And our resident dresser-upper (usually in Disney Princess gowns) in both.

Sundae · 10-13-2011, 12:34 PM

And another inveterate dresser-upper, looking oddly Russian...?

Off for our towpath walk, except as we came out of the museum there was a boat about to go through the lock, so we were hustled onto the bridge by the volunteer. It was great for the children, because seeing it is so much better than talking about it - especially at that age.

Off we go.

Sundae · 10-13-2011, 12:37 PM

Looking forwards under the next bridge.
And back to the boat entering the lock.

10-06-2011, 10:42 AM	#31
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	kids and cats go crazy on windy days. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-06-2011, 10:53 AM	#32
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	There was a programme on 5 live about education and failing schools in general. I felt so sorry for one school governor, who suggested a small part of his school's problem was the exposed location, and the old design of the buildings that meant children had to queue up outside classrooms on windy days. The amount of scoffage he came in for! Some teachers & ex-teachers mailed and texted in support, but the public were all, "Bring back the cane! How pathetic! Children can't behave because of the wind?! They would behave if we employed ex-Army staff to thrash the badness out of them." But as you say, it does make a difference! I flew a kite with Tiger today in our one-to-one. He said some lovely full sentences about Autumn, including "The leaves are dancing!" and "Autumn is good for kites." __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

10-06-2011, 05:43 PM	#33
Dagney The Prodigal Brat Returneth Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: North Cackalacky Posts: 1,107	I'm digging my job these days because it's allowed me to do what I really love to do. (I'm now developing and delivering training materials to a multinational support team). I've also had a chance to see a lot more of the world than I would have otherwise - (Currently, I'm in Pune India - and am enjoying being here for the Festival season and the start of Diwali). __________________ The Constitution gives every American the right to make a total fool out of himself. But that doesn't mean you need to.

10-06-2011, 07:35 PM	#34
HungLikeJesus Only looks like a disaster tourist Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: above 7,000 feet Posts: 7,208	Wow! That's a long way from North Cackalacky! __________________ Keep Your Bodies Off My Lawn SteveDallas's Random Thread Picker.

10-07-2011, 11:51 AM	#35
Dagney The Prodigal Brat Returneth Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: North Cackalacky Posts: 1,107	28 hours of flying - but definitely worth it My second trip this year - and I have found that I LOVE India - the people, the culture, the food....worth every single one of my immunizations __________________ The Constitution gives every American the right to make a total fool out of himself. But that doesn't mean you need to.

10-07-2011, 02:33 PM	#36
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Oh wow. Always wanted to visit India, even if it was just as a tourist. Never could persuade anyone to come with me. One of my first decisions of single life was to go to Sri Lanka. It was exquisite, but sadly the closest I ever came to India as things went downhill financially from there (for me I mean). Photos. And lots, please. Mundane, every day, food & drink, shops & cars. If I could go back in time I would take 100s. But it was print film in those days and I felt extravagent using a whole roll! ETA - K (mentioned previously, Tiger's friend with speech difficulties) is coming on so fast now. She is getting far more help and it shows, although she did come back from the Summer holiday with improved speech, so home is obviously working hard too. There are many words and phrases I can now understand, and I feel I am talking with a little girl, rather than just indulging a toddler (something I hated, knowing there is a bright spark there) Yesterday she was obviously angling for a sticker. Tennant got one for eating all his dinner. And I sort of guessed that was what she wanted too, although it was 20 minutes later. I checked with one of our signers after lunch who confirmed that she was trying to sign "food finish", although it was a little fast (I wouldn't have known the difference anyway). I was so proud of her. I had given her a sticker anyway, which said she had been good at lunchtime. Mrs K checked her lunchbox and we both gave her another one, because she had eaten all her food. It's not really an issue with her (although it can be with Tennant) but more a reward for her communication. I'm picking up some Maketon, but without official training I will never be fluent. And K does adapt some, or sign fast or inaccurately. As long as I keep asking I'll pick up her usual ones - it's up to the experts to teach it properly. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 10-07-2011 at 03:12 PM.

10-07-2011, 04:55 PM	#37
Dagney The Prodigal Brat Returneth Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: North Cackalacky Posts: 1,107	Sundae, you could come with me, I'd love the company I fly from NC to Newark NJ (2hours), then over the ocean to Frankfurt Germany (11hours) (I pretend to wave at England, although I know I'm nowhere near it!) Then after a 4hr layover, it's another 11 hour flight into Pune, India. We're going out and about tomorrow, (later today?) so I'll take lots of photos as we go (Shopping for sari's and kurtas, and baubles and things) __________________ The Constitution gives every American the right to make a total fool out of himself. But that doesn't mean you need to.

10-09-2011, 07:01 AM	#38
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	I'll wave back - at least I'll wave at the sky just in case. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

10-11-2011, 12:21 PM	#39
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Harvest Festival. I come home every day with completely inappropriate lyrics in my head to Cauliflowers Are Fluffy, Cabbage is Green. I seem to be creating a Halloween version. Brown potatoes in maggoty heaps Come and poke your eyes out when everyone sleeps.... Anyway. They've pretty much all behaved beautifully at the rehearsals. Oddly, Tiger was paired with the most disruptive boy in the class, which means he walks with him to the church and sits next to him during the service. That's the trouble with working part time - I wasn't there to add input. Neither have gone off the rails, just needed lots of reminders to behave (A. needs this anyway, all the time, but Tiger is mostly good if not distracted). Although both have been shouted at (not by me!) every single walk there and back. Despite general input from the class teacher, Tiger is unintelligible when he reads his part. I've simply not had the time to work on this with him as it is Assessment Week (a series of tests the children must sit) and the time we have together reading and in conversation work is more important than getting his Harvest Festival lines done well. No-one watching would be able to tell the difference between him and 2/3 of the class anyway. He is so proud of being able to read his lines. But he puts his head down and gabbles. I'm sure we could work on a BIG VOICE, but as I say, you choose what you give time to do. And watching him join in the actions for Hooray for Harvest is lovely. He loves singing. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

10-12-2011, 12:24 PM	#40
limey Encroaching on your decrees Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An island within the south-west coast of Scotland Posts: 7,016	It is so lovely to read your joyful reports Sundae. They always make me smile (and I don't even like children!) __________________ Living it up on the edge ... of civilisation, within the southwest coast of

10-12-2011, 04:05 PM	#41
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Off to Stoke Breune tomorrow - Canal Museum and Narrow Boat trip. Day out my class and the class above. I'm looking forward to it, just hope we have no travel sick children on the coach. I might embarrass myself by retching along with them... Oh - we had an exciting day today. We were just settling down for some numeracy work on the carpet and Mr Headteacher stuck his head round the door and said, "The alarm is about to go off. It's not a drill, okay." Now in hindsight, we were the nearest classroom to the staffroom, which had just filled with smoke. He was trying to warn us to evacuate immediately, without frightening the children. What we understood him to say was the alarm is about to go off, but you can ignore it as we're not actually having a fire drill. Common sense meant we got moving as soon as we saw the class next door filing out. It was an electrical fault in the staffroom dishwasher. A bit of smoke and nothing else. But it meant we were out of school for about half an hour, and we got to hear two fire engines wailing up the Aylesbury Road towards us (we were on the field and couldn't see them when they arrived). We pulled together some school spirit and sang some Harvest Festival songs and a couple of the more upbeat ones about God. Tiger was pretty unperturbed, but I made sure I was there to answer his questions in a logical manner. In fact I'm more concerned about how he fared this afternoon as they were doing Taste as part of Exploring Our Senses. He might not have been up for the blindfolded taste test, given that he is still very fussy about what he eats and definitely does not let other people put surprises in his mouth! But I explained this to the teacher and TA covering the session and they assured me they would allow him to choose how far he participated. No doubt I'll go in tomorrow and he will have sailed through it all with no problems, making me look neurotic __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

10-12-2011, 04:39 PM	#42
limey Encroaching on your decrees Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An island within the south-west coast of Scotland Posts: 7,016	Ooh! Stoke Bruerne __________________ Living it up on the edge ... of civilisation, within the southwest coast of

10-13-2011, 12:28 PM	#43
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Stoke Bruerne was lovely. It always seems to be push, push, push on trips. A bit hurry up and wait. This one went pretty smoothly. Not saying there aren't things I would change though. I wasn't going to moan, but really... don't fill the coach up from the front! That way no-one has to run the gaunlet of occupied seats AND you can let the known travel-sickers sit at the front because they are the seats that remain, rather than having to shout at every child getting on "No, not those seats!" Anyway. Was a sunshine and clouds day when we left Bierton, and continued to be apparently. But in Northamptonshire it wasn't cold, but it was overcast. It's grim up North. We were split into three groups which did the three different activities in a different order. Each group was further split amongst teachers, TAs and parent volunteers. My group went to the Museum first. Only four out of seven wanted to try on the hats. One chap in a cap and one with a scarf, simulating the mufflers that men on the boats wore. And our resident dresser-upper (usually in Disney Princess gowns) in both. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 10-13-2011 at 01:04 PM.

10-13-2011, 12:34 PM	#44
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	And another inveterate dresser-upper, looking oddly Russian...? Off for our towpath walk, except as we came out of the museum there was a boat about to go through the lock, so we were hustled onto the bridge by the volunteer. It was great for the children, because seeing it is so much better than talking about it - especially at that age. Off we go. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

10-13-2011, 12:37 PM	#45
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Looking forwards under the next bridge. And back to the boat entering the lock. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

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