There was a time when teaching assistants had more time out of the classroom to get jobs done. We'd spend a morning cutting things out, laminating, taking down displays and gossiping in the corridor. Now we're lucky to grab a spare 5 minutes to bung some photocopying through (and it's always when you've only got 5 minutes that the copier decides to jam up). Now you're more likely to see a teacher hurtling down the corridor to do their own photocopying, hoping to get back to class before the trouble-makers realise they're gone.
When I started as a TA in 2002 (wow, that seems a long time ago), our main jobs were washing up after painting activities, hearing readers and scraping glue off tables. Now we supervise groups of strugglers, plan intervention work and take lessons (for the same amount of money, I'd like to point out, but we won't go there...). Don't get me wrong, I love what I do - and I'm glad I took the qualifications that allowed me to have that extra responsibility - but what I'd give for an afternoon just 'doing jobs' - all the bits of maintenance that get piled up for 'when I've got time' and are still there months later. Taking on the running of the library has turned into a 'when I've got time' thing, which is a huge shame, because I have loads of ideas, but don't have time to put any of them into practice.
I did manage to snatch some corridor time the other week, and it was nice to stand there, cutting and laminating, while the teaching and learning went on around me. I just had occasional interruptions from children on their way to the school office, or fetching things from the stock cupboard. I liked that they felt they could stop and chat to me (although their teachers may have had something to say about that). I got shown teeth that had just fallen out, complete with gory bits (I don't mind gory bits, but I really do mind wobbly teeth. If a proud child stands in front of me with gaping maw and tooth hanging by a thread, I feel rather queasy and have to quickly invent a distraction).
Other children peered at what I was doing and asked the inevitable: 'Whatcha doin'?' To which the answer is not allowed to be, 'What the heck does it look like?' Then there are the children who have just been to the toilet and want to report a poo incident. We seem to have an alarming amount of children this year who use reams of toilet roll, but have never learnt to flush a toilet. This means that by mid-afternoon, conditions are unpleasant to say the least. I am ashamed to admit that, like most members of staff, I refer informants of poo incidents to Mrs Secretary. Then I run away. I have done a fair share of toilet mopping. The ex-head and I spent several pleasant afternoons mopping out the boys' toilets before the floods reached the corridor, so I will help out if asked. It's just unfortunate that I'm often very, very busy just then.
Of course, that's another reason I prefer working with the older children, but when I mentioned that to the TA in the reception class, she said she'd rather deal with toilet problems than hormone-related ones, and I can see her point. This year we got off lightly, but I predict next year we will be awash with tears, tantrums and huffs.
Oh for the days when we could just go and wash paintbrushes...
When I started as a TA in 2002 (wow, that seems a long time ago), our main jobs were washing up after painting activities, hearing readers and scraping glue off tables. Now we supervise groups of strugglers, plan intervention work and take lessons (for the same amount of money, I'd like to point out, but we won't go there...). Don't get me wrong, I love what I do - and I'm glad I took the qualifications that allowed me to have that extra responsibility - but what I'd give for an afternoon just 'doing jobs' - all the bits of maintenance that get piled up for 'when I've got time' and are still there months later. Taking on the running of the library has turned into a 'when I've got time' thing, which is a huge shame, because I have loads of ideas, but don't have time to put any of them into practice.
I did manage to snatch some corridor time the other week, and it was nice to stand there, cutting and laminating, while the teaching and learning went on around me. I just had occasional interruptions from children on their way to the school office, or fetching things from the stock cupboard. I liked that they felt they could stop and chat to me (although their teachers may have had something to say about that). I got shown teeth that had just fallen out, complete with gory bits (I don't mind gory bits, but I really do mind wobbly teeth. If a proud child stands in front of me with gaping maw and tooth hanging by a thread, I feel rather queasy and have to quickly invent a distraction).
Other children peered at what I was doing and asked the inevitable: 'Whatcha doin'?' To which the answer is not allowed to be, 'What the heck does it look like?' Then there are the children who have just been to the toilet and want to report a poo incident. We seem to have an alarming amount of children this year who use reams of toilet roll, but have never learnt to flush a toilet. This means that by mid-afternoon, conditions are unpleasant to say the least. I am ashamed to admit that, like most members of staff, I refer informants of poo incidents to Mrs Secretary. Then I run away. I have done a fair share of toilet mopping. The ex-head and I spent several pleasant afternoons mopping out the boys' toilets before the floods reached the corridor, so I will help out if asked. It's just unfortunate that I'm often very, very busy just then.
Of course, that's another reason I prefer working with the older children, but when I mentioned that to the TA in the reception class, she said she'd rather deal with toilet problems than hormone-related ones, and I can see her point. This year we got off lightly, but I predict next year we will be awash with tears, tantrums and huffs.
Oh for the days when we could just go and wash paintbrushes...
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