Television Tape, they called it

Paul R Johnson · July 18th, 2024, 10:42 AM

Well it involved cutting a hole in a stage floor, hinging it and dropping the coffin into the hole - with a student inside. The idea came from one of the students, as in "could we ......?" I thought about it, decided this idea was better than mine and scrapped the entire perfectly planned lesson plan (which of course was perfect for the inspection) So we did the work totally on spec - with jig saws, bolts, hinges, ropes and 'safety' features to ensure the closed floor could be walked on - and just before the end of the session, we lowered the coffin, with occupant - safely. The inspector cleared off, with his report, and only then did I reveal the fatal flaw in the process that I had spotted, but the others, including the inspector had not.

The coffin was lowered into the hole with straps, which were pulled out. We had a 4 foot deep hole into a totally sealed off area, with a student in a coffin, and no practical way to get her out. The lid could not hinge open enough to squeeze through because of the obstructions. In the end, we managed to dangle 4 ropes with hooks to 'lassoo' the handles on the side. It took fifteen minutes to rescue her - and I got a bollocking from the principal for taking the chance - despite getting top marks. I won't mention the night I and 4 students got locked on the roof of a 220 ft grain silo and had to spend the night there. I really should not have been trusted to be a teacher!

Andrew Smith · July 18th, 2024, 08:49 PM

Speaking of things you can do when teaching.

I had some ratbag kids who would keep on making noise during the lesson, or something like that. It was quite a while ago now. So in the period immediately prior to lunch I rewarded them (might have been four or five kids) with a five minute detention.

All they had to do was to collectively remain totally silent for five minutes.

You guessed it. Every time one of them would make a noise to test the system, the timer would reset to zero. Let's just say that as the end of lunch time was approaching they were ready to kill each other. They got there, and only just in the nick of time. Not sure if the students even got to eat.

Andrew

PS. The best thing was that if there were any complaints from the parents, we'd simply say "hey, it was only a 5 minute detention". :-)

July 18th, 2024, 10:42 AM	#16
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: Television Tape, they called it Well it involved cutting a hole in a stage floor, hinging it and dropping the coffin into the hole - with a student inside. The idea came from one of the students, as in "could we ......?" I thought about it, decided this idea was better than mine and scrapped the entire perfectly planned lesson plan (which of course was perfect for the inspection) So we did the work totally on spec - with jig saws, bolts, hinges, ropes and 'safety' features to ensure the closed floor could be walked on - and just before the end of the session, we lowered the coffin, with occupant - safely. The inspector cleared off, with his report, and only then did I reveal the fatal flaw in the process that I had spotted, but the others, including the inspector had not. The coffin was lowered into the hole with straps, which were pulled out. We had a 4 foot deep hole into a totally sealed off area, with a student in a coffin, and no practical way to get her out. The lid could not hinge open enough to squeeze through because of the obstructions. In the end, we managed to dangle 4 ropes with hooks to 'lassoo' the handles on the side. It took fifteen minutes to rescue her - and I got a bollocking from the principal for taking the chance - despite getting top marks. I won't mention the night I and 4 students got locked on the roof of a 220 ft grain silo and had to spend the night there. I really should not have been trusted to be a teacher!

July 18th, 2024, 08:49 PM	#17
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,066	Re: Television Tape, they called it Speaking of things you can do when teaching. I had some ratbag kids who would keep on making noise during the lesson, or something like that. It was quite a while ago now. So in the period immediately prior to lunch I rewarded them (might have been four or five kids) with a five minute detention. All they had to do was to collectively remain totally silent for five minutes. You guessed it. Every time one of them would make a noise to test the system, the timer would reset to zero. Let's just say that as the end of lunch time was approaching they were ready to kill each other. They got there, and only just in the nick of time. Not sure if the students even got to eat. Andrew PS. The best thing was that if there were any complaints from the parents, we'd simply say "hey, it was only a 5 minute detention". :-)