Pop Quiz - If someone put a walkie talkie in your hands, would you know how to work it?
We have several pairs of walkie talkies in our office. They are there for a number of reasons. Mainly they are there because the lunch aides must take one out with them during recess so they will be able to call for help should a someone become injured enough on the playground and can't be moved. But we also send out a walkie talkie with any teacher who is taking their class outside, including the gym teacher, and to keep contact with the principal during fire drills.
I have often wanted to put together a short video for the staff to view at the beginning of the school year because, as walkie talkies fall into the technology category, many of our staff are walkie talkie challenged. Really.
The first thing that I would tell them is that you must turn the walkie talkie on. It doesn't do anyone any good to have you take the walkie talkie outside with you if it is not turned on. This has happened many times.
The second thing would be that you should keep the walkie talkie on or near you at all times. It doesn't do anyone any good to have the walkie talkie on the bench by the swings when your class is over by the kickball field. This has happened many times. It's a little annoying when you have a parent in front of you who is there to pick up their child for some reason and you cannot get the attention of the teacher with the walkie talkie because the walkie talkie is either not on or it's in the equipment bag on the bench.
Third, use the ring key on the walkie talkie to get our attention in the office. Clicking the walkie talkie on and off doesn't do anyone any good. There are many other noises in the office at any given time and the clicking sound might not be heard. This has happened many times.
Fourth, HOLD THE BUTTON DOWN WHEN YOU ARE TALKING. This is a big faux pas. They will press the button down - we hear the beginning of the message and then dead air. I can't begin to tell you how many times this has happened.
Fifth - please speak in a normal voice and hold the walkie talkie several inches away from your face. There are those that think they are secret service agents and must hold the walkie talkie right up to their mouth and whisper, while there are others who think they need to yell. This doesn't do anyone any good if you can't understand a freaking word they're saying.
Sixth - if we call you, please confirm that you have received the message. Some days I do my best parrot imitation trying to get a message to a class who is outside with the walkie talkie. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I'm not signalling planes flying overhead - do you hear me?????
Seven - you do not have to hold the walkie talkie up to your ear to hear - it's not a cell phone. Really.
Pretty basic don't you think? Easy to follow instructions. I could even do it without the sarcasm - it would kill me, but I could. Not going to happen though.
1 comment:
You are so funny and an excellent writer. These posts are always so much fun to read. You really should consider turning them into a book. They are really good reads.
Aloha!
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