Not perfect

The trouble with being an AST is that people expect certain standards and you are not allowed to have an 'off day'. Well yesterday was shocking and even worse it was my fault! I'd had a bad lunchtime duty, gale force winds and hard work followed by two hours with a year 7 class and boy was I irritable. They constantly asked the same questions, didn't think, didn't listen...so I got more irritable and the whole thing fell apart. I worried about this last night but decided to do something about it today. Apologised for being irritable, explained why and played an extract from 'allo allo' where she says 'listen carefully I will say this only one' ..several times!! Explained I would answer a question once only. If they asked a question that I had already answered I would remain silent and it would be up to them to find out themselves - sharpened listening skills after the first couple of times. Questions about can I print, have glue etc etc were just met with a smile. Guess what - they got it...the listening skills improved the low level questions tapered off, and today was a good day!