crc-ict Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Well, what a last 10 days it's been. Today marks the end of my two years as a peripatetic primary ICT technician - I said my last goodbyes out of 9 this afternoon. Monday sees me starting a new post as ICT Technician in a local boys secondary school. It's certainly a move forward for me, as it's full-time and the post has responsibility for Website development and the VLE. So, wish me luck people - it's going to be a big step! I think secondary boys in a city are going to be a bit different to rural primary children! Any tips?? Cheers, Chris.
HodgeHi Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Good luck mate. If anything like the secondary school i worked in it should be a real eye-opener (i went the other way).
elsiegee40 Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Tip 1: Take a deep breath Tip 2: smile Tip 3: A large supply of No-more-nails Enjoy!
SteveLaw Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 I've done very similar for 6 years (supported over 50 Primaries over the years) now moving on to Network Manager in one secondary school! Scary. Best of luck. We can learn together
jcollings Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Well, what a last 10 days it's been. Today marks the end of my two years as a peripatetic primary ICT technician - I said my last goodbyes out of 9 this afternoon. Monday sees me starting a new post as ICT Technician in a local boys secondary school. It's certainly a move forward for me, as it's full-time and the post has responsibility for Website development and the VLE. So, wish me luck people - it's going to be a big step! I think secondary boys in a city are going to be a bit different to rural primary children! Any tips?? Cheers, Chris. I'm sure it will be superb for you. My advice is: 1. Get involved in whole school life - it makes it much more enjoyable if you have your fingers in as many pies as possible 2. Remember they are kids - they get it wrong and make mistakes just like adults. Always be ready to forgive and forget. 3. Try not be seen as the grumpy IT tech who just bans stuff for students and makes their lives dull. Work with the kids if possible and get to know them. 4. Enjoy - there is nothing like working in a school - sure it's hard at times and we all moan about it (me included) but it really is a unique place to be - cliched but you really are making a difference to peoples lives! 3
SteveLaw Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Nicely put jcollings and good to be reminded now and again.
jcollings Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Nicely put jcollings and good to be reminded now and again. Cheers Steve. I guess I would have to add I am very lucky in my school - good pay, good hols, well respected department, mostly friendly staff, lovely location etc.
maniac Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 I'm sure it will be superb for you. My advice is: 1. Get involved in whole school life - it makes it much more enjoyable if you have your fingers in as many pies as possible 2. Remember they are kids - they get it wrong and make mistakes just like adults. Always be ready to forgive and forget. 3. Try not be seen as the grumpy IT tech who just bans stuff for students and makes their lives dull. Work with the kids if possible and get to know them. 4. Enjoy - there is nothing like working in a school - sure it's hard at times and we all moan about it (me included) but it really is a unique place to be - cliched but you really are making a difference to peoples lives! Hear hear! Those are good words of advice. Particularly point 3, as generally the rule applies if you make their life hell, they can do a pretty effective job of making your life hell in reurn! I'm trying to talk the two techs in the school I've just started at round to that way of thinking, it's getting through slowly! The best tips I've found are get to know the staff yourself, don't rely on what other peoples opinions about a certain person are (I'm sure most people would do this anyway) as schools can be really brutal places for gossip. Have a casual chat with them in the staff room etc and start building a good relationship with key staff members almost immediately. Attend staff meetings even if you don't have to as they are a good opportunity to get to know the staff and what's going on in the school, and above all else have fun as secondry schools can be really fun places to be if you get involved! Mike.
witch Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Good Luck! I wish I had the courage (and the expertise) to make the same move..maybe one day! The best advice I was given was to smile at everyone and don't listen to gossip - at least at first - make your own mind up about people
SteveLaw Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Smile at everyone is a good tactic yes. As is get on the good side of the office staff, caretaker and even cleaners.
kmount Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Take it slow and take an interest in as much going around you as you can fit into your head. All the very best.
elsiegee40 Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 I'm sure it will be superb for you. My advice is: 1. Get involved in whole school life - it makes it much more enjoyable if you have your fingers in as many pies as possible 2. Remember they are kids - they get it wrong and make mistakes just like adults. Always be ready to forgive and forget. 3. Try not be seen as the grumpy IT tech who just bans stuff for students and makes their lives dull. Work with the kids if possible and get to know them. 4. Enjoy - there is nothing like working in a school - sure it's hard at times and we all moan about it (me included) but it really is a unique place to be - cliched but you really are making a difference to peoples lives! I think that's more or less what I meant... I just said it in fewer words. Nicely put jcollings. I think one or two techs need this on their wall!
kmount Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Smile at everyone is a good tactic yes. As is get on the good side of the office staff, caretaker and even cleaners. Couldn't agree more, we have a really good relationship with our site staff and do each other favours which makes for an easier life when it comes to lugging stuff around and needing maintenance doing at silly times e.g. weekends.
pooley Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 I'm sure it will be superb for you. My advice is: 1. Get involved in whole school life - it makes it much more enjoyable if you have your fingers in as many pies as possible 2. Remember they are kids - they get it wrong and make mistakes just like adults. Always be ready to forgive and forget. 3. Try not be seen as the grumpy IT tech who just bans stuff for students and makes their lives dull. Work with the kids if possible and get to know them. 4. Enjoy - there is nothing like working in a school - sure it's hard at times and we all moan about it (me included) but it really is a unique place to be - cliched but you really are making a difference to peoples lives! Fantastic advice, I love working with the kids/staff and really enjoy my work. 1 extra bit of advice would be if your asked if its possible to do something allways answer YES (within reason) and then google howto afterwards. Being known as someone staff and kids can approach will get you a long way
SteveLaw Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 1 extra bit of advice would be if your asked if its possible to do something allways answer YES (within reason) and then google howto afterwards. Be careful with this though. I prefer to say "I don't know" where I don't, but I always add "I will find out". Just make sure you do find out when you have said you will (but also be careful with setting a time frame for when).
john Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 Echo everything that Jcollings has said, I find the get involved in things outside of IT is great and really shows the kids that your not just the password resetter! Ive done loads of music and drama this last 18 months so the kids have seen me in the roof of sports halls rigging lighting, projectors, cyc's, set shifting, prop making, audio engineering, assisting with the directing of shows and taking key responsiblity for the technical side in the whole school show to allow the directors to direct rather than panic about the back stage techy stuff which I took over from them. Also works well that you get to know the teaching staff more and they then work with you more and know how you tick so I find it works well both ways. Hope my new school have a nice drama and music dept that I can get involved in.
Sirbendy Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 (edited) Nothing wrong with a bit of grumpy... But yes, don't listen to the teachers spouting their opinionated toss about the kids - meet them with an open mind, form your own opinions. We've got so many kids one of the IT Teachers just rants about, yet...they're just kids! She really rants and raves, makes them out to be hell etc. I think I was as bad as them in school, or worse TBH. Once you get past the "Who the f*ck are you?" barrier, and the initial "I don't know you/you're a teacher so I'll give you hell" hurdle, our kids are nice kids! Reason with them, don't lay down the law without explaining why. Find out their likes/dislikes/hobbies/musical tastes etc, forge some common ground. If you block a game, explain why or blame it on the LEA filtering (always good). Show them what you do, and how..ours quite enjoy seeing how we do things and asking questions. Never sink to their level, but never take their attitude or comments to heart - too many staff take it all personally/far too seriously, when it's just kids lashing out or being idiots/having a laugh. Year 11 that left in 06 put it round the school that I crossdress, and wear pink lacy undies..Y11 07 used to call out of their classrooms as I walked past, and when I looked, they'd say "Yer gay." Once they find out how hard it is to push buttons, they tend to relax and not get uptight, which makes them fun to work with. Make yourself known to the kids - I see all of ours, and make a point of getting the IT staff to introduce me. "This is Mr Rowlands, and he's the man with the answers - if you can't get a PC to work, ask him nicely. He won't bite..he may dribble though." All of our kids are addresses as "Miss", "matey" or by name, depending on how memory is at the point in time..kids address us by first name. I can't be doing with "Mr"..if they ask if they can call me Karl, i say yes. Also tends to drop some barriers there. We're very informal, as we've found long ago it's the best way with our kids. It's not been unknown for an entire class to shout "We're going to batter you, you know" or write "Steve and karl are GAY!" on word in 72pt when we ban a game or remote view te screens, only for us to laugh at them and beyondexec them to pampers.com. They love us really. As has been said - enjoy the experience...there are times you'll want to kill them, and there are times where they will genuinely surprise and impress you. I'm semi-dreading having one with me on work experience.. You might not run across some of the stuff I've described..we're often percieved as a "challenging" school. Bunch of hooey - the kids are ace, but they make you work to earn their respect and trust for a month or 2, as a lot of our new staff will find out. Once you pass that period, you're "cool", and they change accordingly. After 8/9 years, a lot of the kids know me before they even start from siblings, so I'm cool all the time.. I do believe we've even had several mentions in the leavers books as being "ace" and "cool" and "fun"..and I'm 99% sure I even made "ratemyteacher.com"... Karl Rowlands Teacher Ratings - MADELEY COURT SCHOOL - TELFORD, ENGLAND - Student Ratings See? "God." High praise indeed.. EDIT: My gods, there are some AWFUL attempts at staff names on there..heh..and I'm fairly sure we've never had a "Phil MeCrackin" in the staff.. Edited July 23, 2008 by Sirbendy
crc-ict Posted July 24, 2008 Author Posted July 24, 2008 Thanks for all the tips and the good wishes. Even Grommit for your remark about Body Armour. You're not the first
Dos_Box Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 A couple of years back I was propping up a kebab bar at early o'clock in the morning on my way home when 2 youths in there started to really stare at me. After a minute on said 'You you used to work at as the network manager didn't you?', so I said yes, I did, and then they went on to say how cool I was They'd just finished their A levels and were in year 10 when I started there. It really perked me up it did.
Sirbendy Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 I see a lot of ex-students all over the place..and we often have kids coming back to visit us several years after leaving for a sit down, a cuppa and a chat. The pain of 11-16 is you never see them at their best...hormonal teenagers are a PITA. By year 11, just as they're leaving, they start to chill and become much more personable. Then they go! I want a 6th form. Heh.
crc-ict Posted July 24, 2008 Author Posted July 24, 2008 I want a 6th form. Heh. My new place has got one
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