ssimstar

Well, my summer is very tranquil. The reason for that is that my bully of a line manager has given my job to the out-sourcers. I've had my second breakdown since June 2006 and I'm pretty sure that they'll try to fire me soon. Apart from that, everything's great!

HERE HERE! It makes me SO annoyed when I hear "the whiteboard/projector/network is playing up, and I NEED it for my lesson." I was taught from books, on chalkboards. We occasionally got a video, or on one memorable occasion a loaned videodisc player with the doomsday project on it, that staff were scared to touch. We had 10 minutes every few months on Prestel. I'd say I got a better education that this lot do. My missus was educated here, and she has huge gaps in her general knowledge etc..I find it quite shocking TBH. I never minded a "drier" education either! The chalkboards taught me to duck the "teacher hurled" rubber if I was talking etc. If they liked you, you got the soft chalky side-if not, you got the wooden one, and that hurt. You just CAN'T get the same effect with SMARTBoards.. More's the pity. It's gone crazy here. The question "why hasn't so-and-so got a laptop?" is set to drive me mad. If I reply "it's because they BROKE the one they had, I have NO spares and you won't release any funds for me to replace it." they might scratch their head and tacitly give you the impression that YOU just aren't trying hard enough. Obviously my complete failure in having no ability whatsoever to transmute base metal into laptops is a sad reflection upon my obvious incompetence. I'm just not trying hard enough, obviously. The credibility gap is growing wider here. Expectations engendered by our recently acquired Specialist status have risen to ridiculous levels. Personal laptop a RIGHT, IWB/Data projector in my classrom a RIGHT. Instant response to staff who can't find their ass with two hands, a RIGHT. But change is afoot. New (additional) servers? Sure. Consult your Network Manager. Why, what does he know? Make his job even harder, make his responsibilities higher (but don't pay him more), and break his balls over the NOTHING issues. And, if I hear SLT saying to me, just once more, "I don't have an agenda" I may have to kill. Am I bitter? Dunno. I don't know what rights and responsibilities y'all enjoy as Network Admins; I know that I used to be allowed complete responsibility to manage the systems as I saw fit, liaised with my manager in useful, concise meetings where issues were thrashed out in an atmoshere of mutual respect and solutions decided and put into process with positive outcomes. No more. New manager. Proving himself, naturally. Regards himself as network admin. Isn't, (can't) but his word is law, and being reduced to Network Manager by proxy is bad for my soul. In short, I'm looking to leave before it all goes completely tits-up. And, sadly, I'm not picky - I might get a job in a call-centre trying to sell crap that nobody wants. Or maybe I can get a job with PC World?

As was said, AMD for preference for workstations, but Xeons maybe just edge it for servers. Things could change ... although I do need to get my manager out of my hair so I can make an informed choice. Then again, they're my boss and have had six months experience - surely they must know?

Got about 250 workstations to rebuild. Easy peasy! Look upon my works and despair.

We all have a duty of care to those around us; it is a measure of our humanity. If we see students endangering themselves or others, or trashing equipment then we must intervene, but if I walk past them at the gates having a sly fag I don't regard that as my business. The kids that are in the local shop at lunchtime or morning break (forbidden under school rules) are not my concern, because there are supposed to be teaching staff patrolling and preventing same. Teachers who do these duties, especially at lunch-time, get a free meal from the canteen. I don't get a lunch-break, I'm expected to be on call all the time. I asked the Head if I could get a free meal too, but was slapped down, or rather, to be truthful, ignored. Same thing really.

I have to disagree I'm afraid. Whilst its true that teachers are paid to teach, they are also in loco parentis. That is indisputedly part of their job. They ARE paid to enforce discipline. ALL schools have an institutional discipline policy. Sure, if I see a student is abusing the equipment, I will make my disapproval known, but general discipline is not my job. I don't know what you're doing wrong, but I've never had any problems with lack of respect from students. Maybe it's because I look a bit scary...

No. Do not get involved with discipline. If a kid directly, personally insults you, that's one thing; otherwise stay aloof. It is part of a teacher's training to administer discipline according to school policy; it's not yours. What YOU do is to enable and secure the use of ICT in teaching and learning. If indiscipline of the students compromises that, then hold the teachers to task - that is what they are paid for, that is why they get all those weeks of paid leave. It AIN'T your job ...

We sent our old kit to a charity that supplies PCs to Africa. I think that's worth doing?

The point is that every teacher in my school was given a laptop, purportedly for wireless registration. Except now, they expect a laptop AS A RIGHT, not the privilege it should be regarded as. ICT has now become the universal panacea for delivering education to students; I say no, a GOOD teacher can deliver an interesting, enlivening, engaging lesson with just their ability. Data projectors, IWBs are great in the right hands, disastrous in the wrong hands. I point these things out, but SLT don't listen. They will readily admit they don't understand ICT in that "Ooh God, what would we do without you?" way, but they will not listen to someone who has been at the bleeding edge for too many years. And no Ric, I won't identify myself - I am that paranoid!

It's all down to classroom management. The ICT "specialists" are quite good at managing classses, but cross-curricular ICT is a nightmare. Teachers without the slightest inkling of how to deliver ICT. No training whatsoever, just that arrogance that seems to be part and parcel of modern delivery of ICT. Had a teacher covering for a colleague who was off for an operation; nice girl but allowed her students to go crazy apeshit with the printers with the result that I now have two destroyed printers. When is it going to be mandatory to give ALL teachers some basic training in good practice in ICT?

Oooh, be nasty to me!

Oh go on, tell me your woes.

A shade under £20K. Network Manager. School recently got Specialist Status for Maths & Computing. I'm sole ICT support for a school with a largish site. Around 250 workstations, three servers, 5 ICT suites. Several workgroups. 3 wireless mobile classrooms. Cover around 20KM per day. My line manager seems to think I'm idle and is on my back constantly, despite all evidence to the contrary. Because he has set up his little workgroup at home, he thinks he is now an expert on networking systems, although he doesn't understand why file servers are more expensive than desktops. He doesn't understand why a good hardware support contract on your servers is valuable. He doesn't understand why wireless systems do not have the bandwidth or throughput of hard wired systems, but he is SLT and can shaft me at his leisure. Ideas anyone?

Happened to me. Think it was malicious, loop plugged into Library switch, which is only there because they slammed desklegs into the data points and trashed them. Took me a few hours to sort, but I did. Nobody cared.