Monday, August 04, 2008

Where's an Expert When You Need One

I've been working in my room a bit the past week or so mainly because we get paid a stipend for spending a day outside our contract doing this, and because it takes me forever to get everything together. Every year we pack everything up so that the maintenance folks can empty our rooms, strip the floors, wax the floors, and, if needed, paint. Since I'm in the old part of the building that means I have no built-in storage units, so everything is in rolling cabinets and bookcases. So, every August, I stroll in to the building and start unpacking and sorting. The plus side is that it gives me a chance to go through everything and to get rid of stuff I don't need anymore. The downer side is that it's a bit time consuming.

When I showed up a few weeks ago I discovered that my room had become the dumping ground for this part of the building. There were tables, cabinets, chairs, and more that did not belong to me, or in my room. I found one of the janitors, explained the situation, and discovered that all that had been put in my room when they'd remodeled the speech teacher's room. That's fine, but I needed it put back in her room so I could get mine put together.

By last week, most of the extra stuff had been removed, but I still ended up putting at least ten chairs, a table, and a file cabinet out into the hallway - my subtle reminder that this stuff needs to go somewhere else.

On an aside...it is stated clearly in The Principal's end of the year letter, that we are to label everything in our room with our name and room number. Why most of this extra stuff (and I later found out it belonged to not one, but three other teachers) was not labeled is beyond me.

And then there was the tech issue. (Isn't there always a tech issue?)

Before I left for the summer, I drew a map of my classroom on my white board so any of the maintenance staff could see where things went. Everything was put into its place except for my tech stuff which was apparently set up by "experts" sent to us by the district office.

Anyone remember our "experts" from last year? Well, they were back, apparently.

Although the room map was directly in front of where they were working, they didn't bother to read it. Consequently my desk and teacher stand (that holds my document reader and computer) were not where they were supposed to be. My printer was smack in the middle of my desk (my, that would be efficient, wouldn't it?). It was supposed to be on a table in another part of the room. My phone wasn't hooked up correctly. Nothing worked.

And someone had torn off all the labels I had put on every single wire and plug and outlet and hub and put them in a nice, neat pile on my document reader.

So...Mrs. Eagle and I had to unplug and rearrange everything. Which took an extra hour since all my labels were removed.

What a waste of time. I wish they'd just let us set the tech stuff up ourselves. And leave my labels alone.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering...they managed to crash the system - again - this year.

6 comments:

nbosch said...

Give me a break...do you think they would allow teachers (alas teachers with more tech experience than they have) plug anything in or download something??

I'm lucky, at least I know what to ask for and the tech guy, Warren, seems to like me!

Mrs. T said...

You win. I don't think there's a person out there who can top that for a colossal room/tech snafu. Ugh. I hate it when they mess with my stuff.

HappyChyck said...

Situational normal? Hope things get right side up pretty quickly!

Dragonrider said...

Our tech guy actually goes in and cleans out our emails. If he thinks it doesn't need to be saved he deletes it. Yet, if we need him he becomes difficult to locate! (1 IT person for a 4 school district)

Melissa B. said...

That's the one thing I HATE about teaching--having to pack everything up at the end of the year, only to try to re-arrange it all in August! I went by my room today, if only to luxuriate in the new AC they've installed (yay!) and relocate a few pieces of furniture that had gone astray. Please drop by when you have the time. I've got an Asbury Park contest going, which is kinda fun! Good prizes, too! :)

Teacha said...

At least the custodians put most of your furniture back in the right place. I spent my whole first day back in my room, sweaty and moving furniture.

Also, I hate the fact that they wax the floor and within the first week of school. It's all scuffed again. Wouldn't it just be simplier if they mopped with bleach or clean once or twice a week. But what do I know, I'm just a teacher who has a degree and few graduate classes. . .