Before I created Freeperiod I was an ICT Network Manager. There is a CSI element to the role of Network Manager.
As a Network Manager you get calls to come and investigate some upsetting scenes. ICT rooms in a total mess, laptop keyboards with keys removed, grafitti on computers and the theft of mice balls. Thankfully optical mice solved the problem of ball-less mice. I do remember however lamenting with the Technology & Design Technician when a student decided to cut through the lead of one of his soldering irons while it was still plugged in.
I took a zero tolerance approach to damage. I discovered that if I left damage unchecked the problem got worse. For example, if there were one or two keyboards in a classroom with grafitti the problem would spread. Removing the grafitti or keyboard nipped the problem in the bud.
I also discovered another fauble of managing rooms. Putting chairs under the desks at the end of the lesson resulted in the next class doing the same. As people we seem to respond to our environment accordingly. If we come in to a messy room we show it less respect and vice versa.
So hats off to those who manage our school’s resources and create postive environments which say, “we write in our excercise books here, not our equipment”.
