Teachers Survival Guide Part 1

Most school secretaries have a lot of power and knowledge of the school, the people who work there, and how it runs.  It is important to have them as your allies so that things run smoothly for you.  Making friends with custodians can possibly lead to you receiving preferential treatment.  I always made sure to learn the names of the custodians in my school and to talk to them when they came into my room to do work.  Tony often stopped to chat as he came by my room.  I had a cabinet that had broken doors, which couldn’t be repaired, and it was taking up valuable space.  I filled out a request to have the cabinet either fixed or removed.  I was told by the head custodian that the cabinet could not be fixed and that it couldn’t be removed because it was bolted to the wall.  I looked at the back and saw that it was not bolted into the wall.  The next time Tony came by, I asked him if it could be removed.  When I came in the next morning, it was gone.  Custodians can be very good school friends!