Modern Pranks

Wednesday. Seventh period. As usual, I was standing outside the classroom "greeting" the students as they walked in.

"Your computer turned off..."

As they walk in the room, I have a slide up on the TV. Usually it's the agenda for the day, but since rearranging the room (see yesterday's post), I had their new seating chart on the screen so those who weren't sure where they sat could find their seats. 

I had gone into the power settings on my computer ages ago so that it wouldn't go to sleep while I was using it. (I have it timing out after two hours.) That it would just shut off...

And that's when I realized what had happened. It hadn't just shut off. Someone turned it off. 

It's a thing they do. The kiddos will reach over and turn off each other's computers. Log them out. I'm not sure which key combination does it, but it's two keys, and they can do it fast. 

As they came in, I logged back into the computer. But whatever key trick it is on Chromebooks does a strange thing to laptops--it puts the function key on lock. Which I discovered the hard way when I went to reinstate the music I usually play in the background for them. Deep sigh. 

I growled at them. They denied it was them. (It wasn't "them". It was one student. They probably saw who it was, but they weren't saying.) 

I quickly keyed in my password, found my files, and pulled up the slides for the day. And then we got to work. 

I managed to get through the lesson. I couldn't put on music. (The next day I sat down with the computer and figured out how to disengage the function key lock.) And now I know I have to watch my computer as well as all of them as they come into the room. 

Grrrr.