Friday. 6th period golf. As happens when an athletic team has a sub, they just hung out in the teacher's classroom for the period.
I've covered many of these kinds of classes. They sprawl out on the desks. A couple will ask to go and do work in other classes. But mostly they sit around and talk. And play with their phones.
As long as they aren't tearing apart the classroom, I'm pretty lenient with these kinds of classes. I become the fly on the wall, listening to all the strange things teens talk about when they have nothing in particular to do.
So, when they tried to figure out the phone number for the school, I thought nothing much of it. Someone knew it off the top of his head.
And when they started asking who various students' favorite teachers were, I listened with half an ear.
I was curious when the boy dialed his cell phone. Normally I'd put a stop to them making phone calls in class, but they had a free period, and it doesn't bother me if during a free period they call someone.
But then he got the switchboard. And he shushed the rest of them. He asked for a classroom...
"Is this Ms. A?" He got an affirmative response. "Is your refrigerator running?"
I'm not sure what shocked me more. That the boy actually made a prank call. Or that he used that old chestnut. I mean, seriously. There's got to be a better...
I put a stop to that nonsense. No teacher needs that sort of distraction 6th period on a Friday. And it's just silly.
But the conversation continued on in the prank call vein. Apparently, this was not the first time he had done this. He had stories of previous pranks.
Just in case you thought kids these days get up to new tricks...
How brazen to make the prank call during class time, albeit a more relaxed class time. Couldn't his phone be traced back to who made the call?? Their antics never cease to amaze me.
ReplyDeletebetty
There's one school where the caller ID pops up on the phone. This was not that school.
DeleteRight in front of you! Ballsy.
ReplyDeleteThat McGonagall gif is just perfect for this situation. I have to admit to laughing, though I would have shut that down, too.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I was lucky to work in a school where students weren't allowed cell phones. And even if they did have then, the school was so far out in the middle of nowhere, no cell phones would work anyway.
This made me laugh out loud. Seriously! I remember making pranks calls when I was a kid. And we used this very one!! My favorite was when we called stores and asked "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" Oh my it is good to see they have pretty harmless ways to spend their time, too!
ReplyDeleteI think everyone used the refrigerator one. What got me was that there was a kid in class who had never heard it before and thought it was hilarious.
DeleteHa, that's hilarious. I knew of kids who did something similar using the school's internal phone line. The teachers usually reacted with a mix of amusement and annoyance.
ReplyDeleteWow. Some things never change, except I never could have made a phone call in my youth - the youth of the 1950's, that is. Memories of Prince Albert and his can! Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI almost countered with Prince Albert in a can, but I knew they wouldn't get it.
DeleteHa! To funny that kids still use that ancient prank which I remember remember (using) from when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteLiz, that's funny. You know in the 'old days' pulling such a prank was done anonymously. How do they do this on a cell phone? I don't know a way of blocking the phone number unless there is an app that does this. You're right a teacher doesn't need this sort of distraction, but if I were the teacher and unless there isn't some sort of school policy that says that I have to answer all cell calls while on school property, then if I wouldn't answer unknown calls. OH well, this is still funny. I didn't know kids did this sort of thing today. lol Thanks for the story. Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteThe more things change the more they stay the same.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding.
Deleteah, the last period on Fridays, I remember them well, especially since in my country we have morning and afternoon shift. Imagine having lessons with a class at 7pm on Fridays : )
ReplyDeleteIt IS an old chestnut! Like the one where they ask if there's any Walls there and when you answer 'no' they ask what's holding your house up? Lol.
ReplyDeleteVery old. Although, I've never heard the Walls one before.
DeleteLol I can't believe people still bother with prank calls.
ReplyDeleteI thought those went out with called ID, myself.
DeleteI had no idea people still made prank calls. I thought that went out once everyone had Caller ID.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? They're taking advantage of the fact that the classroom phones don't have caller ID.
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