Friday, September 30, 2016

The Water Bottle Toss


The first time I saw this (or, perhaps the first time I was aware of it) was during summer school. Apparently, it's the big new thing. It was ridiculously easy for me to find videos of this on YouTube.


Of course, all the videos I found were of successful attempts. Unfortunately, that's not what I've been seeing.

If you didn't watch the video, allow me to explain. They take a partially filled water bottle. (Usually of the half liter size.) Holding it at the top, they toss it so that it flips end over end once. The goal is to get it to land upright.

But, the students who do this in class end up failing more than succeeding.

There's nothing wrong with this, per se. No one gets hurt. It is sort of a skill. And there are much worse things that they could be doing.

However, it gets on my last nerve. When they fail, it makes a kind of loud wet splat. And they do this over, and over, and over again. (They do this when they're finished with their work. Yes, I check.)

Deep sigh.

Is it unreasonable for me to ban this from the classes I cover? I just hope it's a passing fad. Of course, the next passing fad could be so much worse.

38 comments:

  1. I remember when the kids were in school, stack with plastic cups was the "in thing". Do you remember that "phase?" Its harmless (albeit a bit wet) fun. I'd say they could be doing weirder things at the end of the class when work is done. I'd tolerate it a bit I think.

    betty

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  2. Aren't they supposed to be learning while in school?? I don't remember back in my days (which I will admit was The Dark Ages) we didn't do this kind of thing in the classroom. If we weren't doing something as a class we sat quietly and read. I guess those days are over.

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    1. I believe it's the constant stimulation kids get nowadays. They must constantly be "entertained" and moving. Some have a really hard time sitting still.

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  3. P.S. Now with that being said, I am off to challenge my grandson to a game. Wish me luck

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    1. LOL! It was fun. OUt of about 20 tosses, I got it to stand up twice and he got it to stand up 4 times. He recorded a short video and SnapChatted it to his sister to let her know what we do while she is at school. LOL! I'm sure that got a laugh from her and her friends.

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    2. Now you know why it's so popular. Congrats. You'll do better next time ;)

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  4. It's probably just another fad. These things happen all the time. There's always some kind of game to keep people occupied when there's nothing else to do (remember that summoning "Charley" thing?). But yeah, if it gets bugging you, then ban it. They can find something quieter to do.

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  5. My nephews have done this, and they are good at it. They're 7 and 9 years old!

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    1. So, it's really hit the youth population. I'm not surprised.

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  6. Since I have no kids in school at this time I haven't kept up on things young people do.
    When I was in school people still drank out of the garden hose.
    Coffee is on

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    1. Yeah, the fads change all the time. I get to keep up on them ;)

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  7. I had no idea about this. Maybe quiet pet rocks will come back in style. :)

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    1. Shhhh! No rocks. I don't like to think what they would do with rocks...

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  8. I'd probably be annoyed by the sound, too. At least they're doing something besides staring at computer/device screens once in a while.

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  9. It sounds all pretty harmless until it turns into a squirt the girls for a wet Tshirt contest.

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    1. It's the girls doing it too. And if water was getting everywhere, it would have been banned way before now.

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  10. I could not take more than 33 seconds of that video. Watching dudes flipping bottles and then exclaiming 'OOOHH!' was getting on my last nerve. How annoying to have to put up with that sort of thing during class time. However, as you mentioned, it could be worse.

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    1. Imagine me looking for a video to demonstrate. Drove me crazy, too.

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  11. Wow. I hadn't even realized this was a 'thing'. Like, I have seen the occasional video of it here and there but never realized that there were a bunch of people trying to do it.

    I personally would probably ban it. I feel like there's a high risk of making a mess.

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    1. You've seen the videos before this? Well, you're more up on this than I am. I only discovered this at the end of July during summer school. (Me behind the times? Not the first time.)

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  12. I miss so much by not being around kids. I might have gone through my whole life without knowing about this.

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    1. And you would have been perfectly fine continuing not to know about it. I know. Me too.

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  13. I hope it's a fad and it'll blow over, I bet it can get annoying even if they're doing it after they finish their work lol Good luck!

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    1. For now. It won't be long until they're doing this instead of doing their work.

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  14. oh it seemed just like magic until i read you dear

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  15. Okay, Liz, Truth or Dare time. Have you tried the water bottle toss yet? If not, I dare you to give it a try--just once.

    Actually, it could always be worse. What if they were using a fizzy soft drink...



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    1. Bright side: fizzy soft drinks are prohibited from being sold at school during school hours. It's a state law aimed at kids' nutrition.

      I don't know if I want to try it. First I'd have to acquire a plastic water bottle. The ones I keep are metal.

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  16. Oh man that would drive me crazy too. lol I'd not seen that yet. Thank goodness.

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  17. If you do ban it, try to come up with a substitute activity that appeals. Yeah, I know, good luck with that!

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  18. The kids I watch do this too and it drives me crazy! I definitely think you could ask the students not to do it during class; it seems like it's an "after school activity" if ever there was one. I imagine you aren't the only one this annoys. Besides, I'm sure it is distracting for students who are still working. I doubt their actual teachers allow this (though I could be wrong).

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    1. I think it would depend on the situation. Since posting this, I've gotten growly when they do it. I tell them to stop and they do. Which tells me that they get asked to stop it a lot.

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  19. I've confiscated so many water bottles because of this I've lost count. Not sure which is more irritating, the Dab or the bottle toss.

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    1. OMG, the Dab!!! I hate that thing. I've had kiddos try to get me to do it. Absolutely not.

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  20. I would so confiscate every last bottle! No way would that happen...I can't believe what these kids try to get away with nowadays.

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    1. Lately all I've had to do is say stop. As long as that continues, I don't need to escalate things.

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