Thursday, February 3, 2022

Say Uno!

After lunch, we spend a half hour playing board games. 

I can see why this is a thing for this population. They have to take turns. There are clear rules to follow. And everyone can get a chance to win. 

There's a group that likes to play Uno. If you're unfamiliar, it's a card game that uses a specific Uno deck, and the object is to play all the cards in your hand. One lays down a card that matches the color or the number of the card played before them. There are cards that will reverse play, skip a player, or prompt a player to draw more cards. 

It's a fun game, one I played before encountering this class. 

One of the big rules in Uno is when a player has one card remaining in their hand, they must announce, "Uno!" to the group. 

It was game time, and I joined a game played by Pizza, Sushi, and Antoine. 

We had played for a bit when Pizza noticed that Sushi had one card in his hand. He had forgotten to announce "Uno!". Oops. 

The forgetting happens sometimes. There's a penalty for not announcing "Uno!", but our classroom deck had long ago lost its instructions, and as we were in the middle of playing, I wasn't going to stop and look it up on the internet. 

I mean, it was a one-off, right? 

But then Pizza noted Sushi again "forgetting" to announce "Uno!" And again. After the fourth or fifth time, I wondered if Sushi was forgetful or just playing us. 

Now, if no one noticed, that would have been one thing. But Pizza noticed it every single time. So, as soon as we finished our game time, I hit the internet and looked it up. 

It turns out the penalty is the person with one card must draw four cards from the deck, thereby eliminating his Uno. 

I announced this to the class as a whole. Somehow that rule hadn't been needed until now. 

The next day, I was playing with a different group, but Pizza, Sushi, and Antoine were again playing Uno. (I think aide 2 joined them on this day.) And I heard a couple of times Pizza getting Sushi to draw the four cards. It's becoming a habit with him.

Sigh. Sushi *shakes head* I can't say this truly surprises me about him.

21 comments:

  1. I played Uno such a long time ago, I wouldn't have remembered the rules. But why Sushi would forget time and again - that I don't have a clue about.

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    1. On the one hand, I could see him baiting Pizza. He likes to "joke" with the other students (in ways that irritate them more than anything). But on the other hand, he is in this class for a reason. He might genuinely not notice or realize that he's forgetting to say "Uno!".

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  2. Maybe eventually he'll learn to say Uno.

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  3. You always do such fun stuff with the kids. I bet they all enjoy having you as their teacher.

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  4. Oh my..I remember Uno...that was a fun game. If Sushi was getting away with it, he's not any more.

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    1. Exactly. And he tries to get away with stuff.

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  5. We like UNO, although we have adapted the rules into a form we like to play with. And the Barbarians have different rules again when they play with friends. I guess as long as you all know the rules you are playing by, it doesn't matter.

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  6. It's nice you were able to look up the rules but I guess old habits are hard to break! :)

    Hope that you are having a good week :)

    Away From The Blue

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    1. I do love having the internet as a resource.

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  7. It’s a fun game, but yeah, I would have to lookup the rules, too

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    1. It's one of those rules that when you need it, you need it.

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  8. I haven't played Uno in a long time, but I remember it as great fun. I didn't remember the Uno announce rule.

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    1. Oh yea, you have to let the players know you're about to win so they can take countermeasures.

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  9. Uno never gets old! My youngest son (26) and his friends sometimes play it on game night (when they meet together in person). I think they have one called Dos also. I was going to write, "Dos too," but I caught it as too punny! The group might have one where there are blank cards to write your own things. Writing this makes me happy there are still young adults who meet to play board games in addition to online (that is a different day of the week, remotely played)!

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    1. All friend groups should have board game nights. I think we should all institute one with our friend groups ;)

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  10. It been ages since I played Uno.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  11. The trick is paying enough attention to catch the forgetter, so well done! It's still a fun game.

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  12. This post makes me want get the Uno deck out of the game closet.

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    1. Do. It's so much fun to play games once in a while.

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  13. It is a fun game. I'm glad they enjoy it.

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