Thursday. First period. Co-taught freshman math.
It was the last ten or so minutes of class. I was seated in a corner, watching. And then, the opening strains of the music for Pac-Man rang out loudly in the middle of class.
I walked over to the student. Stood there. He looked up.
And he got very, very defensive. "I'm completely finished with my work. I have no other work to do. Class is almost over. I can play this game."
I continued to stand there.
That's when he realized why I had targeted him.
"Oops. Sorry."
He quickly muted the sound, and continued with his game.
He had headphones on, so he hadn't realized that his game's music was being broadcast to the entire silent classroom.
(He was right. He had finished his work. He could play a game for the remaining time in class. But, we weren't supposed to hear his game.)
I haven't played Pac Man in years.
ReplyDeletelol, did the class laugh?
ReplyDeleteI think half of them didn't hear. They had their earbuds in and were focused on their own games.
DeleteHow times have changed. We would have had to read some class book or other. That would have been taken away, in my day
ReplyDeleteComputers have changed things. A lot. Of course, usually they don't have any dead time (as the teacher teaches class up until the bell).
DeleteHe played Pac-Man? How retro!
ReplyDeleteI loved that game.
Of all the games... Yeah, I was shocked he had chosen to play that.
DeleteHi Liz - kids! ... all right in the end - have a good weekend - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThat's actually a nice incentive to get their work done! Pac-Man? Is it the same as the original? I can see it being fun, even with all the fancy graphics now. I got an ad on my phone for original Tetris.
ReplyDeleteIf you click on the link, that's the version he was playing. Some old Google doodle version.
DeleteMy husband played a lot of PAC-Man back in the day. Interesting that a version is still available.
ReplyDeleteI think all of those games are online someplace. It's just a matter of finding them.
DeleteI used to play it :)
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteIsn't there some insolence in his question?
ReplyDeleteOh yes, definitely. But once he realized why I had singled him out, he got very contrite very fast.
DeletePac Man is so old school
ReplyDeleteThat it is.
DeleteWell done!
ReplyDeleteYou gave me an ideal for post.
ReplyDeleteThis happened to me when I was enduring "open seating" in an office setting. We were all sitting side-by-side-by-side, nearly close enough to touch, along long tables. Every now and again, somebody didn't realize their noise cancelling headphones weren't plugged in and we heard the most embarrassing music choices: "Kung Fu Fighting," "Smoke on the Water" ...
ReplyDeleteYes, this sort of thing happens quite frequently. Headphones don't always catch all the sounds.
DeleteA funny story. Nice to know some classics endure. Fond memories of playing PacMan on my very clunky computer in the 80s!
ReplyDeleteAnd my question would be~ what did kids do in school before cell phones? Personally, I think they should be banned in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteCell phones? He was on a computer.
Delete