It was the Friday before Thanksgiving break, seventh period. (I saved all my subbing stories for when I was back at work.) Cross country.
Cross country is running, long distance. Generally for class time they change into running clothes, and then they go and run a few miles. How many? I'm not sure. But at one point a couple of them were discussing an upcoming 10K and a half marathon.
But cross country season is over, and the team didn't make the end of season CIF championships. So, they just had to sit in the room for the period with the sub.
(They asked if I could just dismiss them to go home. I would have loved to have done that, but they're enrolled in the class so they have to be in the class even if they have nothing to do. I explained that if they could get a parent to pick them up early they could leave. Only one student followed through on that.)
I sat back and watched the room. Several boys got into a group. They had a pad of post its, and they were folding them into triangles. And then one boy tossed it towards the ceiling...
Oh crap! Not this again.
I have noticed students doing this again. Ceiling darts. They toss these things towards the ceiling, hoping they'll stick.
Normally I put a stop to this as soon as I see it. But seventh period cross country the day before a vacation, and they didn't have an assignment. Considering that there were worse things they could be doing to entertain themselves, I went a different route.
I asked. Apparently it's currently popular on TikTok.
Naturally.
I told them fine, they just had to not leave the things in the ceiling when class was over. No mess, and it was okay.
It kept them busy for a while...
(Yeah, I blanked out any faces you could see. They are minors.)
They got quite a few up there:
Some used spin to get them to stick. One boy made a straw contraption out of paper. (I commented on spit balls. They weren't going that route.) I don't think that actually worked at all.
This only kept their attention for a while. Then they went outside and started racing each other. Sprinting. (Reminder: they usually are long distance runners.)
They did clean up before the end of the period. No ceiling darts left behind.
That was an easy class for you.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have to fight them on things, which was nice.
DeleteThey are used to running, they probably had lots of pent-up energy!
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteI'm sure you were considered the cool teacher that day, and I'm glad they actually cleaned up after class. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter told me about kids doing this (and she doesn't even have TicToc!). Interesting how these little fads spread like wildfire amongst kids across the country!
ReplyDeleteToo bad there wasn’t running related things they could do to burn off their energy, but at least this worked on aim and coordination, and they kept their promise to clean up the darts from the ceiling. I agree, a win.
ReplyDelete