Classroom Upgrades and a Caution

"Try not to look and read off the board," I said. "Try to stay facing the class as much as possible."

Nora must have been listening, because she bought a stand for her laptop. I had to help install it on my desk.

My mentality has always been "Make do with what I have." Nora's is "If I need something order it from Amazon with express shipping!" Nora's been generous in general. To help buy some affection/social credit she's bought enough snacks to make her own kids jealous!

It's a nice little tool. I imagine she'll use it in her future classroom.

It has helped Nora to follow my advice. Her laptop is more advanced than mine and she's pulled out some new programs to write on the screen rather than the whiteboard.

However, when teaching students one has to keep in mind the low brow even when dealing with the high-tech. What do you see in this picture?

I see a cock and balls. Yes, I know it's a slim textbox with two corners to drag/extend from.....but to young mind it's clearly a penis. I saw it right away, so I guess I'm still a juvenile at heart.

I hoped that Nora would click somewhere else and it would go away. She didn't. The pen function didn't seem to address the textbook at all. I debated walking by her computer as she talked and tapping the screen. I decided against it in case it would throw her off balance and/or bring more attention to the issue.

No, I took a discrete photo from the back of the class to show her later, said a quick prayer she'd click soon, and then scanned the room to see if anyone else noticed.

It took maybe a minute. One of the girls in the middle of the room nearly spit suppressing a laugh. Her friend right next to her immediately whispered to ask what was up (of course). 

They managed to keep a lid on it, though. There was no outcry, but the pair of girls were paying a lot more attention to the board than they were before and smiling. Students don't smile at the board when teachers go over the distance formula.

Another small group of boys started smiling a few minutes later. I'm trying to remember who it was that made eye contact with me and smiled. Maybe it was the peer tutor? I tapped a finger on my lips as a small "shhh" gesture and it never became a big thing. The kids who were staring at their cellphones or into space missed out, but the kids really paying attention had a small laugh.

Nora, to her credit, seemed to realize there was some source of mirth in the room. She was almost done talking and finished up before there was any uproar. The projector turned off and class moved on. Much later, I showed her what happened during planning time and she got a laugh out of it.