Hacky Sack in the Art Room

My students find ample excuses for why they shouldn't work and ample means for how they can distract themselves.  One common way is to use the art room laptops.  The classroom is equipped with ten MacBooks for my graphic design class primarily.  The other classes, however, have used them for developing their art history presentations and other--not so academic--purposes.  This has been my demise.  The students' drawings and goblets compete with youtube and facebook for attention and devotion.  Finally I issued an edict, declaring that I would allow students to use laptops who were not accessing youtube or facebook.  Moreover, I reminded students that these laptops were not present in the classroom in order to be their personal mp3 players.  I can't stand dueling music throughout the room, and I already let students use their ipods in class and about 85% of the time the radio is on.

I have since taken laptops from students who seek them simply to listen to music or update their status.  Occasionally a new distraction will appear.  Today it was in the form of a black, tan, and red hacky sack.  I was attempting to convince J--- that he had cut off half of a person's face in the way that he had drawn her when I noticed a student tossing his hacky sack around across the room.  I had previously given my support for the game in general, however, I noted that the art room wasn't the place for it at the present moment.  He had invited me to hack with him, not believing I lacked foot-eye coordination--considering I was an art teacher.

Having seen him get out his hacky sack again, I looked up and said, "Hey T----, maybe I will hack with you for a little while."  He excitedly got up and tossed the hacky sack towards me, I gave it an admirable tap with the inside of my right foot, then snatched it with my hand, quickly shifting it into my pocket.  I uttered a "thanks!" and walked back to the drawing with the misshapen face.

As I approached J---, he gave a hearty laugh, mocking T--- for his inability to predict my actions. He alternated between chuckles, mocking comments, and amused glances.  When he finally regained his ability for sustained conversation, he declared, "That was a pretty cool teacher move!"  It was a couple minutes before he settled down, and in gaining his amusement, I was able to tackle the misshapen face again.  At the end of the hour I returned the hacky sack.  Later in the day I spotted T--- exiting a class, his hacky sack readily available in his hand.