Monday, November 18, 2013

School Whining and Judy Clocks

Just over three weeks ago the copier broke at school.  It took them almost two week to fix it.  Meanwhile we were encouraged to "think digitally" and pay for our own copies at Staples.  When they finally fixed the copier it broke again a day and a half later (not an exaggeration).  They fixed that after one day, but then we weren't allowed to print anything except for report cards for another four days.  Grrr.

Also this morning this was as functional as my computer got.  It actually ended up getting worse.  As someone who depends on their smartboard and really likes to stay caught up with her email I was kind of distressed.



Also it's going to be a few days before they're able to start fixing it (whatever the problem is) so I have to rewrite my sub plans that I thought I was being so awesome by making this weekend. 
Ok, the whining part is over.  Now I want to talk a second about how weird and nerdy I am and Judy clocks.  You know these ones?
                                             
I'm pretty every elementary school kid in the history of America has used these when they were learning to tell time.  My students have started playing with them during class breaks, recess, and while they're waiting for the bus.  They often play a game that involves winding the clock either forward or backward to time travel.  I started thinking about this game more than I should because my mind is strange.  Then I wondered, what if Judy clocks really could cause time travel? 

Suppose every time a kid turned a Judy clock forward or backward time moved forward or backward without anyone's knowledge (including the child's).  The backward motion wouldn't repeat as they got to the same moment again (meaning that if a kid wound the clock backwards the world wouldn't be eternally stuck in a loop from however far back the kid wound the clock to the clock winding -- does that make sense?).  Anyway, supposing that rule was the case do you think overall in the history of Judy clocks we would have a net time travel into the future or into the past?  

Why has this been on my mind frequently for the past four or so days?