Early this morning, our classroom was broken into and a few things were stolen. Missing so far are 6 laptops, a video camera and a garbage can (loot bag?). The thieves broke in through a window with a crowbar. They probably had ten or fifiteen minutes before the police responded to the alarm. In terms of street value, they chose the wrong things. The laptops are ten year old macs that have virtually no value. The video camera was high quality, but several years old. They left our two new eMacs, a video projector, and elmo video camera and Don's Bose stereo system.
Even though the laptops weren't valuable, they represent a great loss to me. Over the last six months, I have spent hours and hours on eBay, spending my own money, picking these laptops and their power sources. I have also spent a lot of time loading them with programs for the students to utilize. We used them on a regular basis in math for drill and practice, as well as higher level problem solving. The video camera had an added loss in that the case had the only tape of a classroom assignment from Don's masters program. As many of you know, being a victim of theft and vandalism is frustrating. There are no real persons as an object of your anger, just imaginations. There are also feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness. The only comfort is knowing that there are lessons to be learned, by ourselves as well as our students.
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