Old Technology

"What's that thing?" a student pointed at the VCR/TV tuner I use to project our morning announcements on the SMART Board. It sits on top of a bookshelf, and she hadn't noticed it before. "Is it a DVD?"

I realized that most kids today have no idea how to watch any media other than the streaming or broadcast type. "No," I answered, "It plays VHS tapes."

"Are they white?" she asked.

I thought about it. "Not really," I replied, "but I think I have some around here, if you want to see one." I unlocked a filing cabinet in the corner and opened the bottom drawer. Inside were four video cassettes neatly labeled by class period, and dated April '96. "They look like this," I showed her and the other students who were listening to our conversation. "Have you ever seen one before?"

"I think my dad has some of those," another student reported. "Do they have plastic tape you can pull out?"

I nodded, and he laughed. "I pulled a lot out of some when I was little, and he was really mad."

I popped one of the tapes into the VCR and hit play. On the screen a student was presenting a book project about The River by Gary Paulsen. He had created a game based on the story and was explaining the rules and how they related to the plot.

"Where is he?" the kids asked. 

"He's standing right there," I waved to the interior windows. "My room was a little different then, but look, there's the clock across the hall."

I didn't remember the kid in the video at all, which was a little troublesome to me, so I fast-forwarded to see the next student, who I also did not remember. One more fast forward, and I was still lost. For a long time, I could remember every student I ever taught, but now it looks like that memory drive might just be failing. Even so, I set the video on my desk to watch again another day when my brain was a little more focused.