R.I.P. Point Stamper

For a reward system at April, each student has a point card and can receive or lose points based on behavior, test scores, homework, etc. At the end of each term we host a point-day where students spend their points on food, games, and prizes.

Most students are obsessed with points. They follow me around like little puppy dogs when I carry my point stamper in my hand, they cry when I take points away, and some even carry their point card around as if it were glued to their hand. At the beginning of every class period I check their homework and reward their efforts with points.

During my first class on Friday I was happy to give everyone points for doing a good job on their homework. In between classes there's a five minute break. I usually like to step out of my room and get water, chat with students or go to the bathroom. As the five minute break came to an end, I went back into my room and reached into my desk for my point stamper to begin checking homework only to find that it wasn't there. I double checked my pockets, the ledge on the board, the other drawers, and even the trash can thinking it might've fallen in there, but still no point stamper.

I told my students the problem and asked if anyone had taken it by mistake, but obviously nobody fessed up. I told the front desk about my missing point stamper and they watched CCTV to see if they could catch the thief. CCTV is a security system used in most businesses and buildings throughout Korea. At first it freaked me out thinking that I was being watched all the time, but for instances like this I was glad I had CCTV in my room.

I figured that the crime of the missing point stamper happened within a seven minute time period so that helped narrow down the footage to watch on CCTV. Unfortunately, the angle the camera is in my room cuts off some of my desk and there were so many students crowded around it that we were unable to see who the victim was.

Later that night, I was at a friends place and somehow the story of my missing point stamper came up. Another teacher mentioned that he saw a point stamper in the toilet, in the boys bathroom, but didn't think anything of it at the time and threw it away.

So my point stamper is gone forever, but the pool of victims got narrowed down to a boy in my second class. I have my suspicions, but you know what happens when you "assume" therefore the whole class will get punished tomorrow. Mwuuahhhaaahaaa.