Tuesday. Fifth period.
It was the independent work portion of the period. I had gone over some problems (we've started the probability unit, so they were doing practice problems on things like, "How many possible ice cream cones can you make with 3 cone types, 5 ice cream flavors, and 3 toppings?"), and it was their turn to try them on their own.
The students weren't having too much trouble with the concepts, so Ms. L and I were at the front of the room, waiting for questions. A student approached.
"Jeff got in a fight. Now he's in the discipline office."
Both Ms. L and I looked over at Jeff's desk. His computer was open. His notes were sitting there. His backpack was leaning against the bottom of the chair.
Ms. L: "He just left to go to the restroom..."
He hadn't been gone all that long. Definitely not long enough for either of us to be concerned. But now we knew he wasn't going to return.
Deep sigh.
(How did the student know? I assume that Jeff texted him, and he conveyed the information to us.)
We continued on. At the end of the period, all the students cleared out. Jeff's stuff remained at his desk.
After fifth period was lunch. Security arrived a few minutes into lunch to retrieve Jeff's stuff. (The computer belonged to the classroom, so I logged Jeff out and returned it to charge.)
Some students give off a certain vibe. You know they're trouble. Jeff? Not so much. He's a good kid who's doing fairly well in class. So, I was shocked. But really, at that age, I shouldn't be that shocked.