+248980071......Who are you?

Yesterday my husband received a text message from this number +248980071 and it said that he had missed a call from this number and please call as soon as possible. 

I know, it sounded really funny! We laughed and joked about how considerate whoever this person was asking him to call them back since their call (which he never got) was missed. 

And I got a text message from the same number about an hour later! Now this was weird! I mean, I felt as if someone was watching us and sending us text messages! Yeah, I'm probably watching too much of Pretty Little Liars! 

The message that I received said, "We have an important voice message for you, call this number now +248980071 to hear it."

Of course, I knew it was a hoax but felt strange because I got the text soon after my husband got a message from the same number. So I just wanted to check whether anyone else had received a text too and updated my status on Facebook.

Apparently, we weren't the only target! Almost all my contacts on Fb had received a text from this number. According to Rifu, the number can be traced to some state in Africa and we mustn't respond or call at all! And Azu said that her husband showed her how such mass text messages could be sent from the internet. So some guy or girl some where in African is definitely using some sort of program to text all the Maldivians!

I even felt a bit envious because some of my friends have been getting text messages for a couple of weeks now and I got just one yesterday! They even got missed calls too! And worse, some of my contacts were told that they were going to get $ 5000, and they just had to send their bank account number!

I wonder who it could be! It could be just one guy or perhaps a group! What is the point of sending gibberish text messages, I mean...who is going to fall for it! We all know about such tricks and I'm quite certain no one is going to fall for it! Why waste their precious time and energy sending text messages to all the Maldivians! 

And how did they get our number! I mean every single MALDIVIAN'S number! There is hardly anyone who hasn't received a text or a missed call from them! Or is it just us or have they been texting the whole world too!

I'm really curious now and I really want to know who this person is!!!!

Guess Who?

My students posing for a photograph! 

On Sunday our academic year started. This year I'm teaching a new batch and there are about 99 students! Oh yes, I am excited and at the same time, SAD TOO! Yes, you heard me right. I miss my students (Batch 13, Gr 1 & 2). 

To start off and to get everyone moving and talking, I usually use this ice breaker, Guess Who! I don't have the link or remember the website form which I got this idea, sorry! I googled for an ice breaker and came across this 3 years ago and I've been using this since then. Any way, this is one of the best ice breakers I've used so far and my students enjoy this game and I achieve my goals every single time! 

I usually print names of famous people the particular group would know! For instance, if the students are teenagers and if I am meeting them for the first time, I would use names that they could guess easily because if the names I choose are unfamiliar, the aim of conducting this activity wouldn't be achieved in the end. Students are suppose to talk and break the ice.If they can't guess and gets stuck some where in between, the conversation would die out and there would be nothing to say.

Let me explain how this game is played.

Firstly, I stick a name (printed on A4 sheets using masking tape) on their backs and ask them to find out who they are by questioning others. So they stand up and move around the classroom.

Here are some RULES that they have to follow! 

Rules:

1.  Can't give a clue! 
2.  Just ask questions! 
3.  Answer has to be "yes" or "no!"

Some questions they could ask are:

1. Is it a man or woman?
2. Young or old? 
3. Famous? 
4. Singer? Actress? Millionaire? Aristocrat? Maldivian? 

Most of the time, when they see their friend's back they get some idea  and I hear them asking, is it a footballer or a singer...etc!

Some names I've used this year include:

Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Ali Ashfag, Mariyam Unoosha, Shahkruk Khan, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg, Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth, Suneetha Ali, Priyanka Chopra....etc.

If you are wondering whether they were able to guess all the names, yes! They did! And those students who got the Ali Ashfag and Christiano Ronaldo's names were super excited and bubbling up like they were actually meeting them! And in no time, they are up, roaming around the classroom, laughing away happily as they help each other to guess the names on their backs! 

I hope this activity would be useful to someone out there!