As a teacher, I am always on the hunt for different methods that teachers use to combat excessive cell phone use in the classroom. Notice that I used the word excessive, meaning that there is truly a time and place for everything. With the school year starting back I a prepping for the daily battle of the cell phones. I stumbled across an article a few months back of a Florida Teacher who was suspended for five days without pay for using a cell phone jammer in his classroom. Check out the article here: FL teacher suspended after using cell phone jammer inside classroom
Bring Your Own Technology has really changed the way we all look at cell phones in the classroom. The first thing we realized is that cell phones do have a purpose! The second thing we all quickly realized is that without strict guidelines in a classroom, cell phone use can easily go from useful to useless. I truly empathize with the teacher who felt so fed up that he had to resort to these measures. I do understand what he did was illegal and I do not think it was okay; however, there has to be a way! Cell phones can be so distracting in our day to day lives and in the classroom they often become a monster when not used appropriately. I did read about a software called Try Safety First that essentially achieves the goal of the FL teacher without endangering anyone or breaking any laws.
Anyway, this is not my expertise and school systems take forever to workout the kinks of new programs, so here is what I have done and plan to do in the meanwhile:
1. Make it clear to students from DAY 1 that cell phone use is not allowed in your classroom unless said otherwise. I have a Cell Phone Stop and Go Sign that I use on my board to let students know what kind of day its going to be just to be clear. I am not just telling them, but I am showing them. You can never have too much reinforcement!
2. Be clear about consequences for cell phone use. I like to give one warning and I mean ONE warning. If you give more than one, than now you are just being a pushover. If I catch a student again that same period/ block I take up their phone. (I have a special drawer with dividers to place cell phones. I can easily lock and unlock this drawer). Depending on what kind of lockable storage you have you can use Dividers, Drawer Organizers, or Over-the-Door Organizers. The best part about locking phones up is:
- I DO NOT return the phone until the end of the day or unless a student is called to check out.
- There is no concern for cell phone theft or loss, and my school supports taking up phones, as it is in their contract they and their parents sign in the beginning of the year in the student handbook.
- A majority of students will put their cell phones up because no one wants to go phoneless the rest of the day.
- If a student is caught a second time, they still get their initial warning; however the second time I have them call their parent out in the hall from their phone to explain the situation and I will speak directly to the parent about when their child can serve detention.
- This also helps other students to put up their phone because no one wants to make that call during class. Anything past these two situations result in a referral to the front office.
3. I know it sounds like a lot, but the biggest thing you can do is start this on DAY 1 and be as CONSISTENT as possible the first few weeks of school. Fighting the battle in the beginning allows you to set a standard for the year. Do not back down, do not feel or look guilty and do not be lazy about it. Students are testing boundaries and it is up to you to make them clear. It will be worth it. This is essentially your place of business and you must set your business up for success!
4. ACCEPT that there are some battles in this Cell Phone War that in my opinion are not worth fighting. For example, I have made clear it is a No Cell Phone/ No BYOT day; however, I have finished my lecture and they are working on an assignment pretty quietly. I will walk around the classroom and check on my students progress randomly and see if they have any questions. I do this pretty casually because at this point in my mind I am compromising with them. Most will quickly hide a cell phone as you come around, which I like to think of as there little way of saying, "Ms. B, I partially respect your rules", and for me as long as they are doing your work, I will not shut them down. Its not my optimal situation but students figure out a few things by this:
- Cell Phone use during lectures or direction including labs will result in the worst of punishments and those are boundaries most will no longer test.
- As long as they are diligently working, making progress, and regularly completing assignments on time, their cell phone use outside of those times mentioned above will not be as strictly monitored. (Let's face it, it is no fun being a cell phone police 24/7).
5. INCLUDE lessons that do allow cell phone use, whether it is a scavenger hunt using QR codes or using a cell phone app that increases classroom participation. (I will share my favorite things to do with cell phones soon and yes I do implement consequences to those students off task in those days.)
Note: If your school does not have any rules that back you taking up cell phones, talk to them about what can be an appropriate set of consequences for misuse of phones in the classroom. Other options include consequences across other classes, after school activities, and in sports. I am always delighted to find how supportive other teachers and coaches will be in reinforcing your rules and consequences. They care equally about those same students being successful in the classroom, especially if it impacts missed activities or future scholarships.
Let me know what you think about my post and please share your ideas!
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