Middle school student in class with his/her cell phone, which is supposed to be off and put away (preferably in a locker but we all know what they do....).The phone rings while a lesson is being taught.
The student answers the phone and has a conversation.
The student hangs up. As the teacher approaches the student the phone rings a second time. Again the student answers the phone and begins to have another conversation.
The teacher puts out her hand to take the phone. The student says, "But... it is my mom." The teacher takes the phone and it rings for a third time. It is the students mother - 3 times she has called during class!!!
The phone is confiscated. The mother is now angry at the teacher because the mother must come to the school to claim the phone from the school safe. The mother's statement, "If I need to speak to my child during the school day then I will call. Tough for the teacher."
Do I have an opinion? Yes, but what is yours? How would you handle this situation? With the student? With the parent?
By the way, this is a true story....
So, lots of schools are now doing "Bring Your Own Device" programs in which they encourage kids to bring their own smart phones or other devices because they can be used so effectively for so much teaching. You can find lots of examples on teacher blogs or just by Googling.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right --kids do bring them into class any way in schools where they're forbidden. So many schools handle this by what you describe here -- punishment when something goes wrong. I'm wondering about what schools can and should be doing proactively instead -- regular communication with families ahead of time, actively working with kids to make them aware of and responsible for managing disruption and distraction because those are core skills now for all of us (take, for example, the texting that goes on in our own classes...among these teachers -to-be).
Bad manners should never be tolerated.
And then we have to decide: Is this a teaching moment or a punishment moment? What should happen now in schools before we get to such "situations"?
Because there are many schools now where kids' phone and IPods and tablets are out and visible and integrated into learning.
How did those schools get there?