That's really interesting, Collette! Thanks so much for sending the link to Jack Neary's insightful article. He is certainly on the mark regarding the power of habit and the opportunity costs and time lost by many of us when using phones for the more mindless activities. Think of all the great works students miss because of the time spent on phones! Tragic!
Oh, this is so hard. My education experience was predominantly in a private middle school which had a zero-tolerance policy for phones in the classroom. On the one hand, teaching is difficult enough without phones and tech, just by the nature of being 9/12/14/insert-age-here! On the other hand, i understand the argument that tech is part of students' lives and the modern world in general, and instead of fighting that, maybe we should lean into it? Teach the kiddos how to use tech safely and responsibly?
All that to say, i imagine it must be incredibly wearying as a teacher to constantly fight the put-up-your-phone fight, AND when the phones are out, they are likely nothing more than a distraction, despite our best plans and intentions. This is a worthy fight, of course, but I don't know that I can make the argument that teachers are given the right resources and ***pay*** to make the fight a sustainable one.
Those were a lot of words that didn't say much; looking forward to hearing your take!
Such great points you are making here, Megan! And you are so right about the energy required to deal with these things. I've found that being crystal clear about policies at the beginning of the school year and consistently supporting the policies with daily practices such as greeting students at the door (and ensuring phones aren't out) and saying goodbye to each of them as they leave makes all the difference -- and actually can reduce pain in the long run. Seeing students liberated from their phones and enjoying learning is so rewarding. Thanks again for your thoughtful comment!
No phones don’t belong in classrooms.
Another substack writer I read, and recommend, wrote about some of the reasons I’d list here: https://jackbneary.substack.com/p/social-anxiety
It’s not about being connected to “technology”, it is mostly about being connected to nonsense for these students. IMHO.
That's really interesting, Collette! Thanks so much for sending the link to Jack Neary's insightful article. He is certainly on the mark regarding the power of habit and the opportunity costs and time lost by many of us when using phones for the more mindless activities. Think of all the great works students miss because of the time spent on phones! Tragic!
Oh, this is so hard. My education experience was predominantly in a private middle school which had a zero-tolerance policy for phones in the classroom. On the one hand, teaching is difficult enough without phones and tech, just by the nature of being 9/12/14/insert-age-here! On the other hand, i understand the argument that tech is part of students' lives and the modern world in general, and instead of fighting that, maybe we should lean into it? Teach the kiddos how to use tech safely and responsibly?
All that to say, i imagine it must be incredibly wearying as a teacher to constantly fight the put-up-your-phone fight, AND when the phones are out, they are likely nothing more than a distraction, despite our best plans and intentions. This is a worthy fight, of course, but I don't know that I can make the argument that teachers are given the right resources and ***pay*** to make the fight a sustainable one.
Those were a lot of words that didn't say much; looking forward to hearing your take!
Such great points you are making here, Megan! And you are so right about the energy required to deal with these things. I've found that being crystal clear about policies at the beginning of the school year and consistently supporting the policies with daily practices such as greeting students at the door (and ensuring phones aren't out) and saying goodbye to each of them as they leave makes all the difference -- and actually can reduce pain in the long run. Seeing students liberated from their phones and enjoying learning is so rewarding. Thanks again for your thoughtful comment!