I’m a 10th grade teacher and a hypocrite. I have a pretty strict “no cell phone” rule in my classroom, that I don’t follow myself. If I’m being honest and reflective, I like my phone and the pull of the blinking light and the persistent notification have power over me. I fear I am just as addicted to my phIone as I am constantly accusing my almost 13 year old daughter of being.
So why do I cling to the no cell phone rule in my room? Is it the right direction? How much access to smartphones should classroom teachers allow their students during class? Smartphones, and just internet access alone, have created a new consideration to the already complicated profession of K-12 education. I thought I knew where I stood, but the more I think about it and talk with other teachers about it the more I wondered if my rule was just a manifestation of my exhaustion and the easy route.
Where do Teachers Stand?
If you ask most 5th-12th grade teachers how they feel about allowing phones in their classrooms, the majority of them will tell you they are vehemently against it. I did a quick informal Facebook poll in a teacher group I’m a member of. The responses to this question fell mostly into one of two groups - either A. I’m for it with restrictions and rules or B. Absolutely not. The latter group comprised 72% of the 229 responses I received; that’s 72% of teachers who were strongly against allowing their students to access their smartphones in the classroom. When they justified their reasons, they mostly mentioned one of three things; the lack of self control students have, the fear of inappropriate use in their classroom, or a negative experience they had had regarding student cell phone use. I agree, these are all totally understandable reasons for being anti cell phone. But, and this is where I ruffle feathers, I also think it might be the easy way out.
Teaching is Hard
If you’re a teacher, you don’t need me to tell you how mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting a day of teaching can be. You are always ON - meetings, grading, fielding questions from parents, admin and students, biting your tongue when they are rude and mean, fighting the urge to hold them or take them home when it’s clear they need a stable adult, and thousands of other tiny decisions you have to make every minute. Plus, most teachers take work home, either in the form of grading or lesson planning. Simply put, teaching is hard. So, when your administration tells you that you need to change a methodology that’s been working well in your classroom, or you need to work in a new system or school wide policy, the thought of the ripple effect that it may create in your classroom is borderline panic inducing. This is why I think it’s understandably easy to just say no to cell phones.
Hear me out. If I just say no, the rule is very cut and dry - I see it or hear it, it’s confiscated and no longer a thing I have to fight about or spend precious classroom time on. It’s done and over. The opposite of this, allowing them in my room, will take A LOT more time and effort. I will have to make rules for when and how we use them, then I will have to teach those rules and actively regulate those rules. Never mind that I will begrudgingly need to follow those rules as well. In other words, I will have to make “How We Use Cell Phones in Our Classroom” a lesson that I teach. Another lesson that I will need to fit into my already packed curriculum. Another lesson that isn’t currently covered by any state or national standard but that feels like it’s so, so, so important to teach and so I can’t ignore it - can I?
What Does the Research Say?
According to a 2015 Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey, 53% of elementary school students, 66% of middle school students and 82% of high school students use smartphones regularly ("Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey 2015", 2015, p. 9). These numbers tell me that smartphones in students’ hands are pretty much unavoidable. Think of it this way, almost every student walking into a high school classroom has a phone in their backpack or pocket. Additionally, a recent poll of the nation's school districts conducted by the Center for Digital Education and National School Boards Association, it was found that 56% of the districts provide a smartphone app to students (Versel, 2018). Therefore, at the district level there is an expectation that students have access to, and are able to use, a digital tool to empower their learning, even if it’s for something as simple as checking their grade regularly. With this proliferation of apps and smartphones, it feels almost old fashioned or counterproductive to ban phones in the classroom.
What’s the Answer Then?
So, where does that leave us? In the dust, fighting a losing battle? The more I think about it the more I’m inclined to agree with this. Cell phones are not going away and students, especially high school students, have almost unfettered access to them. How, as time strapped and tired teachers, do we deal with this?
Surprisingly, for as many teachers there are that are so passionately against them, there are just as many articles, podcasts and suggestions on how to integrate them. Some of the most innovative lessons employ smartphones. In my experience, as echoed by anecdotes from fellow educators, lessons that allowed students to create and explore using the tools on their phones were some of their favorite lessons. In the teacher world, this means the lesson worked and the information stuck! Additionally, digital literacy in general is a growing topic for discussion among educators.
Get over it. Remember, our job is to teach.
All signs point to integration. However, this is the sticking point for many educators. I hear many teachers say I shouldn't have to teach them how to have self control and how to respectfully use a cell phone in a professional or academic setting. My answer to this though is, then who should? Their parents? Their parents who never had to navigate this digital relationship? If we complain that they can’t teach their kids advocacy, or respect, or to not be entitled (you know we complain about these things!), do we really expect them to be able to teach them proper cell phone etiquette?
No. The glaringly obvious answer is school and the teachers need to be arming our students with the knowledge of proper cell phone use. Think of it this way, you can’t be mad at someone for not meeting the expectations you never told them you had. We have to stop being angry that they don’t know how to be respectful about their phone use and start teaching them what the expectations ARE for respectful phone use. This means lesson planning, practice and assessment. And it can’t be a one class lesson, it must be an ongoing, cross curricular lesson. We must do it thoughtfully and with care, just as we would a lesson on the digestive system or writing a great college entrance letter.
Final Thoughts
I realize how busy teachers are, I do. I am a mom of two elementary school aged girls, teaching (another) new high school curriculum, co leading a girl scout troop and in grad school. The thought of squeezing in more lessons and making them fit into the puzzle of my school year is exhausting. But you know what is more exhausting? Going toe to toe with another teenager about seeing their phone out in my room.
So, this summer, I will be reaching out to my teacher friends for ideas, scouring social media for #phonesintheclassroom posts and perusing Teachers Pay Teachers and Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship) for great digital literacy lessons that I can use to be a better teacher, but most importantly, for tools that will allow to me help my students to be successful young adults.
References
Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey 2015[PDF]. (2015, June). New York: Pearson.https://www.pearsoned.com/wp-content/uploads/2015-Pearson-Student-Mobile-Device-Survey-Grades-4-12.pdf
Versel, L. (2018, February 08). As Cell Phones Proliferate in K-12, Schools Search for Smart Policies. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2018/02/smartphones_student_learning_classrooms_K12_education.html
So why do I cling to the no cell phone rule in my room? Is it the right direction? How much access to smartphones should classroom teachers allow their students during class? Smartphones, and just internet access alone, have created a new consideration to the already complicated profession of K-12 education. I thought I knew where I stood, but the more I think about it and talk with other teachers about it the more I wondered if my rule was just a manifestation of my exhaustion and the easy route.
Where do Teachers Stand?
If you ask most 5th-12th grade teachers how they feel about allowing phones in their classrooms, the majority of them will tell you they are vehemently against it. I did a quick informal Facebook poll in a teacher group I’m a member of. The responses to this question fell mostly into one of two groups - either A. I’m for it with restrictions and rules or B. Absolutely not. The latter group comprised 72% of the 229 responses I received; that’s 72% of teachers who were strongly against allowing their students to access their smartphones in the classroom. When they justified their reasons, they mostly mentioned one of three things; the lack of self control students have, the fear of inappropriate use in their classroom, or a negative experience they had had regarding student cell phone use. I agree, these are all totally understandable reasons for being anti cell phone. But, and this is where I ruffle feathers, I also think it might be the easy way out.
Teaching is Hard
If you’re a teacher, you don’t need me to tell you how mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting a day of teaching can be. You are always ON - meetings, grading, fielding questions from parents, admin and students, biting your tongue when they are rude and mean, fighting the urge to hold them or take them home when it’s clear they need a stable adult, and thousands of other tiny decisions you have to make every minute. Plus, most teachers take work home, either in the form of grading or lesson planning. Simply put, teaching is hard. So, when your administration tells you that you need to change a methodology that’s been working well in your classroom, or you need to work in a new system or school wide policy, the thought of the ripple effect that it may create in your classroom is borderline panic inducing. This is why I think it’s understandably easy to just say no to cell phones.
Hear me out. If I just say no, the rule is very cut and dry - I see it or hear it, it’s confiscated and no longer a thing I have to fight about or spend precious classroom time on. It’s done and over. The opposite of this, allowing them in my room, will take A LOT more time and effort. I will have to make rules for when and how we use them, then I will have to teach those rules and actively regulate those rules. Never mind that I will begrudgingly need to follow those rules as well. In other words, I will have to make “How We Use Cell Phones in Our Classroom” a lesson that I teach. Another lesson that I will need to fit into my already packed curriculum. Another lesson that isn’t currently covered by any state or national standard but that feels like it’s so, so, so important to teach and so I can’t ignore it - can I?
What Does the Research Say?
According to a 2015 Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey, 53% of elementary school students, 66% of middle school students and 82% of high school students use smartphones regularly ("Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey 2015", 2015, p. 9). These numbers tell me that smartphones in students’ hands are pretty much unavoidable. Think of it this way, almost every student walking into a high school classroom has a phone in their backpack or pocket. Additionally, a recent poll of the nation's school districts conducted by the Center for Digital Education and National School Boards Association, it was found that 56% of the districts provide a smartphone app to students (Versel, 2018). Therefore, at the district level there is an expectation that students have access to, and are able to use, a digital tool to empower their learning, even if it’s for something as simple as checking their grade regularly. With this proliferation of apps and smartphones, it feels almost old fashioned or counterproductive to ban phones in the classroom.
What’s the Answer Then?
So, where does that leave us? In the dust, fighting a losing battle? The more I think about it the more I’m inclined to agree with this. Cell phones are not going away and students, especially high school students, have almost unfettered access to them. How, as time strapped and tired teachers, do we deal with this?
Surprisingly, for as many teachers there are that are so passionately against them, there are just as many articles, podcasts and suggestions on how to integrate them. Some of the most innovative lessons employ smartphones. In my experience, as echoed by anecdotes from fellow educators, lessons that allowed students to create and explore using the tools on their phones were some of their favorite lessons. In the teacher world, this means the lesson worked and the information stuck! Additionally, digital literacy in general is a growing topic for discussion among educators.
Get over it. Remember, our job is to teach.
All signs point to integration. However, this is the sticking point for many educators. I hear many teachers say I shouldn't have to teach them how to have self control and how to respectfully use a cell phone in a professional or academic setting. My answer to this though is, then who should? Their parents? Their parents who never had to navigate this digital relationship? If we complain that they can’t teach their kids advocacy, or respect, or to not be entitled (you know we complain about these things!), do we really expect them to be able to teach them proper cell phone etiquette?
No. The glaringly obvious answer is school and the teachers need to be arming our students with the knowledge of proper cell phone use. Think of it this way, you can’t be mad at someone for not meeting the expectations you never told them you had. We have to stop being angry that they don’t know how to be respectful about their phone use and start teaching them what the expectations ARE for respectful phone use. This means lesson planning, practice and assessment. And it can’t be a one class lesson, it must be an ongoing, cross curricular lesson. We must do it thoughtfully and with care, just as we would a lesson on the digestive system or writing a great college entrance letter.
Final Thoughts
I realize how busy teachers are, I do. I am a mom of two elementary school aged girls, teaching (another) new high school curriculum, co leading a girl scout troop and in grad school. The thought of squeezing in more lessons and making them fit into the puzzle of my school year is exhausting. But you know what is more exhausting? Going toe to toe with another teenager about seeing their phone out in my room.
So, this summer, I will be reaching out to my teacher friends for ideas, scouring social media for #phonesintheclassroom posts and perusing Teachers Pay Teachers and Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship) for great digital literacy lessons that I can use to be a better teacher, but most importantly, for tools that will allow to me help my students to be successful young adults.
References
Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey 2015[PDF]. (2015, June). New York: Pearson.https://www.pearsoned.com/wp-content/uploads/2015-Pearson-Student-Mobile-Device-Survey-Grades-4-12.pdf
Versel, L. (2018, February 08). As Cell Phones Proliferate in K-12, Schools Search for Smart Policies. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2018/02/smartphones_student_learning_classrooms_K12_education.html