MY CELL PHONE SOLUTION 2023 | High School Teacher | Classroom Management

#classroommanagement #teachervlog #teacherhacks

Welcome, friends! Subscribe for lesson ideas, classroom management tips, activity ideas, and day-in-the-life of a teacher vlogs of a high school English teacher :)

In today's classroom vlog, I share with you how I manage cells phones in my classroom. I have tried a few effective strategies, but I have learned over the years that one size does not fit all and that there is no special hack that works for every student. We live in a digital age and need to lean into it. My teaching incentive system centers around 20 potential minutes of free time every Friday for students not using their cell phones the first half of class. I also share why I feel so many other cell phone management strategies do not work.

My name is Alexa Borota and I am a high school English teacher; I also taught middle school English Language Arts. I teacher in a title l school in central New Jersey.

My goals are to share tips and insight about teaching in an entertaining way. Teaching is less stressful when we are supporting each other and sharing' our best practices. When I was a new teacher, I wanted to know how other teachers were delivering lessons and what their classroom management routines were. I hope my content is helpful for both new and seasoned teachers.

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[kimberlymercado]

I have a cell phone charging station. Students are OBSESSED with having their phones at full charge. I allow them to charge their phones, but they can't touch their phones the whole period. This really works for my students.

[colestersclassroom-teachin]

I like the idea of a free time reward. One of the things I do with students who are habitual offenders is have their parents either text them or call them on their phone in class. The students are usually flabbergasted when they get that text or call.

Also like the idea of using the phones as a tool. I do that as well.

Great video. Picked up a couple of ideas.

Have a great school year!

[DorothyOzmaLover]

Interesting strategy and something to seriously consider to try which I appreciate as a highschool English/Hist/music teacher so many thanks cuz it's so practical and doesn't require me to spend money!
You're so refreshingly honest about thinking about how students view school: not wanting to be there for 60-80 min and have several apps they can do instead. That is so vital to always keep in mind and is always at the front of my mind.

[guccimasterd]

I have block scheduling. I pause class for 5 min at the midpoint for unrestricted phone/bathroom break. If i catch kids on their phone before that, they spend the 5 min talking to me about their homework.

[gosplendid]

Great strategy using positive reinforcement and teaching with technology. Thanks for sharing. Will give it try next school.

[monthsbehind]

I am going to try trhis since I already have the no cellphone during instructions or discussion but I do not have a reward for if they achieve that. Thank you

[MaryKhula]

Hello, Alexa! I have been in a dither about how to handle cell phones next year as this past year, I also tried different strategies with only mild satisfaction. As you say, most strategies are hard to maintain consistently and one-size does not fit all. Though I plan to have conversations and try to get the students to come to some sort of commitment agreement at the beginning of the year, as well as clearly post and refer back to basic (not out when 'not-out-time' rule), I like your idea and hope it will work for me. As much as I wish every class for every student (or even most) could be so engaging that phones would not be missed, it is not a reality. Questions: Have you ever had a student deliberately sabotage the class, just to get a reaction? While teaching, if you see a student (who is using phone when it is not phone time, ) do you say nothing and just decrease the min. by 1? Does taking a point away trigger disruption as other students share their annoyance with the person outloud which invites others to jump on the bandwagon? [I teach Literacy and Algebra to ML students I was planning to only allow cellphones during a break in the middle of the 73 min. block.]. Of course, any work that could be completed with their cell phone as a tool would be an okay time to use. ]. Thank you.

[baileypang]

Hi! does the 20 mins free time on Friday include playing on their phone for those 20 mins?

[BertLord-kz]

Do you teach the usefulness of any of those aps that the students can use during the second part of the class.

[SteveoCent]

Do you use this strategy with block scheduling?

[Kelly-cs]

Thanks for your sharing. It is an amazing idea. But I am a little confused why the students earn their free time on Monday. And in some other countries we almost every day have the same class, let’s say English class, look forward to your reply

[musicamovita]

There's an ex-military teacher from Peru in my high school. You'd think we were back in 1985 when I tell you there was ZERO phone use in ANY of his classes. Heck, the kids ask permission to drink from their water bottles. I don't hear him scream, threaten, or anything like that but they FEAR him. He has all the "trouble" students from other teachers - kids who in other classes are throwing things, doing handstands on chairs, walking out without permission, screaming so loud other teachers come in to yell at them. In his class they raise their hands to ask questions, they participate and give answers, no airpods, no hoods, and everyone takes notes. I was astonished. I asked him how he got them to behave so well, he said "It's not hard, you just can't let them." And I was just in awe. I was an ESOL facilitator so I got to see the whole spectrum of teaching styles.

[coreychafin]

Do you allow them to use their phones during the earned free time?

[jessiecarlson]

Ok but what if you get to Wednesday and uh oh they are all out of minutes. Thursday "well we won't get free time tomorrow anyways so whatever...".

[BertLord-kz]

Technology is here, it's not going anywhere. We need to learn how to work with it.

[JonGar]

I’m curious to see if students using their phones just get left behind. Like that’s the consequence of not paying attention, failure. It’s gonna happen in the real world why it start teaching them that now. 16-18… that’s pretty old and a good time to teach that discipline and life skills. More like sink or swim. No one is gonna hold their hands in the real world. Gotta learn sometime. Didn’t pay attention oh well you fail 🤷🏽‍♂️

[HSOQueen]

Those students are sent to office for insubordination.