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STRATEGY
Problem 2: Disruptive Cell Phones
Because cell phones are a recent development in school life, school officials are still trying to formulate a workable policy. Cell phones are becoming more and more of a nuisance in class. They ring during tests, and your students send each other text messages instead of working.
SUGGESTIONS
- Although school administrators everywhere may still be trying to formulate a workable cell phone policy, your school district probably has one in place. Enforce it.
- If your school district's policy is unclear, consider these suggestions for elements of
a workable policy in your classroom:
- All cell phones should be turned off while students are in your class.
- All cell phones should be completely out of sight.
- If a phone rings during class, the child's parents or guardians will be contacted. If a student is caught sending a text message during class, the child's parents
or guardians will be contacted.
- Don't confiscate a cell phone unless you absolutely have to. Make sure you have a safe place to store it, where there is no chance of it being stolen. If you have to take a student's phone, turn it over to an administrator as soon as possible.
- When you send home an introductory letter to parents and guardians at the
start of the term, notify them of your policy on cell phones.
- Be alert to the ways that students can use their phones to cheat in
class. Monitor carefully.
- At the start of tests and quizzes, be careful to warn students to
turn off their phones. Post reminders, and encourage students to
help each other remember the policy.
Excerpted from Section Seventeen, "Troubleshooting Twenty Common Problems," of The First-Year Teacher's Survival Guide, by Julia G. Thompson. Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This material is used by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Thank you, Julia G. Thompson and Jossey Bass, for contributing this month's strategies!
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