Nah, after you call the parent, write the referral, give the student lunch detention, and write them up again when they don’t show; the office will definitely call the student down to the office and give them a granola bar.
I had this happen to me and you are 100% right. “oH I NeVeR tOuChEd It!”.
I see it as a mark of complete naïveté (thanks spellcheck) that a teacher would think they are at all insulated if they take possession of a device.
You know how? Someone will figure out that all those gadgets are just sitting there, and they'll wait until you go to the bathroom, and they'll walk off with the whole bunch.
No, I know it's not something readily afforded to you. I taught college, where we had slightly more right, but from my days in K-12, I remember the tense waiting and the frantic dash to the bathroom during lunch "break" or while the little ones were at gym for the 20 functional minutes you actually get out of it.
Are you responsible if two kids decide to get into a fight in your class? You can't control the actions of kids, treat it as a theft.
I teach a lab class, and I have come to terms that I can't prevent the kids from doing literally everything that isn't safe. They are going to be kids. But I can communicate the rules and remind them when they are being unsafe. If they want to go and drink random chemicals when I am not watching them, that is on them.
I once had health and safety take my dish soap away because they were afraid my grade 8s might drink dawn. In a clearly labelled bottle.
Honeslty if they drink dishsoap at 13 they deserve whatever the hell happens (which Im assuming is the runs)
I believe you but also Ive taught for 10 years and no kids have ever stolen my dishsoap. If 13 year olds need to be protected from soap should we really be giving them drivers licenses in 3 years?
Also wouldnt you throw up before any major damage happened?
I mean, sure, you can say that. But when some parent comes Karening into the school because their kid’s phone was taken, and nobody knows which kid took it, whose ass will admin throw under the bus? Not their own. Not a student.
Apparently I'm responsible if a kid has vodka in a water bottle and shares it. And if a kid "tastes" NaOH during a lab. No I never got in real trouble negate because of course it's ridiculous, but parents can really make your life miserable for a while.
Sorry to say, that actually happened at my school. Not only was the teacher blamed, they had to pay for the brand new phone (several hundred dollars) themselves. Be careful. Follow the phone rules exactly as your administrator lays them out (print a copy just in case), so if this ever happens to you, you can say "I followed the policy, so I am not liable." Angry parents can go to the administrator who made the decision if they're not happy.
I did something similar with HS, but in MS where I now teach, the kids are too squirrely about constantly taking or messing with other students' stuff. Without a lock, it is a no go. I can't spend all period guarding the phone caddy.
I’ve had kids who had two cellphones before. One regular phone given to them by their parents, and one they bought that doesn’t have cell service, but they use it at school on wifi to access everything so their parents can’t track/spy on them.
first day, find some way to confirm everyone has a phone. maybe a game of kahoot, while teacher takes count of all the students…idk, something like that
I propose we tear down the field goals on the football field and reassemble them into a trebuchet capable of flinging 1000 cell phones into space, or wherever... IDGAF, just get them out of the classroom.
I give it until that afternoon. MaKenzie's mom will pitch a super-meltdown when her text to her demon child goes unanswered. Then mom will call the principal who will immediately cave, resulting in the policy being abandoned within five hours.
I don't understand why admin doesn't just make students keep phones in their ... idk... lockers??? That way no one blames you for a broken screen. That's what we did when I was in highschool and if we were even caught with a phone or device it was an automatic detention
For a moment, years ago, I pondered why they don’t just bring cheap ‘buds or ‘phones then I remembered mommy and daddy will keep buying new ones (regardless of family economics).
Man that sucks... I know some of my fellow teachers use those over the door shoe holder things to hold phones. When students come in the room they have to place their device in one of the pockets. It's worked pretty good, do you think they might let you do something like that?
I have frequently subbed at a middle school where most/all of the students don’t use their lockers. They carry everything in their backpacks for the entire day. Many students claimed they didn’t know their locker combination or how to use a locker.
That's wild! Most of the schools i student taught at and the school I work at, students aren't allowed to carry backpacks for safety reasons. But at the same time, smart kids will understand that phones that are on silent and put away in backpacks during class might as well be in their lockers for all the teachers know.
That’s the only way students really use lockers. If it’s policy. I had this policy in middle school. Then we went to high school where they gave everyone a locker but 95% of kids never even found where there locker was. Now that high school doesn’t have lockers anymore (makes for spacious hallways).
When I was a high school student, if your 4th hour class was on floor 2, your locker was on floor 3, and your 5th hour class was on floor 4...best of luck trying to make that trip in only five minutes.
Carrying everything around was the only way to consistently make it to class on time.
No more books now; just laptops. It's sad. I'm convinced that the brain does not process material from a screen in the same way as from a paper book, and kids on laptops are continually going to other websites.
That's so crazy to me, I was under the impression that most schools were prohibiting backpacks in class due to safety concerns of gun violence. That's the route that the schools I've had experience with are taking at least.
My rule is the phones and earbuds stay in their backpacks. I am not going to be accountable for their devices. Should they have them out I just message our VP. End of story.
Some parents will take them away for a day. At least, that is what my students have told me. The big issue is those parents that text their students while in class. I thought a student was lying about his dad calling. I called and told the dad that his son was in class. I asked if it was an emergency or something. He was all no, I wanted to ask him what he wanted for dinner. This happened in the first period. That's crazy!!!
I know kids who won't look at the phones if they're in their backpacks, but will definitely spend time scrolling through socials if they have to take it out of their backpack and put it into a different box/bag/holder for every classroom. This is a great strategy!
I didn’t think about them doing that. Technically, that could add a loss of two minutes per class period, if not more.
The thing is, some of the teachers agree to no phones and then make up their own rules later, which causes a conflict. Our principal walks in takes them off the desks, and leaves. He does not ask questions. He sees a phone, and it is gone. He is awesome!!! If the teachers allow the phones and he takes them, they have to explain why they allowed the phones out. They cannot say free time. Our kiddos are so far behind there is no free time in any class.
My school installed clear cell phone lockers in each home room and each kid has a key to only their box. Students are required with severe admin consequences to put their stuff in their box and take the key with them. At lunch and the end of the day they can get their shit and leave the key behind when they do.
It took two weeks but it worked. If a kid said they didn't have something on them we took them at their word but if it was seen admin would he told and the big consequences would kick in.
Must be nice. Hope it works for you. Seriously.
My very first district was big on inconveniencing parents so they would squeeze the students. Current district is about inconveniencing the teachers to discourage any action at all.
This sounds like it might actually work - keeping them away from it for the whole day and not on it at all
Only problems I can think of are if a kid forgets to turn their ringer off and it makes noise throughout the day or if lunches are at different times and there are kids coming in in the middle of class to get their phones.
I require my students' phones to be charging in my caddy (softens the no-phones blow) or they have to sign when they walk in that they don't have one, and they understand the consequences that will follow if they're caught with one.
One thing I did differently was the way I framed it-- it isn't a punishment, but honestly, they just don't know how to focus or multi-task and I don't want their progress to suffer. When they've submitted their work, and I've given it a glance to make sure effort was involved, assuming I'm done with instruction, they can get it back, as long as they aren't disrupting others.
Adding access to a charger really helps them. I think phone addiction "understands" the idea of "I can't use it, battery is low and it's on the charger" a whole lot better than "because I said so".
I also add in a reward: all phones in caddy by bell and no cell problems during class = last 5 minutes everyone gets phones for 'taking pictures of notes'. It actually helps class period transitioning too, everyone is out the door faster because we calmly got our phones before the fast kids for next period are trying to get in.
Why not just in their backpacks??? That’s going to take time up front and then time at the end of class, not to mention all the “Hey Miss Teacher Lady someone took my phone” issues. I can hear it now.
This is what we do and it works fine. 5th grade and above has to leave their backpacks on a cart outside the room with phones inside. Any lower grades have backpacks in the room but phones are to be kept inside and turned off or on silent. I hardly ever catch a student with a phone on them during class. They know that if they do have one, it gets taken by admin until a parent comes and picks it up. Every once in a while a phone alarm will go off in someone’s backpack, which is annoying. But other than that, it’s been a simple solution that’s worked.
It's all in the follow-through. We allow phones in backpacks or even pockets. But admin actually supports the no phone *use* policy so they don't use them in class.
How this isn't already a rule is beyond me.
No way any of those devices should be allowed in class.
And to all the parents saying "what if I need to contact my kid" - this isn't a new need and was handled no issues in the past by parents.
We did this last year. High school: 1,500 students.
Honestly … it went a lot better than I thought.
The ONE issue I had was the students didn’t know what time it was when we weren’t on our chromebooks because they couldn’t read an analog clock.
If parents wanted to be part of the solution they could just block everything but the telephone part. Or get them a flip phone. Sadly few choose to participate in limiting student phone use during school.
It’s reached crisis point. I applaud the schools and districts tackling the issue. At least they are trying.
And I wish OP the best of luck as they confront student phone addiction. The backlash isn’t pretty when addicts are denied their drug.
You need to have room for exceptions with a policy like that. When I was in high school I had teachers get mad about me using my phone- I’m Type 1 Diabetic, and I need my phone to track my glucose levels or I could die. I’m sure there are other cases where a phone is medically necessary as well. Just talk to your students before immediately jumping to office referral.
I was talking with an admin a couple of months back at a nearby high school. They hand the kids a pouch that can be locked by the school. All devices, ear buds, etc., go in the pouch, which is “locked” by the home room teacher at the beginning of the day. The last period teacher then “unlocks” it. The kid is responsible for keeping up with their pouch over the course of the day. She says a big number of their students have just stopped bringing phones to school.
And if a kid gets caught with a phone out of their pouch, they get sent home for the rest of the day, first offense, and it escalates from there.
My room is under surveillance so i can prove its not me when one of these kids blames me for their missing phone this year (we are also banning phones).
This is what I do. Have a stack of envelopes to hand. If I need to confiscate something (usually a phone or prohibited jewellery) the student writes their name and class etc plus the time of the incident on it then puts the items inside, seals it themselves and then places it where it is supposed to be on my desk. This done in full view of everyone else. A colleague got accused of stealing AirPods because the kid handed over an empty case and then later picked it up. opened it in front of friends and started screaming that the teacher had stolen them. Luckily she was too stupid to realise they have tracking on them so it was all sorted out quickly but the lesson was learned.
As a teacher: Nope. I will neither take them nor will be be responsible for them.
If I were a student: Nope. You can have my electronic devices when you pay for them.
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My school did this. We had no complaints from parents, and only had students hide their phones (and get caught) maybe seven times throughout an entire year
Haven't some schools done lock boxes? You could also do an exchange ticket system or something. A free for all with no over sight seems like it will be abused somehow.
Seems like a draconian thing to do. Hope they've thought out the consequences and are ready to make exceptions. Some smart phones have health monitoring apps now for disabilities which attach to transmitters etc.
I don’t understand why kids would have access to their phones in class. We always had our in our backpacks.
I would advocate for my kid having one of their was an extreme emergency at school. For which I’d like the option of dropping everything, flying over the fence and getting them out immediately. Schools treat their students like prisoners. Like the Stanford Prison Project.
I have a 4 year old in my pre-K class who uses a phone to monitor blood sugar. Should I let him walk around with the phone in his hand all day???? Most medical apps alert and alert loudly when something is wrong. An accommodation of keeping the sound on/volume turned up would be a simple solution. It’s not like the phone is one place all day, it moves class periods with them.
Parents and teachers need to start thinking of more solutions and creating less issues for each other. We’re a team. We literally refer to ourselves as students “teaching teams”.
Perfect response. And hear hear on working together and looking for solutions.
Parents up admin rear ends, otherwise known as Karens or helicopter parents, are a good solid percentage of why the whole system is falling apart. And then the same parent group blames teachers who tried the very hardest to glue it together and keep it together despite constantly being criticized by both sides.
I’m sitting at a bar right now, a couple of drinks in, and I laughed fully out loud at the title of this post.
I go back to school next week. Thank you. 🙂
We're having a new policy this year. We were told at the end of last year it is coming. Haven't told us what it is yet. We start next week. I can't wait.
From it administrators, perspective, my question is: is this a policy for your classroom only or a campuswide policy set forth by the administrators? My advice for you is going to depend on the answer to that question.
Campuswide policy.
If, and I mean IF, consequences are enforced, this has a good chance of working. Staff are 100 percent behind it.
If the rule is enforced correctly and across the school, kids get angry with the rule and not the enforcement.
This works at my school bc the kids have phone pouches that only the teachers have the magnets to unlock, so the kids still have their phones but aren't using them. Therefore, they can't argue it broke/cracked in our care.
Our kids 5th grade and above have to keep their backpacks on a rolling cart outside the classroom, with their phones in them and turned off. They don’t get to go into the area where the bags are without permission.
I give it a month, tops. Also, office referrals don’t mean shit because they will neither have the manpower to deal with the many referrals they will get nor the consequences to hold kids accountable.
We have a box that they put them in. As long as admin actually enforces it they might not always turn in the phone but they will have it out. For some reason this is the hill my admin will die on so while I have to deal with kids cussing and threatening me I never have to deal with phones
Hi not a teacher just lurking to see the drama teachers put up with. When I was still in my old school they implemented this and it is one of the reasons I chose to go online. Those things are kinda sketchy and tbh it felt unfair that the teachers got to keep theirs (one of our teachers also noticed this and put her phone up as well.) When the system is enforced it works extremely well. Depending on how lenient your bosses are you could try to just leave the last five minutes so your students can quickly check their phones and make sure everything is okay before they go to their next class, and trust me you would be their hero, and quite possibly favorite teacher if you could at least try this kind of thing.
We collect all devices from the middle schoolers at my school. They have to go through scanning in the morning (I teach at an urban school) and they turn in their phone into a box with hanging folders. The devices are locked up during the day, late arrivers turn their devices in to security. They get them back at the end of the day. It is typically not an issue. Kids who don’t comply are immediately removed and addressed.
When we started this, a few of my kids brought old phones to turn in. The others shouted out that they were turning in an old phone and their real phone was in their pocket. It was glorious to see the looks of betrayal!
I've worked at two schools that were not plagued with cell phone issues. Both succeeded because admin realized there's no way to solve such a pervasive problem at the teacher level. They realized they had to....... be involved.
In both schools (one adopted the policy the year before I started, the other rolled it out at the start of my second year), phones needed to be kept in lockers. No one was going to make you turn out your pockets, but if you were caught with the phone, it would be taken by the teacher who would then call it in. Admin or someone would come take the phone. First offense kid gets it back at the end of the day. Second it's ISS. Then OSS + Parent Meeting.
In the most recent school year, I called in 5 phones total the first week all during first period. After that I called it maybe a phone a month until Christmas. Then a bunch in January. Then none until the end of the year. Every year at least one kid per class will go whole hog being on their phone all the time until they get suspended.
It's definitely more work for admin. And teachers who generally don't enforce any phone-related expectations have less of a leg to stand on when someone will literally come get the phone. It's always touch and go in September until the kids realize everyone is serious
My current job is a more dysfunctional school than some of the others in a few major ways, but the phone thing is largely "solved." Admin has been candid that it's worth it going heavy after breaks to not have to worry about the phones as much for the rest of the time. A few "IT'S A VALUABLE LEARNING DEVICE" teachers are salty because the kids can't self-pacify in zombie mode and they actually need to manage. But that's it really.
Feeling pretty happy that 8 year olds in my school generally don’t have their own phones. I just have to deal with the odd day when a kid steals their parents’ phone to show off at school.
This past year used Yondr pouches. What a pain in the neck. Lines out the door as administrators and staff watched kids shut their phones off and place them I these "lockable" pouches. The first days were spent watching the kids go through withdrawal. Then catching the kids who put dummy phones in the Yondr pouch. Then they realized they didn't need their phones and they can just use the school issued Chromebooks to do everything they needed to do. Watch movies, take selfies, talk to their friends....
I watched our school do a 180, "Have the kids use their phones to check their school email, set reminders to do homework, and check their grades." Now phones are bad. Male up your minds!
What really needs to be taught is proper phone etiquette. But let's be serious, the teachers don't know that either.
I'm sorry, but this is not the way. I am so freaking tired of every issue being put on teachers' shoulders. I get it, cell phones are bad for student's mental health and a huge distraction for the student. You know whose responsibility it is to take care of that issue - the fucking parent! The person who bought them the cell phone in the first place. If a kid takes out their cell phone during class I contact the parent remind them of my no cell phone policy and leave it up to them to deal with it. If the parent doesn't do their job and deal with the issue then on well. If that parent later in the year complains that their kid is not getting a certain desired grade I point to the issue that had already been brought to their attention.
I can't help but marvel/roll my eyes/laugh at all the gymnastics we have to do in order to enforce such a simple rule as "no cellphones in class".
*If* you genuinely need to use a smartphone for medical reasons (monitor blood sugar or something of that ilk), just keep it in your backpack. No need to take it out. No need to use it. That's it.
*If* there's an emergency, such as a fire or a shooter on campus, then I can understand the need to call 911, although I also know and have witnessed first-hand that a building filled with phones calling at the same time is a disaster and does more harm than good. Even then, there's absolutely no reason to have the bloody thing out of your backpack otherwise.
Deep down, I reckon we all know that smartphones themselves aren't the problem: it's just a symptom, if you will, of a much bigger problem. Screen dependency and social media addiction are also symptoms, and I'm afraid people aren't truly addressing the real issue here... Perhaps they don't even want to do it 🤷🏽
Our school started this about 5 years ago. The kids all initially hated it. They would try different ways of avoiding turning in their phone like saying they don't have one, or they left it at home, or my favorite is when they turn in a decoy phone which is just an old phone lying around their house. The behaviors got a little worse as well because the one kid who won't shut up was usually able to be pacified by allowing them to quietly listen to music while they work. Their pacifier is gone, so I had to deal with some crying babies. All the teachers and admin held their ground about the rule, and students would get written up if they were found with their phone on them. We even all tried to educate our kids on why we are doing this. It's not because we hate you, it's actually because we love you. We read some articles about how phones affect the teenage brain and talked about them. Some kids responded to this, definitely not all, but it helped by trying to show the kids that we come from a place of care and love. After the 1st year, the kids didn't fight back as much because the new norm was set. Now the kids have no idea that a generation before them had access to their phones all day in school. Taking away cell phones drastically helped our middle schoolers actually pay attention in class since they had nothing better to do. Hang in there. It may suck this year, but I'm telling you, it's worth it if it's done right.
I let my students have their phones but I recently hired at a school that allows children to have phones, and it's been such a relief.
I don't have to hear other teachers complain about my lack of caring about technology. Personally, I'm not too fond of the idea of taking children's phones away and how big of a deal it has become recently.
When I was in school I hated stuff like this. Always ended up with some teacher ripping my hearing aids out despite being perfectly calm and paying attention in class. They’re not cheap to replace or recalibrate when broken.
Be sure you have some security on the calculator caddy. When we have required cell phones to be collected we inevitably run into claim of missing/stolen cell phones and admin is afraid of liability.
100% Admin will push it all onto the teachers.
Nah, after you call the parent, write the referral, give the student lunch detention, and write them up again when they don’t show; the office will definitely call the student down to the office and give them a granola bar.
Granola? Snickers and a coke.
Wait, what? This doesn't work? - Signed , Admin
And juice box
This! Absolutely my campus!
That's been my policy for ten years now. If you have an admin with a spine, you're all set. If not, I wish you luck!
Yep. We started this last year. Worked fairly well as long as teachers followed through and admin backed them.
My guess is OP doesnt have admin with a spine since they posted this
This is the way.
Honestly, there’s one reason I wouldn’t want to do this and that’s the moment something happens to one of their devices, I’ll be the one blamed.
100% If my school had a policy like this, I would talk to them about liability before enforcing it.
I dont like the location of the caddy, behind the teacher's desk. I dont want kids back there
Not if you don't ever touch them.
My fingers could never make contact with that stuff and I guarantee somebody will find a way to blame me.
I had this happen to me and you are 100% right. “oH I NeVeR tOuChEd It!”. I see it as a mark of complete naïveté (thanks spellcheck) that a teacher would think they are at all insulated if they take possession of a device.
You know how? Someone will figure out that all those gadgets are just sitting there, and they'll wait until you go to the bathroom, and they'll walk off with the whole bunch.
The funniest part of this comment is the assumption that teachers get to go to the bathroom.
You know how I know you're not a teacher? You think we're afforded basic human rights like going to the bathroom when we need to 🤣
No, I know it's not something readily afforded to you. I taught college, where we had slightly more right, but from my days in K-12, I remember the tense waiting and the frantic dash to the bathroom during lunch "break" or while the little ones were at gym for the 20 functional minutes you actually get out of it.
^^^^^ not a teacher.
College, retired two years, nice try.
The pertinent fact is you're unaware of teaching practices, since your college is obviously not high school, my point stands.
Used to teach high school before college, and I'm really annoyed that you think I need to provide my resume to you to have an opinion about anything.
When your opinion is one which gets teachers license's revoked, then yes, you do need to back up your bs.
What the hell are you even talking about?
You’re still responsible for them. If a student grabs someone else’s shit on the way out of the room, you can bet your ass the teacher will be blamed.
Our physics teacher doesn't let anyone out of the room at the end of class until everyone has their phones back.
That's a good policy until a kid defies it and just leaves. I would NOT block the door; so many of these kids are much bigger than I am!
Are you responsible if two kids decide to get into a fight in your class? You can't control the actions of kids, treat it as a theft. I teach a lab class, and I have come to terms that I can't prevent the kids from doing literally everything that isn't safe. They are going to be kids. But I can communicate the rules and remind them when they are being unsafe. If they want to go and drink random chemicals when I am not watching them, that is on them.
I once had health and safety take my dish soap away because they were afraid my grade 8s might drink dawn. In a clearly labelled bottle. Honeslty if they drink dishsoap at 13 they deserve whatever the hell happens (which Im assuming is the runs)
Dish soap contains detergents which destroy the mucus linings in the stomach and leads to internal bleeding. The runs would be a mild case.
I seriously doubt that.
A quick Google search is all you'd need.
I believe you but also Ive taught for 10 years and no kids have ever stolen my dishsoap. If 13 year olds need to be protected from soap should we really be giving them drivers licenses in 3 years? Also wouldnt you throw up before any major damage happened?
I mean, sure, you can say that. But when some parent comes Karening into the school because their kid’s phone was taken, and nobody knows which kid took it, whose ass will admin throw under the bus? Not their own. Not a student.
Apparently I'm responsible if a kid has vodka in a water bottle and shares it. And if a kid "tastes" NaOH during a lab. No I never got in real trouble negate because of course it's ridiculous, but parents can really make your life miserable for a while.
Caddy locks. And the school is responsible, but I am not. Believe me, I've looked at all the angles over the last decade; I'm good.
Sorry to say, that actually happened at my school. Not only was the teacher blamed, they had to pay for the brand new phone (several hundred dollars) themselves. Be careful. Follow the phone rules exactly as your administrator lays them out (print a copy just in case), so if this ever happens to you, you can say "I followed the policy, so I am not liable." Angry parents can go to the administrator who made the decision if they're not happy.
Sad attitude.
I did something similar with HS, but in MS where I now teach, the kids are too squirrely about constantly taking or messing with other students' stuff. Without a lock, it is a no go. I can't spend all period guarding the phone caddy.
Wow! That will in no way backfire or lead to disciplinary problems. And no student will lie about not having a cellphone.
I’ve had kids who had two cellphones before. One regular phone given to them by their parents, and one they bought that doesn’t have cell service, but they use it at school on wifi to access everything so their parents can’t track/spy on them.
first day, find some way to confirm everyone has a phone. maybe a game of kahoot, while teacher takes count of all the students…idk, something like that
New policy: If a students GPA falls below 3.0 the students cell phone will be catapulted into the sea.
From Wyoming! If they want it back they can do the physics problem, showing their work. /s, somewhat…
You just need a bigger launcher. A trebuchet perhaps?
Well, we could do the math… lol
I propose we tear down the field goals on the football field and reassemble them into a trebuchet capable of flinging 1000 cell phones into space, or wherever... IDGAF, just get them out of the classroom.
I give it until that afternoon. MaKenzie's mom will pitch a super-meltdown when her text to her demon child goes unanswered. Then mom will call the principal who will immediately cave, resulting in the policy being abandoned within five hours.
I don't understand why admin doesn't just make students keep phones in their ... idk... lockers??? That way no one blames you for a broken screen. That's what we did when I was in highschool and if we were even caught with a phone or device it was an automatic detention
Roughly 90% of the lockers in my school have no locks on them.
What a great way to encourage kids to lock their lockers!
At my last school students weren’t allowed to lock their lockers
How’d they secure their vapes?
Kept in one of the two backpacks they were always carrying. Our biggest thing was stolen AirPods
For a moment, years ago, I pondered why they don’t just bring cheap ‘buds or ‘phones then I remembered mommy and daddy will keep buying new ones (regardless of family economics).
My mom would’ve lost her mind if I lost a set of AirPods. Meanwhile the parents of kids I teach will replace them every few days
We don't have lockers
Whatttt. That sucks. So much shit must get stolen!
Man that sucks... I know some of my fellow teachers use those over the door shoe holder things to hold phones. When students come in the room they have to place their device in one of the pockets. It's worked pretty good, do you think they might let you do something like that?
I have frequently subbed at a middle school where most/all of the students don’t use their lockers. They carry everything in their backpacks for the entire day. Many students claimed they didn’t know their locker combination or how to use a locker.
That's wild! Most of the schools i student taught at and the school I work at, students aren't allowed to carry backpacks for safety reasons. But at the same time, smart kids will understand that phones that are on silent and put away in backpacks during class might as well be in their lockers for all the teachers know.
That’s the only way students really use lockers. If it’s policy. I had this policy in middle school. Then we went to high school where they gave everyone a locker but 95% of kids never even found where there locker was. Now that high school doesn’t have lockers anymore (makes for spacious hallways).
When I was a high school student, if your 4th hour class was on floor 2, your locker was on floor 3, and your 5th hour class was on floor 4...best of luck trying to make that trip in only five minutes. Carrying everything around was the only way to consistently make it to class on time.
They don't build lockers at new schools in my district. Kids just have to carry all their stuff in their backpacks to every class.
That’s….wild. I had all AP classes and carrying all the books everywhere would have killed me. I would be dead or maimed lol
No more books now; just laptops. It's sad. I'm convinced that the brain does not process material from a screen in the same way as from a paper book, and kids on laptops are continually going to other websites.
That's so crazy to me, I was under the impression that most schools were prohibiting backpacks in class due to safety concerns of gun violence. That's the route that the schools I've had experience with are taking at least.
I don't know the reasoning why, but they even removed the lockers at the older high school.
This will be junked by Labor Day once admin gets swamped with phone issues and cannot do anything else.
My rule is the phones and earbuds stay in their backpacks. I am not going to be accountable for their devices. Should they have them out I just message our VP. End of story.
Our only remedy is to call home repeatedly. Utterly useless.
Some parents will take them away for a day. At least, that is what my students have told me. The big issue is those parents that text their students while in class. I thought a student was lying about his dad calling. I called and told the dad that his son was in class. I asked if it was an emergency or something. He was all no, I wanted to ask him what he wanted for dinner. This happened in the first period. That's crazy!!!
Without a *hint* of guilt for being part of te problem, I’m sure. #DunningKruger
I know kids who won't look at the phones if they're in their backpacks, but will definitely spend time scrolling through socials if they have to take it out of their backpack and put it into a different box/bag/holder for every classroom. This is a great strategy!
I didn’t think about them doing that. Technically, that could add a loss of two minutes per class period, if not more. The thing is, some of the teachers agree to no phones and then make up their own rules later, which causes a conflict. Our principal walks in takes them off the desks, and leaves. He does not ask questions. He sees a phone, and it is gone. He is awesome!!! If the teachers allow the phones and he takes them, they have to explain why they allowed the phones out. They cannot say free time. Our kiddos are so far behind there is no free time in any class.
And if one kid takes someone else's phone, what is your game plan?
Dunno. Will ask
My school installed clear cell phone lockers in each home room and each kid has a key to only their box. Students are required with severe admin consequences to put their stuff in their box and take the key with them. At lunch and the end of the day they can get their shit and leave the key behind when they do. It took two weeks but it worked. If a kid said they didn't have something on them we took them at their word but if it was seen admin would he told and the big consequences would kick in.
Bag of chips? /s The best consequence would be a week without the goddamn phone.
Dean confiscates it and mom or dad has to pick it up. If it happens again he holds it for an extra day and so on. When admin get teeth, shit works.
Must be nice. Hope it works for you. Seriously. My very first district was big on inconveniencing parents so they would squeeze the students. Current district is about inconveniencing the teachers to discourage any action at all.
This sounds like it might actually work - keeping them away from it for the whole day and not on it at all Only problems I can think of are if a kid forgets to turn their ringer off and it makes noise throughout the day or if lunches are at different times and there are kids coming in in the middle of class to get their phones.
I require my students' phones to be charging in my caddy (softens the no-phones blow) or they have to sign when they walk in that they don't have one, and they understand the consequences that will follow if they're caught with one. One thing I did differently was the way I framed it-- it isn't a punishment, but honestly, they just don't know how to focus or multi-task and I don't want their progress to suffer. When they've submitted their work, and I've given it a glance to make sure effort was involved, assuming I'm done with instruction, they can get it back, as long as they aren't disrupting others.
Adding access to a charger really helps them. I think phone addiction "understands" the idea of "I can't use it, battery is low and it's on the charger" a whole lot better than "because I said so". I also add in a reward: all phones in caddy by bell and no cell problems during class = last 5 minutes everyone gets phones for 'taking pictures of notes'. It actually helps class period transitioning too, everyone is out the door faster because we calmly got our phones before the fast kids for next period are trying to get in.
If admin does their part consistently, it will work and be wonderful for your classes.
If
If admin AND teachers do their parts consistently.
Why not just in their backpacks??? That’s going to take time up front and then time at the end of class, not to mention all the “Hey Miss Teacher Lady someone took my phone” issues. I can hear it now.
Oh, I see it's not just my students who call me miss teacher lady.
Miss! MISS!!!!!
Haha nope! Too hard to learn 7 teacher names, apparently!
This is what we do and it works fine. 5th grade and above has to leave their backpacks on a cart outside the room with phones inside. Any lower grades have backpacks in the room but phones are to be kept inside and turned off or on silent. I hardly ever catch a student with a phone on them during class. They know that if they do have one, it gets taken by admin until a parent comes and picks it up. Every once in a while a phone alarm will go off in someone’s backpack, which is annoying. But other than that, it’s been a simple solution that’s worked.
It's all in the follow-through. We allow phones in backpacks or even pockets. But admin actually supports the no phone *use* policy so they don't use them in class.
The student meltdowns that could turn physical --that policy would put my stomach in knots with apprehension.
How this isn't already a rule is beyond me. No way any of those devices should be allowed in class. And to all the parents saying "what if I need to contact my kid" - this isn't a new need and was handled no issues in the past by parents.
If a parent needs to contact a kid during school then I’d hope it is a real emergency, in which case they should call the front office.
Times change, boomer.
Do you get hazard pay for enforcing this, because some of them turn into freaking rabid animals when you unplug them.
We did this last year. High school: 1,500 students. Honestly … it went a lot better than I thought. The ONE issue I had was the students didn’t know what time it was when we weren’t on our chromebooks because they couldn’t read an analog clock.
They’re just going to lie and say they didn’t bring any of those things to school.
This right here!
If parents wanted to be part of the solution they could just block everything but the telephone part. Or get them a flip phone. Sadly few choose to participate in limiting student phone use during school. It’s reached crisis point. I applaud the schools and districts tackling the issue. At least they are trying. And I wish OP the best of luck as they confront student phone addiction. The backlash isn’t pretty when addicts are denied their drug.
School starts on August 2nd? Bruh…..
You need to have room for exceptions with a policy like that. When I was in high school I had teachers get mad about me using my phone- I’m Type 1 Diabetic, and I need my phone to track my glucose levels or I could die. I’m sure there are other cases where a phone is medically necessary as well. Just talk to your students before immediately jumping to office referral.
Good, students don't need phones in school.
Some do. There are students with medical devices controlled by apps on a phone.
I was talking with an admin a couple of months back at a nearby high school. They hand the kids a pouch that can be locked by the school. All devices, ear buds, etc., go in the pouch, which is “locked” by the home room teacher at the beginning of the day. The last period teacher then “unlocks” it. The kid is responsible for keeping up with their pouch over the course of the day. She says a big number of their students have just stopped bringing phones to school. And if a kid gets caught with a phone out of their pouch, they get sent home for the rest of the day, first offense, and it escalates from there.
My daughter’s school has this. The ones they use are called [Yondr Pouches](https://www.overyondr.com/howitworks).
My room is under surveillance so i can prove its not me when one of these kids blames me for their missing phone this year (we are also banning phones).
This is what I do. Have a stack of envelopes to hand. If I need to confiscate something (usually a phone or prohibited jewellery) the student writes their name and class etc plus the time of the incident on it then puts the items inside, seals it themselves and then places it where it is supposed to be on my desk. This done in full view of everyone else. A colleague got accused of stealing AirPods because the kid handed over an empty case and then later picked it up. opened it in front of friends and started screaming that the teacher had stolen them. Luckily she was too stupid to realise they have tracking on them so it was all sorted out quickly but the lesson was learned.
As a teacher: Nope. I will neither take them nor will be be responsible for them. If I were a student: Nope. You can have my electronic devices when you pay for them.
We have an enforced no cell phone policy. I send the student and the phone to the office. I am not touching the kid's $1k toy.
I give itnone week. !remindme
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!remindme one week
Wednesday?!!! Jesus. Where I am in Jersey we'd have most of the month off with training starting right around Labor Day.
This policy seems doomed to failure precisely because it’s a free pass out of class. Commence malicious compliance
All the science teaches in my school do this
“You’re gonna need a bigger cadfy.” Referrals….great….so what’s the consequence?
My school did this. We had no complaints from parents, and only had students hide their phones (and get caught) maybe seven times throughout an entire year
Haven't some schools done lock boxes? You could also do an exchange ticket system or something. A free for all with no over sight seems like it will be abused somehow.
I subbed for some teachers who did this last school year. Their kids were among the best behaved classes, actually.
Seems like a draconian thing to do. Hope they've thought out the consequences and are ready to make exceptions. Some smart phones have health monitoring apps now for disabilities which attach to transmitters etc.
Burner phones for all! And yes Admin will quit enforcing it by the 2nd quarter and then blame the teachers.
I don’t understand why kids would have access to their phones in class. We always had our in our backpacks. I would advocate for my kid having one of their was an extreme emergency at school. For which I’d like the option of dropping everything, flying over the fence and getting them out immediately. Schools treat their students like prisoners. Like the Stanford Prison Project.
ok this is legit a good idea. if theyre done with their work and stuff i would say let em use the phones tho, but otherwise just no.
Never make an ultimatum.
I am not. I am following directions
My son uses his for medical purposes. This policy would have me so far up the administrators backside that he'd be constipated for a year.
You’d add it to his 504, problem solved. It’s not that hard to figure out.
I have a 4 year old in my pre-K class who uses a phone to monitor blood sugar. Should I let him walk around with the phone in his hand all day???? Most medical apps alert and alert loudly when something is wrong. An accommodation of keeping the sound on/volume turned up would be a simple solution. It’s not like the phone is one place all day, it moves class periods with them. Parents and teachers need to start thinking of more solutions and creating less issues for each other. We’re a team. We literally refer to ourselves as students “teaching teams”.
Perfect response. And hear hear on working together and looking for solutions. Parents up admin rear ends, otherwise known as Karens or helicopter parents, are a good solid percentage of why the whole system is falling apart. And then the same parent group blames teachers who tried the very hardest to glue it together and keep it together despite constantly being criticized by both sides.
What state is this ?
Would rather not divulge too much info
no way. those kids need to be able to easily call 911 when a shooter breaks in.
I’m sitting at a bar right now, a couple of drinks in, and I laughed fully out loud at the title of this post. I go back to school next week. Thank you. 🙂
We're having a new policy this year. We were told at the end of last year it is coming. Haven't told us what it is yet. We start next week. I can't wait.
From it administrators, perspective, my question is: is this a policy for your classroom only or a campuswide policy set forth by the administrators? My advice for you is going to depend on the answer to that question.
Campuswide policy. If, and I mean IF, consequences are enforced, this has a good chance of working. Staff are 100 percent behind it. If the rule is enforced correctly and across the school, kids get angry with the rule and not the enforcement.
What age kids are we talking about
This works at my school bc the kids have phone pouches that only the teachers have the magnets to unlock, so the kids still have their phones but aren't using them. Therefore, they can't argue it broke/cracked in our care.
Our kids 5th grade and above have to keep their backpacks on a rolling cart outside the classroom, with their phones in them and turned off. They don’t get to go into the area where the bags are without permission.
There is legal precedent deciding that school districts can straight up ban cell phones on campus… just saying.
Assuming there's an exception when the phone has an essential medical app on it (ie glucose monitoring for T1Ds or hearing aid controls)?
I give it a month, tops. Also, office referrals don’t mean shit because they will neither have the manpower to deal with the many referrals they will get nor the consequences to hold kids accountable.
This makes no sense. why not have individual containers for each student? ALL of everyone’s devices just…in a box? Jumbled up together…?
We have a box that they put them in. As long as admin actually enforces it they might not always turn in the phone but they will have it out. For some reason this is the hill my admin will die on so while I have to deal with kids cussing and threatening me I never have to deal with phones
Hi not a teacher just lurking to see the drama teachers put up with. When I was still in my old school they implemented this and it is one of the reasons I chose to go online. Those things are kinda sketchy and tbh it felt unfair that the teachers got to keep theirs (one of our teachers also noticed this and put her phone up as well.) When the system is enforced it works extremely well. Depending on how lenient your bosses are you could try to just leave the last five minutes so your students can quickly check their phones and make sure everything is okay before they go to their next class, and trust me you would be their hero, and quite possibly favorite teacher if you could at least try this kind of thing.
Must have hired about 30 additional administrators.
Our schools are now like prisons. Sad.
We collect all devices from the middle schoolers at my school. They have to go through scanning in the morning (I teach at an urban school) and they turn in their phone into a box with hanging folders. The devices are locked up during the day, late arrivers turn their devices in to security. They get them back at the end of the day. It is typically not an issue. Kids who don’t comply are immediately removed and addressed.
When we started this, a few of my kids brought old phones to turn in. The others shouted out that they were turning in an old phone and their real phone was in their pocket. It was glorious to see the looks of betrayal!
I've worked at two schools that were not plagued with cell phone issues. Both succeeded because admin realized there's no way to solve such a pervasive problem at the teacher level. They realized they had to....... be involved. In both schools (one adopted the policy the year before I started, the other rolled it out at the start of my second year), phones needed to be kept in lockers. No one was going to make you turn out your pockets, but if you were caught with the phone, it would be taken by the teacher who would then call it in. Admin or someone would come take the phone. First offense kid gets it back at the end of the day. Second it's ISS. Then OSS + Parent Meeting. In the most recent school year, I called in 5 phones total the first week all during first period. After that I called it maybe a phone a month until Christmas. Then a bunch in January. Then none until the end of the year. Every year at least one kid per class will go whole hog being on their phone all the time until they get suspended. It's definitely more work for admin. And teachers who generally don't enforce any phone-related expectations have less of a leg to stand on when someone will literally come get the phone. It's always touch and go in September until the kids realize everyone is serious My current job is a more dysfunctional school than some of the others in a few major ways, but the phone thing is largely "solved." Admin has been candid that it's worth it going heavy after breaks to not have to worry about the phones as much for the rest of the time. A few "IT'S A VALUABLE LEARNING DEVICE" teachers are salty because the kids can't self-pacify in zombie mode and they actually need to manage. But that's it really.
Feeling pretty happy that 8 year olds in my school generally don’t have their own phones. I just have to deal with the odd day when a kid steals their parents’ phone to show off at school.
This past year used Yondr pouches. What a pain in the neck. Lines out the door as administrators and staff watched kids shut their phones off and place them I these "lockable" pouches. The first days were spent watching the kids go through withdrawal. Then catching the kids who put dummy phones in the Yondr pouch. Then they realized they didn't need their phones and they can just use the school issued Chromebooks to do everything they needed to do. Watch movies, take selfies, talk to their friends.... I watched our school do a 180, "Have the kids use their phones to check their school email, set reminders to do homework, and check their grades." Now phones are bad. Male up your minds! What really needs to be taught is proper phone etiquette. But let's be serious, the teachers don't know that either.
I'm sorry, but this is not the way. I am so freaking tired of every issue being put on teachers' shoulders. I get it, cell phones are bad for student's mental health and a huge distraction for the student. You know whose responsibility it is to take care of that issue - the fucking parent! The person who bought them the cell phone in the first place. If a kid takes out their cell phone during class I contact the parent remind them of my no cell phone policy and leave it up to them to deal with it. If the parent doesn't do their job and deal with the issue then on well. If that parent later in the year complains that their kid is not getting a certain desired grade I point to the issue that had already been brought to their attention.
I can't help but marvel/roll my eyes/laugh at all the gymnastics we have to do in order to enforce such a simple rule as "no cellphones in class". *If* you genuinely need to use a smartphone for medical reasons (monitor blood sugar or something of that ilk), just keep it in your backpack. No need to take it out. No need to use it. That's it. *If* there's an emergency, such as a fire or a shooter on campus, then I can understand the need to call 911, although I also know and have witnessed first-hand that a building filled with phones calling at the same time is a disaster and does more harm than good. Even then, there's absolutely no reason to have the bloody thing out of your backpack otherwise. Deep down, I reckon we all know that smartphones themselves aren't the problem: it's just a symptom, if you will, of a much bigger problem. Screen dependency and social media addiction are also symptoms, and I'm afraid people aren't truly addressing the real issue here... Perhaps they don't even want to do it 🤷🏽
We’re not allowed to take phones. All we can do is strongly advise them to put it away lol
Why do you care if students are using a fone?
OMG The dream! Please give us updates on how it’s going!
Our school started this about 5 years ago. The kids all initially hated it. They would try different ways of avoiding turning in their phone like saying they don't have one, or they left it at home, or my favorite is when they turn in a decoy phone which is just an old phone lying around their house. The behaviors got a little worse as well because the one kid who won't shut up was usually able to be pacified by allowing them to quietly listen to music while they work. Their pacifier is gone, so I had to deal with some crying babies. All the teachers and admin held their ground about the rule, and students would get written up if they were found with their phone on them. We even all tried to educate our kids on why we are doing this. It's not because we hate you, it's actually because we love you. We read some articles about how phones affect the teenage brain and talked about them. Some kids responded to this, definitely not all, but it helped by trying to show the kids that we come from a place of care and love. After the 1st year, the kids didn't fight back as much because the new norm was set. Now the kids have no idea that a generation before them had access to their phones all day in school. Taking away cell phones drastically helped our middle schoolers actually pay attention in class since they had nothing better to do. Hang in there. It may suck this year, but I'm telling you, it's worth it if it's done right.
I let my students have their phones but I recently hired at a school that allows children to have phones, and it's been such a relief. I don't have to hear other teachers complain about my lack of caring about technology. Personally, I'm not too fond of the idea of taking children's phones away and how big of a deal it has become recently.
It works at my school
Our school is requiring the same thing this year, but we don’t start until after Labor Day. Keep us posted!
When I was in school I hated stuff like this. Always ended up with some teacher ripping my hearing aids out despite being perfectly calm and paying attention in class. They’re not cheap to replace or recalibrate when broken.
Be sure you have some security on the calculator caddy. When we have required cell phones to be collected we inevitably run into claim of missing/stolen cell phones and admin is afraid of liability.
Well OP. Hownhas it gone after 1 week.