Cellphones
How can you make students focus more clearly when they are very distracted by their cellphones
When my students come into the classroom, I have them place their cellar devices into a basket.
Noreen,
Like you approach to cell phone use in your classroom. By having the policy that you do you remove cell phones as distractions and you then can help students to focus on what is being taught and what needs to be learned.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I use a cell phone policy as well in my classroom. First, I believe that the instructor also needs to adhere to the policy. If the class session includes a break, I tell the student to use this time to check their phone, all other times the phone is to be off or on silent. No excuses. This, I agree with Nasreen, this is a respect issue, respect of the course, the student, the instructor, and classmates. If it is an urgent need of the student, I would ask the question, is the student really present (mentally) in the class if they are waiting on a call?
We have a cell phone policy incorporated into a classroom and clinical site student contract each student is required to read and sign at the beginning of each term. Still, there are those who feel they must test limits.
It is unrealistic to believe that many of the younger students can survive without using their mobile device(s)in some way, so I do try to provide opportunity to "decompress" with using Google searches and, most recently, using Kahoot.com to incorporate cell phone use as a sanctioned quiz participation tool.
Hi Nasreen :),
At the beginning of the course I incorporate a cell phone usage policy while review the course syllabus. I do not tell students to completely turn off their phones because I do understand that as a parent this is something that I cannot do myself while in class. However, I do tell them to place their phones on vibrate, do not have them visible in class, and to inform me if they are expecting an important phone call. I also inform them on the importance of informing their families/friends to respect their education and do not contact them during school hours unless it is an emergency. I also inform them that there are consequences if I do see their phones out and being used during class time.
I also use a point system in my classes and have found it to be very effective. I love it!
I have policies for cell phone use. I tell the students to take it outside.
If I see that students are distracted by their cellphone I like to move the students into a lab activity where the use of both of their hands is required to complete the task.I find that physical activity is sometimes more interesting than their phone.
I will actually take the call myself and respond to the caller that the student is in class and cannot take their call.
I am on the same boat here... What I do is that I incorporate the use of cellphones in my teaching. For example I let them google questions and answers pertaining to the subject matter..
Nasreen,
Establish a cell phone policy for your class and enforce it. If students do not follow the policy and put their cell phones away then remind them. I give Professional Points in my classes and they can earn or lose points based upon their behavior and compliance with class policies. If a student does not comply then I will remove the student from class. I have only had to do this once but in reality cell phone useage was not the real issue with this student. He had a host of other issues going on and he was just testing to see how much he could get away with.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
