Cell Phone Procedures

I think one thing we probably all have in common, regardless of the subject or age we teach, is cell phone problems in the classroom.

 

At my school, the students are not supposed to have phones out in the hall or in class, unless approved by a teacher. They are supposed to be completely out of sight. Students can only use them at lunch.

I have a policy in my room of "first time's a warning, second time's a referral" for things like texting, a phone ringing/vibrating, or using phones for non-approved purposes like getting on FB.

I DO allow students to use phones in a couple circumstances. One is to use an online dictionary to look up unknown words in pieces of writing. Honestly, it has never been an issue because if we're not doing vocab., they shouldn't have them out. When we are, I roam the aisles and can tell if they are actually using them to look up words or not. Once we're done, they go away.

I also will allow them to listen to music through earbuds when writing papers in the lab, as I know that helps some students. I tell them they need to pick a playlist and stick with it and the phone goes in the pocket--they can't keep looking for songs every two seconds or they lose the privilege.

I know even in college this is a problem--I had a college professor who would dock you an entire letter grade if your phone rang in class.

I don't think there's a best or worst way to handle it, but I'm always looking for ideas, because even with my policy and even with allowing usage for classroom things, I still have students trying to text or "going to the bathroom" to use their phone.

So I think next semester, I am starting a new policy that another teacher in my school uses and that I have heard of working elsewhere. I'm going to require students to place phones upside down on the corner of their desk while in my room. That way, they have control over it and it's not out of their possession (some teachers collect phones and give them back at the end of the hour), but it's obvious to me when a phone is being used. They also can't go spend five min. in the bathroom just texting under the pretense of having to use the restroom--I will see if they grab their phone when getting up from their desk.

The teacher who uses this says it's works wonderfully and she has no texting issues anymore. Because it's right there and upside down, the students don't feel the need to compulsively check it and/or they know they will easily get caught. I am so tired of kids trying to text through their pockets, in their hoodie pouches, in their pencil bags, or at their sides and playing the game of catching them in the act. I don't think cell phones are altogether a bad thing in the classroom, which is why I approve usage at times. But there's no reason students can't learn to go 50 min. without checking FB or their text messages!

So what do you think? What's your cell phone policy and does it work? Do you use phones for educational purposes in the classroom?

How do you handle late work?

I think one of the most frustrating things about teaching is when students don't complete homework on time.

Unfortunately, it happens quite a bit. Students either say they completed it but it's at home, they did it but their home printer broke, they forgot they had it, etc. The excuses are always plentiful.

I have thought long and hard about how to combat the late work. What's super frustrating is that 90% of the time, I give them at least 5 min. at the end of the hour to start on that night's work and many will just close up early, or they will start working on it but totally forget to finish it by the next class period.

So far, here's how I handle late work:
For every class BUT my college class, they can turn in late homework one day late for half credit.
*It started 5 years ago as a dept. policy that NO late homework was accepted. The problem was, SO many kids got zeroes and were not doing the work, which meant they weren't passing the tests, etc. It is definitely their responsibility to do the work and do it on time but I also just wanted them to DO it, which is why I transitioned last year to my new policy now that everyone kind of does their own thing in my dept.

For my College class, no late homework is accepted, but I will accept major essays one day late for half credit. This policy will not change; it's a college course and should be more stringent.

So mainly I'm bouncing around ideas for how to handle late work in underclassmen. I know some of my fellow teachers give homework detentions. If a kid does not have it done the day it's due, they can turn it in the next day for 75% OR they have a homework detention, where they have to sit after school with the teacher and complete the assignment for 50%. If they don't serve that detention after a couple days, it becomes a referral.

The teachers who use this, like it. It is more bookkeeping on the teacher's end to keep track of who didn't have which assignment and how many percentage points they earn and who has how many days to serve, etc. I would need an organizational system for this.

I also saw the Pink Slip idea over on Hangin' with Hekken today that I really like. This puts the onus on the kids to keep track of how many points they can get for late work and you have something tangible with their signature that proves they did not give you any work. (I have taught for almost 6 years now and have NEVER lost a student paper, but one of their favorite excuses for missing work is that I must have lost it!).

So I am considering typing up my own pink slips and using that, possibly also using the three-day late policy she has on hers too.

So what do you do? Do you allow late work at all? If so, how many days late will you accept it and what percentage can they earn? Anyone ever tried homework detentions before?