Naughty unruly students who use cell phones in class

[Alelou]

You know, I've never written anything more than a few lines to a prompt or an exchange. It makes me perversely want to do anything else but.

But also, frankly, for all my brave talk of enjoying the break, I have a ton of teaching prep to do for next semester. I can't commit to anything.

Speaking of things I need to tweak next semester -- as a current student, what do you suggest for students who can't put their damned cell phones away in class? Last week I kicked a kid out because he just wouldn't put it away. I said, "You might as well be absent, then." (At least this week he did put it away -- but I still had to tell him to do it!!!)

[Aquarius]

Honestly, I think that's about all you can do. I take mine out from time to time and check it if I get a text, or to check the time (I don't wear a watch)--sick cat and all--but I try to do it on the down-low and I keep it on vibrate. The longest I text back is "K" or "Class now" so whoever it is gets the hint.

[honeybee]

Make sure that you put a big, fat note under class policies on the syllabus that cell phones must be turned off and put away in class unless there is an emergency situation. If that's there, you can throw them out to your heart's content. I usually shame them, though by calling it rude and obnoxious and childish - and an insult to me and their classmates, who are paying attention. That usually does the trick.

[Aquarius]

My style is like "I'm sorry--was my trying to learn interfering with your conversation???"

I'm such a bitch about it. There are these two girls who habitually sit behind me in linguistics and they just chatter. And if they sit RIGHT behind me, I invariably get one's toe in my ass because she doesn't know how to keep her feet in her own personal space. I've given up on the subtle hints. And they're those type of girls who THINK they're much cuter than they ARE!

[Alelou]

Honestly, I think that's about all you can do. I take mine out from time to time and check it if I get a text, or to check the time (I don't wear a watch)--sick cat and all--but I try to do it on the down-low and I keep it on vibrate. The longest I text back is "K" or "Class now" so whoever it is gets the hint.

Yep -- you and about 90% of my class. I guess I should be thankful most of them try to do it sneakily, but it gets really irritating, especially in the students who really can't afford the distraction. At least I haven't had anyone actually TALKING on a cell phone.

Honeybee, I do have a note in my syllabus. Which I try to keep nice and streamlined so it fits on four pages total, including all assignments on two pages. Their eyes already glaze over that first day. And yes, I have resorted to just what you say, and it does help ... but it never completely stops. I think they really are addicted, and especially at this point in the semester I clearly don't scare them enough. So I'm thinking I need a way to reward not doing it.

(I was just laughing with a fellow adjunct last week that some of the sample syllabi I'd seen had seemed to have really Nazi-about-rules attitude about them, but I was definitely beginning to understand how that might have happened.)

[WarpGirl]

My advice if they won't be mature enough to put their phones away do what they did in elementry school, put the phones in a box. Tell them that unless they have sick family, or other types of extreme emergency they don't get them during class. If they object mark them absent.

[Alelou]

You can't take cell phones away from adults. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to be responsible for something that expensive.

[WarpGirl]

That's why it's "voluntary" <insert manical laughter> Yeah I forgot about that. Oh well you can dream!

[Linda]

I only teach boating safety classes (mostly twelve year olds who want to drive the family boat), not college or high school or anything carrying credit. So I am not that experienced as a teacher, teaching only one weekend or two a year. And it shows, when one of the students says in their class evaluation form that the teacher should have gotten those other kids who were texting on their cell phones under the table, to stop doing that. I hadn't even noticed that they had cell phones, let alone that they were using them.

[Alelou]

I doubt I notice the ones who are really good at it, either.

[honeybee]

I probably don't notice the ones who are quick, either.

But I always announce very loudly "I CAN SEE YOU DOING IT" when I read the prohibition on the first day - which is mostly true.

There's always going to be a few quick texts - it's the chronic texters that are the issue.

[Distracted]

You're teaching English, right? For a reward you could give everyone one extra point per class period for putting their deactivated cell phones/PDA's/electronic doohickies on the desk in front of them so you can see they're turned off when you call roll. At the end of the semester the "cell phone points" are added to the total before you average the grades. You could also put in your syllabus that your students may choose not to earn the extra points and keep their phones on, but if the phone rings the student must leave class to answer it to avoid disturbing the other students. If a student chooses to use a cell phone in class and gets caught they'll be asked to leave class the first time. The second time they'll be assigned a 1000 word essay on a subject of your choice AND be asked to leave. If they fail to turn in the assignment then they drop a letter grade. How's that?

[Alelou]

I've never heard anyone's phone ring. I haven't even heard them vibrate. And they'd love to be able to leave them on their desks, because they're all reading the texts on the screens, and then the really bad offenders are putting the things down on their laps or behind their books and texting back. They're like Pavlov's dogs, some of these kids; they can't refuse attention to their phones. I have a girl who shows up regularly during my office hours for help but keeps that phone in her hand -- I've had to train her to put it away even there! I don't know how these people drive or even have real conversations with friends who are in the same room with them.

Maybe if I finally start texting myself I'll understand it better. I find the process of trying to type on those tiny truncated keyboards agonizing, personally. And I also find the thought of being bombarded with messages everywhere, not just when I'm sitting at my computer, pretty appalling.

[Bether6074]

There's a lot of cell phone addiction out there. I know how I can get with email and message boards. Exactly why I won't ever have a fancy phone with text messaging.

I imagine it's very frustrating and aggravating for you when your students don't pay attention in class.

All of that constant urgency would surely provoke an anxious response in me, that's for sure.

[Elessar]

I have that fantom cell phone vibration thing where I think my phone's going off and it's not... in fact I get it in the opposite leg from where my phone really is a lotta times!