Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash
Today we had the pleasure of having Jesse Miller visit our EdTech class to speak about the way that people interact with technology both inside and outside the classroom. He brought up some really interesting points across a really wide area of subjects from self-driving cars to social media posts to video games.
Overall I found he had a refreshing perspective and approached technology integration in a positive way. This was great especially in a space where its easy to feel that a lot of people have a negative view. For example- every class room I visit at my observation school has a “Cell Phone Hotel” or “Cell Phone Jail.” These were provided by the school and are not mandatory. In my experience, the majority of teachers don’t use them but don’t seem to have an alternative plan. This question of how I would deal with cell phones is one I have thought about a lot since starting the program. Just yesterday I had a conversation where I said that like in my classroom I would be one of the teachers that said “No cell phones.” As an English teacher not only do I want students to engage with the material I bring into the classroom, but I hope that the materiel I provide will be interesting enough so that they will forget about their phones. Typing that out now, it seems both ridiculous and unrealistic.
After today’s talk I have a different view. Jesse spoke briefly about creating a culture in your classroom that has cell phones built in. His suggestion is 20 minutes of focused work, 3 minutes of phone time, and repeat until the bell. If someone is on a phone when they aren’t supposed to be, they are held accountable by their classmates and the next 3 minute phone block is lost for everyone. I like this idea. Creating space for phones makes way more sense than trying to get rid of something which for the current generation is a part of every other aspect of their life. I don’t know if I will implement this exact policy when I have my own classroom but it is certainly something I will use as a jumping off point.
For more Jesse Miller: Click Here
Leave a Reply