Cell phone policy in science class

Good afternoon, all:

This fall, I will be going from a suburban private school with a 1:1 Chromebook program to a rural public school that is not so technology-rich. However, the new school does allow their students to bring their cell phones to class. Having worked in charter schools and private schools that have no-cellphone policies (students are required to keep them away in their lockers or turn in with homeroom teachers), this is new territory for me. I will be teaching 8th Grade Science.

Given that there's no 1:1 program available, I'd like to take advantage of students having cell phones so I can continue to use tools like Socrative, Kahoot, etc for formative assessment in the science classroom. For those who use cell phones in their instruction, what kind of classroom policy do you have? Some teachers have suggested shoe pouches/organizers, but I don't want to be held liable for lost or stolen phones. How do I ensure students are using the cells responsibly and for instruction only?

Please share any age-appropriate cell phone policies, routines and procedures that you may have!

Thanks in advance,

Cheska

Tags: cellphones, policy, procedures, routines

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jayashree Iyer on August 3, 2016 at 12:25am

It is good to go with provided the students know their usage limits in classrooms.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Leesa johnson on October 5, 2016 at 11:05pm

I assume you know the basics of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I suggest you read through your post and have a look at your own mistakes, before critiquing a new way of thinking about modern pedagogy. I take all their technology away and create learning communities in which kids work to talk to each other to create extremely successful learning communities.I agree that students need to think for themselves but tell me exactly how a student isn't thinking for themselves when using an e-learning. Cell phones are new technologies that are very useful which from the last years have been present with new applications that help us in everyday life to make easier but just as things are a means of distraction .