In our tech ed class we have been talking a lot about “cell phone jails”. At the beginning of last class we all put our phones in phone jail, that was fine with me, it was when we were asked to put our smart watches in jail as well that I started to feel disconnected and worried that I would miss something important. It occurred to me that while I don’t use my phone in class, just having it helps me to feel more connected. When my phone and watch were in jail, I found myself wondering if I had missed any texts etc.
I can understand teachers wanting their students to focus and pay attention, and I can see how phones can get in the way of that. However, in this day and age people are so attached to their phones. Not having access to it may even cause students to be more distracted as they could likely be perseverating over what is happening on their phones rather than focusing on the lesson. That is why I really like the phone breaks idea that Jesse Miller brought up in class a couple weeks ago. Phone breaks are predetermined times when students know that they will be able to check their phones and reply to any messages they may have missed. Students know that every 30 minutes or so they will have a couple minute break which allows for them to let go of some of the anxiety of not being connected to their phones and helps them to focus on the lesson. During that lesson time, students should not be on their phones and should be held accountable if they do. Jesse mentioned that it works well if the whole class including the teacher holds each other accountable. If a student is on their phone during lesson time, then the phone break may be cancelled for everyone. This keeps everyone accountable and allows students to keep each other in check.
