Have you checked your school's policy regarding students' use of cell phones. If not you better put that at #1 on your back to school To Do List. After reading an article in the this morninghttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Cell phones will continue to be a problem in all classrooms. If you don't want to be recorded or videotaped, why not embrace the cell phone. One professor came up with a great solution:
Benjamin Davis, adjunct professor of journalism at Rutgers University, has devised a simple means of keeping video recording contained while still allowing students to bring their cell phones to class. He has them place their phones on his desk at the beginning of class and retrieve them when class is over.
"I'm surprised other teachers don't do the same thing. What I'm really trying to do for the students and myself is insure that a journalism class is free to discuss some pretty tough topics that come up without fear that the discussion is being recorded," Davis said.
Cell phones are never going away, they are only going to become more advanced (ex. the iPhone). Instead of playing cell phone police, I would rather foster an environment of respect. I want my cell phone in the classroom in case there is an emergency with my daughter.
Besides, this past June one of my students created a beat box rap on his cell phone that we downloaded onto a classroom computer to create a soundtrack for a book we read in class- a great culminating activity, although this year I think I will try Garage Band instead.
Two years ago I banned iPods from my study hall, but this year I will be using iPods to differentiate instruction and learning.
If I had an iPhone, I'd keep it on my desk...
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