On Thursday this week I went with a group of administrators and educators to visit the Columbus Signature Academy in Columbus, Indiana. It was an amazing trip with some great insight into schools based around PBL. Having used PBL in my classroom when I was a teacher, I know how the strategy empowers students and how much more engaging it is in the classroom. I am not going to write about PBL in this post though, I have something, much, much, much more important to talk about.
I rode down to CSA with my Superintendent and our Districts Middle School Principal. We had great discussion on the way down and the way back (6 hours total in a car!) about the success's of our school, what we saw at CSA, and where we see our district heading. There was only one problem........
I forgot my iPhone in my car.
Thinking about that statement you, I am going to assume that you fall into one of three categories:
1. You think that it's pathetic that this bothers me because I feel naked without my phone.
2. You are laughing at the thought of someone going through withdrawal symptoms from their phone.
3. You are sympathizing with me and fully understand how awful this experience could be.
With my job I get a lot of e-mail from my teachers. A lot! I pride myself at being quick at getting back to teachers who are trying to bounce ideas of projects off me, have questions about things we are doing in our professional development program, or are running into issues with things that they are doing during the day. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to communicate with them all day was a bummer.
I was also bummed because I wanted to Tweet during my trip. We have started a small PLN of Tri-Creek educators who share ideas on Twitter. I wanted to share my experience with the group while I was at CSA and I was disappointed that I couldn't do that for my group.
I feel like the most eye opening part of the experience of not having my phone was not having instant access to information. On the trip down and back from Columbus, there were several times that we asked questions that I wanted to find the answers to or look up more information about the topic and I couldn't do it. I felt handcuffed that I didn't have access to this. It's easy to take for granted how much information we have right at our fingertips until you don't have that access.
It made me think about students who don't have the opportunity to use their phones or internet devices during school hours. I am lucky to teach in a district where students are allowed to bring their own devices to school and most teachers allow professional use of Smartphones and iPods during the day. I do know all to many schools that put a lock down on these devices, and I can't help but think how those students must feel. From 3PM-8AM they have the worlds largest encyclopedia at their fingertips and anytime they need information, they can get it. But during the time that it would be most beneficial to have that information readily available to them, we say no. We spend so much time worrying about students texting that we overlook the power that our students have in their pocket.
My last year in the classroom I had an open policy for cell phones in my class. When students came into the classroom they could use their cell phones, but they had to have them out on their desks. We had discussions about when it was appropriate to use them and when it wasn't. Did I still have a few students who sent texts when they shouldn't have? Of course. How did I deal with it? I just didn't let them use their phone for the rest of the day. Every decision we make has a consequence, either positive or negative. I never screamed or freaked out, just told that student we would try again tomorrow. Eventually you won't run into the issues you used to when had a no cell phone policy, because students will do a few things:
A. They will respect you for giving them some respect and trust.
B. They will rise to your level of expectations.
B. is a big one for me. I'm a big believer if we expect a student to fail, then they will fail. But if we expect students to succeed, most will succeed. We may never get to 100%, but they will surprise you!
So at the end of all of this I think you have to ask yourself something. How would you feel if you weren't allowed to have your phone all day? I'm sure we would all survive, but how would you feel?
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