Image Credit: Flickr user thegloaming
This afternoon in my civics class we were discussing some of the citizens' initiative questions on this fall's ballot in Maine. At one point in the conversation I saw one of my students playing with her cell phone. In an attempt to make sure she was paying attention I asked this student what she was doing. She said that she just received a text from her mom telling her that she could stay after school. So I said, kind only half-seriously, ask your mom what she knows about Question 4. Another student said, "can I ask my mom too?" And in a matter of minutes more than half of my class had sent a text message to their parents asking them what they knew about Question 4.
The responses from parents were interesting in that many of the responses echoed the various messages that have been running on local television stations. After we had received all of the responses we talked about why some parents knew more than others about Question 4 and the role of television and radio advertising in influencing voters' positions. Those discussions took place on top of the original pro v. con conversation that had started prior to breaking-out the cell phones.
Cell phone use during the day is against the rules in my school so what I did today came as a bit of a surprise to my students and probably to their parents. Hopefully, the surprise factor will prompt some conversations between parents and students about today's class and lead to my students having conversations with their parents about this fall's ballot. My guess is there will also be conversations about the use of cell phones in school. I won't meet with my Civics class again until Thursday, I'll find out then if my hunch about conversations between students and parents is correct. Even if I'm wrong, at least for today's class I was able to bring in opinions from real voters in real time.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Cell Phones In My Civics Class = Parent Involvement
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9 comments:
brilliant - that's called quick thinking and flexibility - killed many birds with one stone, made the class real and purposeful - you couldn't ask for more. Well done!
What a well-written anecdote! As educators, we are expected to teach. This should include proper use of technology. The classroom does not exist outside the ‘real world’ so let’s help the kids navigate in the ‘real world.’ I love the way the cell phone allowed your kids to share the unit with their parents.
I suppose a concern would be- at what point do cell phones become a distraction? Just as the kids would be using the phones with the curriculum, some would be using them for other means. Perhaps texting their friend while the rest of the class is working. Do we need to control they way these cell phones are used? And how would we?
Similarly, the move to integrate computers in the classroom started many years ago and has yet to be fully adopted. That is, not every kid has access to a computer (however the US is getting MUCH better). I’m left to conclude the cell phone will also continually face resistance. I’m willing to bet that ten years from now we will still be discussing whether the cell phone should be allowed during class. Let’s not forget that kids have been secretly using them for years, and will continue to use them regardless of any no tolerance policy. How do the kids feel about our views?
For more, here is an interesting NY Times article on the issue- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/technology/16phone.html
Great stuff. You turned a challenging moment into an opportunity for a learning moment. Keep sharing...it opens minds.
What a great idea! Can't wait to hear the reactions of the parents. And how long before the district outlaws this use.
Thank you for all of the comments. It will be interesting to see what happens with cell phone policies in my school if I and other teachers continue to use them in this type of situation. My school, like many others, is always looking for ways to engage parents in school. If my experiment is successful (I'm not yet sure what success looks like in this case), perhaps the administrators and other teachers will look at cell phone use differently.
This is my first visit to your blog. I really enjoyed this entry on cell phones in your classroom. That was some pretty quick thinking you did there.
I'll be spending some time soon checking out your other posts. Looking forward to it.
What a fantastic way to make your lesson relevant to your students and involve their parents. I am sure the students were engaged and probably understood better with the integration of the cell phone and texting. What a great idea!!!
What a fantastic way to make your lesson both relevant to your students and also bring in some parent participation. I am guessing your students were totally engaged in this lesson and probably understood better since you integrated the cell phone and texting. Excellent example of tech use.
Fabulous teachable moment... I wonder what would have happened in my school? Like in your school where cell phones are banned during school hours, I wonder if in mine the phone would have been confiscated and sent to the office instead of being used for learning and broadening the conversation in class...
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