by Allen Gates

Created on: January 10, 2011

Cell phones can be a major problem in the classroom for many reasons. Teachers who know how to take control of a classroom can greatly reduce cell phone incidents.

Many schools have policies in place to help teachers deal with cell phones in the classroom. All a teacher has to do is incorporate that policy into their classroom and it gives the student guidelines to follow. If there is no official policy at the school, then teachers can make up their own policy or add to the existing one.

At the beginning of the year it should be clear to all students what the cell phone policy is. Hand out a letter explaining the rules and have all students and a parent sign and return it in a timely fashion. Offer some extra credit points for those that bring it in early and phone calls home to those that are excessively late. Post the rules in the room so that all students can clearly see and be reminded of the policy throughout the year.

Students will test the policy at some point. They will have a variety of reasons for having their cell phone out. If students see that there will be no consequences to breaking the rules then they will use the phone at their discretion. The teacher must follow through with any consequences to the policy violation.

The consequences should gradually increase with severity for the number of violations a student commits. A first offense is usually a warning, but after that a good consequence is to take the phone for the rest of the period or even the day with a phone call home to notify the parent. If it continues to be a problem the phone can be turned into the administration with a phone call home for the parent to pick up the phone. Usually if a teacher calls home early in the year, the word will spread that the teacher is strict about cell phones and challenges to the policy will subside.

Some students have legitimate needs and situations may arise that require their urgent attention. It is important to talk to them about the different situations and what can be considered urgent. Let them know that there are proper avenues available to handle urgent situations and that there is no excuse to violate the policy. Phones are important to students and they will learn quickly if a teacher follows through.

It is also important to use cell phones as a teaching tool whenever possible. Most students have them and enjoy using them. It can be a way to engage students on a not so popular topic. One way of doing this is to set up a question on a web site that takes answers via text message. Students can see how the class voted compared to how they did. It can be a fun experience to lighten up the mood and occasionally break away from the cell phone policy.

Whatever the cell phone policy is, students will follow their teacher more if they have respect. The teacher determines how they will be viewed by their actions early in the year. It is important to be consistent, fair, and develop a good rapport with students to gain their respect.                                                

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