Decide on the three classroom procedures that are essential for your comfort functioning in a diverse classroom.
- Students must be quiet and respectful when I am addressing the class or other students are addressing the class.
- I must have a point form plan for the day written in a daybook to keep me on task and help me remember my goals.
- Students are welcome to arrive as soon as they can, but I aim to start class on time every single day.
My two practicum experiences were vastly different in terms of phone usage during class. My first practicum was with a Life Sciences 11 class at Duchess Park Secondary School. I rarely had to remind students to put phones away. This was because students were already taught not to pull out phones during the lesson, and if the odd student was distracted by their phone, I’d only ever have to ask once. Behavioural issues weren’t a challenge for me in this class, and as a result, I could focus on building my confidence and knowledge base as a senior science teacher. My second practicum, however, was completely the opposite. I was responsible for two Science 9 classes at D.P. Todd Secondary School.
These classes had significant, challenging behavioural issues, Period 3 more so than Period 4. Period 3 had plenty of IEPs and students who caused more disruption together than individually. Many students struggled with attendance, low levels of literacy, maintaining safety in the classroom, and acting respectfully towards adults. To put it into perspective, I asked my Coaching Teacher (CT): on a scale of 1-10, 1 being a perfect bunch and 10 being the most challenging class you’ve ever taught, where does this Period 3 class land? She said the class would rank as a 9 out of 10. This shocked me, and at the time I think I let out a laugh. It was such a relief to know that an experienced teacher was having some of the same difficulties that I was in the classroom with the same group of students. I learned a lot from my CT, the EA in the classroom, my fellow Teacher Candidates, and most importantly, from the students. I started to piece together how much more there was than meets the eye. When I first observed my CT’s classes, I was taken aback by how prolific phone usage was. My CT would selectively punish certain students, but overlook many others on a day-to-day basis. I was critical of this teaching style because I thought: how is it possible to have a lesson when so many students are clearly disengaged? In hindsight, this critique was unjustified because I hadn’t been responsible for that class before and I didn’t know what it felt like to wrestle with a group of students who were anticipating summer and getting bored with school. I think my CT allowed phones in the classroom because it wasn’t the hill that she was willing to die on. She wanted to move the class forward and focus on managing behaviour and safety before managing phone use.
When I became the classroom teacher, I did find it difficult to manage phones because of how students were accustomed to behaving in that class. I think I only confiscated one or two phones during the four weeklong practicum, and I found it very difficult to do so. I wouldn’t want my personal device to be taken away from me; but I’ve noticed that I have a habit of treating students like adults. I’ve learned that they do need help with self-regulation, and I am in a position of authority that sometimes has to set boundaries for students that they are unable to set for themselves. I know I feel separation anxiety from my phone when I forget it somewhere or consciously leave it behind. School is a healthy place for me because I’m forced to have distance from my phone and frankly what I’m doing in the present is more important than anything on the phone to begin with. I hope I can help students see that as well. I want to convince students that they can live without their phones for the time I have with them and that they will have healthier and happier brains because of it.
On one of my very last days of practicum, I observed a math teacher across the hall teaching Math 8 in Period 1. I watched in awe as students tuned in to the lesson and didn’t dare use their cell phones. They were being introduced to the concept of volume using building blocks and guided exploration. It wasn’t until the very end that a couple of students who were packing up to leave checked their phone for the time or maybe to see if they had any messages. I was shocked at how well-behaved the group was and so immediately I asked the classroom teacher why students weren’t on their phones. She turned to a student who was still packing up and hadn’t left yet. She asked the student: why don’t students use phones in my class? The student said that they wouldn’t dare take out their phone during class because not only would the teacher take their phone for the duration of class; they would often take their phone for the duration of the day and have the student retrieve their phone from the principal’s office. She said it didn’t take students very long to stop using phones in her class when she implemented this policy with them at the beginning of the semester I admire this teacher’s dedication to her classroom rule, and I really saw the benefit of students being focused during the lesson. I loved the outcome of students being able to focus on the activity at hand and communicating with their classmates in-person. I didn’t get a chance to ask the teacher how difficult it was to implement this policy; I imagine there was a lot of pushback, frustration, and teen angst in the beginning. However, I think, depending on the classes I receive for my final practicum, I would consider using this strategy to address my inquiry question.
