Everyday when I visit classrooms, most teachers are focused and engaged with the students. They are modeling eye contact, communication and verbal clarity. However the pull of the personal cell phone draws this attention away from their students and this habit is becoming all to pervasive. Some teachers spend more time taking pictures of the children to send to parents then actually engaging with the children in activities! One director described a story where a neighbor reported seeing a teacher walking outside with children and texting at the same time. Another one mentioned seeing a teacher texting while being oblivious to two children, under the table having an fight!
As a school director, what is your policy regarding cell phone use in the classroom? How do you enforce this? Here is what I believe should be a part of every pre k policy-
1. No cellphone use in the classroom for personal texting except during breaks.
2. Do not use a personal phone to take pictures as it could result in confidentiality issues. (NAEYC guidelines)
3. Discuss this issue with staff and make sure to outline the positive and negative results of using a cellphone in the classroom.
Show your staff this wonderful TED talk by educator Rita Pierson
“We’re educators. We’re born to make a difference.” – Rita F. Pierson
What are your school's policies?
No comments:
Post a Comment