When I was in high school, there was a very strict no cell phone policy. If you were caught with one that wasn't in your locker, you were issued a violation. After three "cell phone offenses," you were required to turn in your phone to the office every morning for the remainder of the year. As high school students who seemed to have their phones glued to their hands at all times, that seemed pretty harsh.
Knowing that I will be in a position where I will have to enforce some type of cell phone policy, I have been thinking about their role in my classroom. Part of me says that they should always be turned off because the students need to be focused on the task at hand and not texting people across the room or scrolling through Faceboook/Twitter/Pinterest etc. However, cell phones are a reality in our schools today, so another part of me wants to embrace them and put them to use. Plus, how many students expect their teachers to tell them to take out their cell phones for a lesson? That in and of itself is engaging. Smart phones offer endless possibilities for classroom activities that have the potential to be extremely beneficial. Therefore, while there is a time and place for everything, I don't think having cell phones in the classroom is always a bad thing.
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