Student Arrested For Classroom Texting – February 17, 2009

One of my twitter follower’s commented he thought this story was stupid:

Student Arrested For Classroom Texting – February 17, 2009

As a teacher I applaud it.   Here’s why.  I’ve been there.  I’ve been the teacher with a kid that wouldn’t behave and I believe it was handled exactly the way I would handle it.

a) kid is texting in my class

b) I tell kid to stop – they don’t – I ask for phone

c) I don’t get it, so I call security and have them deal with it

I finish teaching and no longer have problems with that child.  I have no idea what the consequences are because I’m no longer involved.

Now that sort of thing happened when I got the lovely position of teaching repeating Algebra I.  A special set of Algebra I classes for students who had failed it before.  Oh, and I had 30+ students in each class.  Blame Katrina for that part of the problem. 

That school year I held the record for the number of referrals.  Oh, and by the way I have the reputation of being a very strict and very good teacher.  I usually write less than 5 referrals a year.  I think I am at two now, and both times the kid walked out of the class on his own.

Here’s what happens now:

a) kid is texting in my class

b) I say: please put the consumer electronics away (avoids the not a cell phone argument).

c) kid puts it away and I get on with teaching.

Difference:  I am teaching Computer Science and my largest class in 28.

And by the way, I had the highest Classroom Effective Indexes in the school with the above group.