New school year, New phone policies
The new school year at Kilbourne has come with many changes for both new and returning students, one of the most obvious being the new phone policies. Students may now notice signs posted in all of their classrooms with indicators that display how much they are permitted to be on their devices. The level of phone usage can vary by teacher, subject, and what sort of learning is going on in the classroom on a day to day basis. This policy was introduced just before the school year started, and the administration requested that it be implemented in every classroom.
“The goal…was to make sure that everybody was uniform in their approach to it,” says Señora Duffin, a strong advocate for the new rules. The language department, Duffin included, brainstormed and came up with the idea for the hanging phone holders that have now become a popular choice from teachers. Many of the foreign language teachers have opted for this method in their own classrooms since.
Phone usage indicator is pictured at left.
In addition to the phone pockets that now grace the walls of Kilbourne, there are also signs that indicate what level of phone usage is appropriate for the given classroom. Most rooms are “red zones,” meaning no phone use unless specifically directed by the teacher.
Though it may seem obnoxious to surrender one's phone every day, teachers are expecting the new policies to have a positive effect on students. “It’s a useful classroom management tool, and it’s helping students to learn how things…work in the real world,” stated Mr. Cecutti, “...we’re hoping to teach students that there is a right and a wrong time to be on their phones because phones can distract both them and others from their learning.”
Overall, the goal with these new regulations is to teach discipline: many teachers mentioned that they believed the rules would give students a taste of what those policies would look like in a professional setting, and they hope to teach students more independence.
Phone pockets are shown in a Spanish classroom.
