Hanging Cell Phone Caddy
Carrie Church (Science) & Kari Seitz (Math), SC High School
Hanging Cell Phone Caddy
When observing Carrie Church's Biology class (mostly 9th grade students) and Kari Seitz's Algebra 2A class (mostly 11 & 12 grade students), I saw an amazing routine which both of them do to stop the continuous distraction and interruption student cell phones have on student learning.
Carrie and Kari both use Cell Phone Caddy's (similar to Calculator Caddy's) hanging at the front of the room to hold every student's cell phone during the entire hour of class time.
- At the beginning of the hour, during their class's Start-Up Routine, Carrie and Kari require each student to insert their cell phones in the caddy.
- At the beginning of the year, both teachers assigned each student an individual number that corresponds to one of the slips in the Cell Phone Caddy. So, after taking attendance during their Start-Up Routines, Carrie and Kari, then go over to the Cell Phone Caddy and take inventory of all the student cell phones. If there is an empty slip in the caddy, they will cross-reference the number with the student to make sure that student is absent that day. If the student is not absent and is actually in class, Carrie and Kari will remind the student to come up and insert their cell phone.
- At the end of the hour, Carrie and Kari verbally initiated their Closing Routines and all the students got up from their desks, retrieved their cell phones from the Cell Phone Caddy, and then prepared to leave class.
During both observations, Carrie and Kari didn't have any issues of students refusing to turn in their cell phones or getting upset at the routine. Why was this so successful and didn't cause any disruptions or confrontations? (because we all know our students can barely live and breath without their cell phones) It was because, Kari and Carrie:
- Were very deliberate in setting up, practicing, and reinforcing this routine.
- Were very detained and thorough in setting up this expectation and classroom norm with the students and communicating it to the parents and building administrators. Because they had everyone one the same page and understanding the reasons behind the expectation and norm, everyone supported each other to limit the amount of pushback from students.
- Kari actually added an incentive to having student turn in their cell phones by setting up a cell phone charging station next to her Cell Phone Caddy. (See Picture) When the students inserted their cell phones into the slips during the Start-Up Routines, many also brought up their own charging cord and connected their phones to the Kari's charging blocks in the power strip hanging on the wall.
If you're saying "this won't for work for my kids", "I can't do this in my classroom", or even "my students wouldn't like this", you're wrong. I've talked to students about this and they appreciate the "break" from their cell phones and the opportunity to "concentrate" on their lesson without that distraction. This year in Brighton Area Schools, the district actually purchased every teacher (in every one of their buildings) one of these Cell Phone Caddy's and made this a mandatory routine for all students and teachers. It has been very successful and has turned my own daughter into one of the supporters of this classroom norm.