School Bans Uggs

The funny thing about this is that the school actually thinks them doing this is going to prevent the kids from communicating in class. I've been through the communication timeline in school, the latest was through school given email addresses on school issued laptops, before it was facebook im, before that skype im, before that texting in class since I was in 7th grade, before that I was passing around a notebook like we were sharing notes, and before that it was the classic piece of paper. As a college freshman who wants to teach high school I know that some kids will just text because they know there isn't a thing the school can do to stop them. Honestly, they could take every single phone away before the students enter class, and guess what, the students will still communicate during instruction.

I guess the purpose is for the school district to say they've done something about it and didn't ignore it.

By the way, I've also been in classes where every student knows not to text just because of the teacher's mentality.

Well.......they are some very ugly shoes. I could see banning them for that but like Junior5 is saying - they are going to do it anyway. I've never understood a zero tolerance policy in this regard. You're creating a no win situation because now instead of teaching you're becoming the cellphone police.

The best thing to do as a teacher is give them guidelines that allows both sides some freedom. I tell my kids when I'm lecturing or discussing somethin then they cannot have the cellphones or Ipods out. But when we are doing work I don't care if they have smart phones out and using them for research. Now if they have them out for that and they get a text they can answer it as long as the texting doesn't get so frequent that they stop working. I'm not going to stand over them and monitor if they are doing research or texting at some point they have to turn the work in for a grade.

It's amazing how few problems I have with texting. When they are working I sit back and just watch how they actually do the work instead of spending their time texting. I see them texting and then they get back to work or they will see they got a message but wait to answer it until they finish with a question. Yeah I have a few problem kids who spend more time texting than working but once I say something to them they get back at it. All you have to do is watch them for a few minutes and you can see what they are doing by their body language. I'm sure there are some who text when I'm leading the instruction but if they can do it without me seeing it then more power to them. I'm not going to sweat it

Don't fight a battle you can't win. Come up with something that can turn it into a win / win situation. The kids will follow it if they have some freedom.

coach2709,
And i bet you get better results than the teachers who find it necessary to have a zero tolerance policy.

You're right - I will be in the teacher's lounge and hear all these teachers complaining about having to spend so much time policing this. I tell them what I do and they come back with we're not supposed to let them have them. Our school has a zero tolerance policy in the classroom but between classes it's cool. I typically get the worst kids when it comes to behavior because I'm a pretty big boy and can control a classroom. So while I'm not following the rules I build up some leniency with the administration because A) they don't have to worry about those kids for an hour and a half, B) my test scores are really good and C) I do my job.

My principal observed me a couple of months ago and I didn't hide it at all. When I transitioned to a group activity I told them to use their phones to reasearch information (we have a shortage of books too). She actually wrote in my observation a great comment about using technology in the classroom.

I wish common sense would come back into education.

Yeah, sometimes teachers think that the kids who have issues with behavior need to be beaten over the head with extra rules and that isn't always the case. Give known boundaries and a solid work environment and things usually workout.

I recently went to a D3 state rivalry football game. One, because it was a beautiful Saturday, and two, it was free, which was a nice change from the $50/per ticket at my spouse's ACC school. What I noticed was that ALL the young female visitors wore boots (plus some moms)....UGGS, cowboy, nice leather, whatever, but ALL of them wore boots. Several of the parents made comments. I am a parent of 2 boys, so it was something I really noticed since I don't have to purchase that type of footware. When I got to work on Monday, I mentioned this to my boss who has 3 girls, and she replied that they all wear boots to hide their flask! Maybe the contraband is not of the commincating type!

flasks fit into cowboy boots.

son had his phone taken away once. he had loaned it briefly to a friend who was talking to his mom. The mom went to the school and retrieved it for me, and told me whole story - her son had left some baseball equipment at home and was calling between classes. That was his freshman year, and seems like the policy lightened up afterwards.

I think coach's solution is perfect. besides if they are using smart phones and his is a first class, the battery will be dead by the afternoon!

Looks like the principal got some tips from TSA on futile symbolic gestures. Oh yeah, this should solve the problem. I'm sure there's NOWHERE else a student could hide a phone.

Coach2709,
You'd better be careful with using common sense in the classroom and treating students as if they have human dignity. They might start expecting it in their future educational and employment situtations.

Our school hasn't seen the flask in the boots yet but doesn't mean they aren't doing it. Some kid will do something dumb or brag to the wrong person and we'll see it. But when it comes to drinking the school HAS to do something so which is best - banning the shoes or doing some type of search of the student? Now the cell phone deal is not real smart on the school's part.

Swampboy I don't know what to tell you. I know I'm setting these kids up for failure by doing stuff like that but I'm one of those terrible teachers who actually like having a smooth running classroom.

I do tell my kids I'm that weird teacher who doesn't have a list of 57 rules on the wall somewhere. I have one rule - if you want me to treat you as an adult then you better act like an adult. If not then I will treat you like third graders.

I had a class last semester that just couldn't quite grasp this concept so I told them I was sending them back to third grade. As soon as they walked in they gave me their phones and Ipods (got them back as they left the room), couldn't speak unless they raise their hand, when it was time to get books off the shelf I had them line up by row and walk quietly to the shelf and back without speaking. I even talked / taught them as if they were in third grade. After a week they got the message and didn't have any problems after that.

Why is any of this on a baseball board?

We have way more "hoodie texters" than boot texters. Those pockets are built for textaholics!

I am lucky to work at a school that does not pass those zero tolerance policies every other week.

What's funny is somewhere in that school this week the kids in English classes will be reading stories about ridiculous rules and how that just doesn't work. (ie Harrison Bergeron, A&P, et al)

quote:

Originally posted by jemaz:
Why is any of this on a baseball board?

It's January.

I had a teacher in high school who kept a plastic container sitting next to his desk which was by the door. On the way in, the girls had to deposit their purses there. On the way out, they grabbed their purses.

This cut down on a lot of texting in class and he didn't have to do nearly as much "policing."


As far as banning footwear, I wish schools would ban flip flops! We had a female patient in the clinic last fall who was complaining one day because her school had banned flip flops and she was looking for sympathy. Funny thing is she didn't get it from us! We were constantly on her about how she needed to wear tennis shoes to therapy...

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog 19:
As far as banning footwear, I wish schools would ban flip flops!

I wish the world would ban tevas for guys.

I have zero tolerance and zero problems. In fact, caught my first one today. No one could believe that she pulled her cellphone out. I am active in the class and move around as I teach. I might mention that I teach in the State of Illinois. We no longer have tenure. Failure to follow school policy as established by the school board will get you out the door real fast.

As an FYI, when we now have our evaluations, few "excellents" will be awarded. The next category is "proficient." If a teacher gets "proficient" then their name goes in to a file that makes that teacher eligiable for being released if we have a RIF situation. (RIF = Reduction in Force) If you get an "excellent" then you are safe for those two years as well as two "proficient" years. Then, if you fail to get an "excellent" again, you can be RIFed. We will have a RIF situation this April where teachers will be told that they won't have a job next school year. Failure to follow school board policy will get you "proficient" automatically. I just received an excellent last week and so, I'm safe for awhile. (2 years for evaluation and two years per next evaluation)