She wouldn’t silence her phone. So I gave her 3 truths.
Since I started teaching a dozen years ago, I’ve never allowed students to use technology in my classroom. As my syllabus explains, “Studies show that students learn better when they take notes by hand. Other studies show that students’ laptop use in a classroom negatively affects their peers’ learning.”
To make sure students read the syllabus, their first homework assignment is to write a formal email to me with a question or comment about it.
Yet something interesting happened last semester that I want to comment on now: During the first class, I caught a student checking her phone. I reminded her that I don’t allow phones in the classroom; she said she was “just checking notifications.”
I later spoke with the student privately, and instead of acknowledging that she had broken the rules that everyone else was following, she tried to rationalize her behavior. She said she would not silence her phone because of a possible and ongoing emergency.
Is it me, or are students becoming ever-more entitled and argumentative?
Here’s what I told Mrs. Notifications:
1️⃣ If you have an emergency, as we all do from time to time, then tell me in advance, and I’ll gladly make an exception for you.
But please note: An emergency, by definition, is irregular. It’s not ongoing.
2️⃣ What you’re describing sounds like something that would benefit from an academic accommodation. In that case, as the syllabus says, please seek a letter from the Accessibility and Disability Office. They’re qualified to evaluate these situations; I am not.
3️⃣ If you’re unable to give your undivided attention to a class that meets once a week, then you should rethink your priorities.
