If You Can't Beat 'Em...

Any teacher under the sun will tell you cell phones plus students can be a real pain.  You know they're going to try to use them every instant they can.  So why not get them to be productive with their electronic appendage?
Having taught for so many years at a school that never had technology available when I needed it (testing year round means a never available computer lab), I decided to take an innovative approach: Let my kiddos use the very thing I was trying to keep from them.
They have these mini computers at their fingertips and are constantly told to put them away.  I say, teach them how to use them for my own devices.
I preface having them do any electronic activity with a solid threat: If I see you using it inappropriately (texting, gaming, Facebook, whatever), you will lose the privilege. I also keep them on a strike system in which if I catch you texting during regular class time, you get a warning the first time, a call home the second, and a loss of privilege the third (everything gets done the old fashioned way).
Works like a charm.  They're just excited to do something different in a classroom, so they're game for anything I throw at them.  Don't know what a tank looks like and you wanted to add it to your poster? Google it!  Not sure about the source you wanted to cite?  Google it!
I also create whole lesson plans around using their phones.  Just make sure the kids have data plans and at least one person per group has a phone.  I just did a unit launch where the kids had to perform a digital scavenger hunt.  They used their phones to look up information about different aspects of the unit.  They loved it, were productive the entire time, and produced great results.
The big added bonus here is that my kids get to have the time on the phone that they want, so I don't have to combat the constant desire they have to pull them out of their bags.

In It To Win It

Watch as I use superhuman strength to mold young (and old) minds!

We're two weeks into the new school year and I've never been so overwhelmed by the task at hand.  I've been brought to a new school to help turn it around--to breathe new life into a school that's been laying stagnant in failure. I'm tasked with helping an English and Reading department that has seen dramatic learning decreases every year for the past four years.  The thing is, I see exactly where the issues are.  I see what isn't being done well.  That's the easy part. The herculean effort is getting people to change their teaching styles to suit the kids they teach.
I'm teaching old dogs new tricks and it is just as difficult as the old adage would have you believe.  It can be done though.
We're two weeks into the teaching year, but I've been working with these teachers for a couple weeks longer.  I'm starting to see a shift.
The problem was that they never taught anything in context, just in isolation.  Their students weren't seeing a connection between all the things they were being taught, so they weren't able to demonstrate knowledge from one assignment to another and certainly never on standardized tests.  This tends to make for pretty miserable kids and teachers.
After sending out my unit plans to my teams, I waited.  I knew they wouldn't immediately care what I was doing and nor should they, really.  But I knew they would see my kids coming to class excited about learning because they were getting cohesive, understandable instruction. Slowly but surely, I started to see teachers peeking in my door or talking with their former students.  Sometimes, they asked me outright what I was doing to get this response.  I told them.  They're starting to listen.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not the best teacher on the planet.  As with anyone, I know there is always room to grow. I am good though.  My data proves that.  My excited minds rushing to class prove that.  This is what I was born to do, so I am going to make sure I give it my all every day.  And if I can spread that around even a little bit, then I will do just that.