Yondr pouch pilot program at some MS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher on lunch break:

OMG THE NO CELL PHONES THING IS AMAZING! For the first time in YEARS kids are talking to each other. They are introducing themselves, willingly playing my silly ice breakers, fully engaging with their peers.

If you haven't been in a classroom recently, you have no idea how much they've taken over and how little footing we had to restrict them. Today felt like when I started 20 years ago.

So did teacher post this from her phone while watching kids?

Right? That's how you know it's a troll. I will be curious to hear how the day went though. Hopefully parents and teachers can report back this afternoon.

I'm not a troll. I'm a middle school teacher on cloud 9 that my students might actually interact with each other this year. It seriously is a magic bullet to remove the phones from the realm of possibility. One child had a phone snuck on her lap during one class today (quickly dealt with by admin), but every other kid followed the procedure and it was amazing.

All of the staff is smiling and positive. After first period we all were wide eyed in the hallway about how smooth it all went. Kids were acting like kids again, not screen zombies.

It remains to be seen if laptops will just replace phones (our students don't have computers yet this year), but we are all so optimistic.

Yep, people loving “no screens” so kids won’t use phones to message friends, but then the school gives kids computers so they can message each other all day long.

The county also has the new resource "lightspeed" to address this issue. As parents, you can create an account to see your child's online history at school (including youtube videos). Teachers have the ability to manage their classrooms, see what tabs/content students are viewing during class, and place limits. This is an excellent new resource and initiative! The county is doing what they can. I am very thankful for lightspeed and for the phone pouches! Thank you FCPS. And the governer for this new law!

Lightspeed was available last year.

Not everywhere. We were introduced to it yesterday and it’s a game changer. You can see what tabs kids have open (and close them), if they’re on a game or other website, you can push the link to force their screen back to where they should be. You can lock and unlock their screens to redirect attention if needed . You can also create block lists, so anytime they’re on devices in my class (which is rarely), the games sites/youtube/instagram (where they will try to chat since phones will be in the classroom storage) WILL be blocked.

Yawn. Just think - if the county never issued 1:1 laptops this would never even be an issue.

I have repeatedly said I am absolutely fine with the idea of pulling their devices and going back to a laptop cart for when they need to use them for writing . Until/unless that happens, banning phones and using lightspeed to block them from doing stupid stuff during class will work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher on lunch break:

OMG THE NO CELL PHONES THING IS AMAZING! For the first time in YEARS kids are talking to each other. They are introducing themselves, willingly playing my silly ice breakers, fully engaging with their peers.

If you haven't been in a classroom recently, you have no idea how much they've taken over and how little footing we had to restrict them. Today felt like when I started 20 years ago.

So did teacher post this from her phone while watching kids?

Right? That's how you know it's a troll. I will be curious to hear how the day went though. Hopefully parents and teachers can report back this afternoon.

I'm not a troll. I'm a middle school teacher on cloud 9 that my students might actually interact with each other this year. It seriously is a magic bullet to remove the phones from the realm of possibility. One child had a phone snuck on her lap during one class today (quickly dealt with by admin), but every other kid followed the procedure and it was amazing.

All of the staff is smiling and positive. After first period we all were wide eyed in the hallway about how smooth it all went. Kids were acting like kids again, not screen zombies.

It remains to be seen if laptops will just replace phones (our students don't have computers yet this year), but we are all so optimistic.

Yep, people loving “no screens” so kids won’t use phones to message friends, but then the school gives kids computers so they can message each other all day long.

The county also has the new resource "lightspeed" to address this issue. As parents, you can create an account to see your child's online history at school (including youtube videos). Teachers have the ability to manage their classrooms, see what tabs/content students are viewing during class, and place limits. This is an excellent new resource and initiative! The county is doing what they can. I am very thankful for lightspeed and for the phone pouches! Thank you FCPS. And the governer for this new law!

How does that work with kids who byod? FCPS allows it https://www.fcps.edu/services/technology/technology-programs/bring-your-own-device-byod and good luck getting something like lightspeed to work on a mac that you don't have administrator rights on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher on lunch break:

OMG THE NO CELL PHONES THING IS AMAZING! For the first time in YEARS kids are talking to each other. They are introducing themselves, willingly playing my silly ice breakers, fully engaging with their peers.

If you haven't been in a classroom recently, you have no idea how much they've taken over and how little footing we had to restrict them. Today felt like when I started 20 years ago.

So did teacher post this from her phone while watching kids?

Right? That's how you know it's a troll. I will be curious to hear how the day went though. Hopefully parents and teachers can report back this afternoon.

I'm not a troll. I'm a middle school teacher on cloud 9 that my students might actually interact with each other this year. It seriously is a magic bullet to remove the phones from the realm of possibility. One child had a phone snuck on her lap during one class today (quickly dealt with by admin), but every other kid followed the procedure and it was amazing.

All of the staff is smiling and positive. After first period we all were wide eyed in the hallway about how smooth it all went. Kids were acting like kids again, not screen zombies.

It remains to be seen if laptops will just replace phones (our students don't have computers yet this year), but we are all so optimistic.

Yep, people loving “no screens” so kids won’t use phones to message friends, but then the school gives kids computers so they can message each other all day long.

The county also has the new resource "lightspeed" to address this issue. As parents, you can create an account to see your child's online history at school (including youtube videos). Teachers have the ability to manage their classrooms, see what tabs/content students are viewing during class, and place limits. This is an excellent new resource and initiative! The county is doing what they can. I am very thankful for lightspeed and for the phone pouches! Thank you FCPS. And the governer for this new law!

How does that work with kids who byod? FCPS allows it https://www.fcps.edu/services/technology/technology-programs/bring-your-own-device-byod and good luck getting something like lightspeed to work on a mac that you don't have administrator rights on

In my classroom if the device is being used for an assessment (test, in class essay, etc) they are only allowed to use the school issued device. If they don't bring it, they can go to tech and get a loaner, or they can get a zero. The rest of the time I don't care--if you want to be on youtube when you're supposed to be revising your essay or utilizing desmos, that's a you problem. You are 17 and need to learn choices have natural consequences.

But in reality it's only 1-2 kids per year (out of 150ish) who BYOD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS parent here. Not part of the pouch program but the school was very serious about stating the new rules and letting the kids know the consequences. Love it and love that my kids are grumbling. They need to understand that they don’t get to run the show anymore. As a GEN-X kid who was terrified of letting my parents know if I got detention, I’m so glad they are bringing that back.

I asked my 2024 grad about it when Youngkin instituted the ban.

After the initial grumbling, he said banning cell phones is actually great idea. His reasonings was that so many kids are very addicted to phones. He also said that when phones are away, the kids socialize more and the class lessons/discussions are more robust and fun. He used chem labs and music class as examples. The phones are completely away for those two things, and the students are more interactive and engaged. He also said that having social media so accessible all the time seems to create a lot more drama and bullying/tears between the girls.

The final thng he mentioned was that he hoped it would make school more like school in the 80s and 90s teen flicks and TV shows, where everyone looks like they are talking to each other all the time instead of just looking at screens.

After the complaining and arguing wore off, my younger high school daughter agreed with everything he said. Both of them saw more positives to the ban than negatives, although both felt the pouches in high school specifically might be overkill.

I bet if you talk your teen past the grumbling, they will state something similar to mine.

[Anonymous]

We have a kid in MS where they will have the pouches. Overall I support the policy and idea of kids not being glues to their phones at school. I hope it leads to kid interacting with one another more.

My only concern is the unlocking of the pouches. Out school will have what seems like a very small number of unlocking stations for 1500 kids. I trust they will figure it out. We did purchase a strong fishing magnet to keep at home in case our kid forgets to inlock it.

The only parents I know who are against it or plan on teaching their kids that rules don't apply to them by giving them a dummy phone to lock away are the ones who have very lax parenting overall, for example, allow kids to stay up all night on their phones with no restrictions. Then there are the high anxiety one. My one friend is so high anxiety she need to check in with her kids multiple times a day and had played out every possible doomsday scenario where he kid will need a phone accessible 24-7.

[Anonymous]

My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

I don't think the pouches are necessarily the best idea but they solve the problem of banning phones from first bell to last bell, unlike the hanging-door-shoe-racks which our high school is doing now. That allows (by design) phones during passing periods and lunch.

Fwiw, a better idea I've heard is that, for those high schools with metal detectors, putting cell phone lockers immediately inside the building before the metal detectors. The students enter the building, lock up their phone for the day, go through the metal detectors, and go to class. For those high schools in Fairfax without metal detectors, installing cell phone lockers inside the front door would be feasible but will require actual (slight) changes to the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

I don't think the pouches are necessarily the best idea but they solve the problem of banning phones from first bell to last bell, unlike the hanging-door-shoe-racks which our high school is doing now. That allows (by design) phones during passing periods and lunch.

Fwiw, a better idea I've heard is that, for those high schools with metal detectors, putting cell phone lockers immediately inside the building before the metal detectors. The students enter the building, lock up their phone for the day, go through the metal detectors, and go to class. For those high schools in Fairfax without metal detectors, installing cell phone lockers inside the front door would be feasible but will require actual (slight) changes to the building.

I know of no high school in Fairfax County with metal detectors and doubt they exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

I don't think the pouches are necessarily the best idea but they solve the problem of banning phones from first bell to last bell, unlike the hanging-door-shoe-racks which our high school is doing now. That allows (by design) phones during passing periods and lunch.

Fwiw, a better idea I've heard is that, for those high schools with metal detectors, putting cell phone lockers immediately inside the building before the metal detectors. The students enter the building, lock up their phone for the day, go through the metal detectors, and go to class. For those high schools in Fairfax without metal detectors, installing cell phone lockers inside the front door would be feasible but will require actual (slight) changes to the building.

I know of no high school in Fairfax County with metal detectors and doubt they exist.

There are metal detectors coming to Fairfax County but I specifically meant other local non-FCPS high schools with metal detectors and phone bans, including DCPS. Do you have an opinion on cell phone lockers at the doors of buildings? Do you think that's a better or worse idea than the pouches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher on lunch break:

OMG THE NO CELL PHONES THING IS AMAZING! For the first time in YEARS kids are talking to each other. They are introducing themselves, willingly playing my silly ice breakers, fully engaging with their peers.

If you haven't been in a classroom recently, you have no idea how much they've taken over and how little footing we had to restrict them. Today felt like when I started 20 years ago.

So did teacher post this from her phone while watching kids?

Right? That's how you know it's a troll. I will be curious to hear how the day went though. Hopefully parents and teachers can report back this afternoon.

I'm not a troll. I'm a middle school teacher on cloud 9 that my students might actually interact with each other this year. It seriously is a magic bullet to remove the phones from the realm of possibility. One child had a phone snuck on her lap during one class today (quickly dealt with by admin), but every other kid followed the procedure and it was amazing.

All of the staff is smiling and positive. After first period we all were wide eyed in the hallway about how smooth it all went. Kids were acting like kids again, not screen zombies.

It remains to be seen if laptops will just replace phones (our students don't have computers yet this year), but we are all so optimistic.

Yep, people loving “no screens” so kids won’t use phones to message friends, but then the school gives kids computers so they can message each other all day long.

The county also has the new resource "lightspeed" to address this issue. As parents, you can create an account to see your child's online history at school (including youtube videos). Teachers have the ability to manage their classrooms, see what tabs/content students are viewing during class, and place limits. This is an excellent new resource and initiative! The county is doing what they can. I am very thankful for lightspeed and for the phone pouches! Thank you FCPS. And the governer for this new law!

How does that work with kids who byod? FCPS allows it https://www.fcps.edu/services/technology/technology-programs/bring-your-own-device-byod and good luck getting something like lightspeed to work on a mac that you don't have administrator rights on

A Mac is considered a phone- now subject to the device use policy. They have to use student issued Chromebook for assessments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oakton HS parent here. Not part of the pouch program but the school was very serious about stating the new rules and letting the kids know the consequences. Love it and love that my kids are grumbling. They need to understand that they don’t get to run the show anymore. As a GEN-X kid who was terrified of letting my parents know if I got detention, I’m so glad they are bringing that back.

Future Oakton parent here - happy to hear this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher on lunch break:

OMG THE NO CELL PHONES THING IS AMAZING! For the first time in YEARS kids are talking to each other. They are introducing themselves, willingly playing my silly ice breakers, fully engaging with their peers.

If you haven't been in a classroom recently, you have no idea how much they've taken over and how little footing we had to restrict them. Today felt like when I started 20 years ago.

So did teacher post this from her phone while watching kids?

Right? That's how you know it's a troll. I will be curious to hear how the day went though. Hopefully parents and teachers can report back this afternoon.

I'm not a troll. I'm a middle school teacher on cloud 9 that my students might actually interact with each other this year. It seriously is a magic bullet to remove the phones from the realm of possibility. One child had a phone snuck on her lap during one class today (quickly dealt with by admin), but every other kid followed the procedure and it was amazing.

All of the staff is smiling and positive. After first period we all were wide eyed in the hallway about how smooth it all went. Kids were acting like kids again, not screen zombies.

It remains to be seen if laptops will just replace phones (our students don't have computers yet this year), but we are all so optimistic.

Yep, people loving “no screens” so kids won’t use phones to message friends, but then the school gives kids computers so they can message each other all day long.

The county also has the new resource "lightspeed" to address this issue. As parents, you can create an account to see your child's online history at school (including youtube videos). Teachers have the ability to manage their classrooms, see what tabs/content students are viewing during class, and place limits. This is an excellent new resource and initiative! The county is doing what they can. I am very thankful for lightspeed and for the phone pouches! Thank you FCPS. And the governer for this new law!

Lightspeed was available last year.

Not everywhere. We were introduced to it yesterday and it’s a game changer. You can see what tabs kids have open (and close them), if they’re on a game or other website, you can push the link to force their screen back to where they should be. You can lock and unlock their screens to redirect attention if needed . You can also create block lists, so anytime they’re on devices in my class (which is rarely), the games sites/youtube/instagram (where they will try to chat since phones will be in the classroom storage) WILL be blocked.

Thank you for using LightSpeed as a teacher!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

I don't think the pouches are necessarily the best idea but they solve the problem of banning phones from first bell to last bell, unlike the hanging-door-shoe-racks which our high school is doing now. That allows (by design) phones during passing periods and lunch.

Fwiw, a better idea I've heard is that, for those high schools with metal detectors, putting cell phone lockers immediately inside the building before the metal detectors. The students enter the building, lock up their phone for the day, go through the metal detectors, and go to class. For those high schools in Fairfax without metal detectors, installing cell phone lockers inside the front door would be feasible but will require actual (slight) changes to the building.

I know of no high school in Fairfax County with metal detectors and doubt they exist.

There are metal detectors coming to Fairfax County but I specifically meant other local non-FCPS high schools with metal detectors and phone bans, including DCPS. Do you have an opinion on cell phone lockers at the doors of buildings? Do you think that's a better or worse idea than the pouches?

Worse. Bc someone can break into the locker and steal it. And hordes of kids trying to get into these storage lockers at dismissal by the entrance is a terrible idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

I don't think the pouches are necessarily the best idea but they solve the problem of banning phones from first bell to last bell, unlike the hanging-door-shoe-racks which our high school is doing now. That allows (by design) phones during passing periods and lunch.

Fwiw, a better idea I've heard is that, for those high schools with metal detectors, putting cell phone lockers immediately inside the building before the metal detectors. The students enter the building, lock up their phone for the day, go through the metal detectors, and go to class. For those high schools in Fairfax without metal detectors, installing cell phone lockers inside the front door would be feasible but will require actual (slight) changes to the building.

That is a terrible idea.

I support no phones out in school, and would punish my teens at home if they get in trouble for having them out.

But I want my kids' phones on their persons in the event there is a true emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My hope is that schools that do NOT have pouches actually implement and actually do consequences for phone use- that is what have not seen yet in schools so now with governor directive to fall back on, hopefully schools will give consequences and can see whether or not need pouches. I feel the pouches were a fix that someone threw out and it was jumped on before any actual attempt to say no with consequences happened.

I don't think the pouches are necessarily the best idea but they solve the problem of banning phones from first bell to last bell, unlike the hanging-door-shoe-racks which our high school is doing now. That allows (by design) phones during passing periods and lunch.

Fwiw, a better idea I've heard is that, for those high schools with metal detectors, putting cell phone lockers immediately inside the building before the metal detectors. The students enter the building, lock up their phone for the day, go through the metal detectors, and go to class. For those high schools in Fairfax without metal detectors, installing cell phone lockers inside the front door would be feasible but will require actual (slight) changes to the building.

I know of no high school in Fairfax County with metal detectors and doubt they exist.

There are metal detectors coming to Fairfax County but I specifically meant other local non-FCPS high schools with metal detectors and phone bans, including DCPS. Do you have an opinion on cell phone lockers at the doors of buildings? Do you think that's a better or worse idea than the pouches?

Horrible idea