APS - teachers on cell phones?

[Anonymous]

curious what is acceptable for APS teachers being on their cell phones during class? My child has reported a particular teacher as "always being on their phone" - curious what is the norm/expected/accepted before i decide whether to raise it up.

[Anonymous]

Are you going to tell the teacher "my DD says you are always on your phone?"

You realize kids exaggerate? Maybe she had a sick child or a family emergency that day?

What is your desired outcome?

[Anonymous]

Need more context. Are they on their phone at their desk while the students are busy doing independent/group work? Do they have young children or elderly parents that may need attending to? OR: are they sitting there on their phone in front of the class while lecturing or using valuable teaching time to go on it?

Also, as said, kids exaggerate or say things tongue-in-cheek. Inquire further with your kid. If they feel that they are losing valuable class time because of their teacher's cell phone habits, I might raise the issue with someone. Otherwise, if all else seems fine, I wouldn't do anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:curious what is acceptable for APS teachers being on their cell phones during class? My child has reported a particular teacher as "always being on their phone" - curious what is the norm/expected/accepted before i decide whether to raise it up.

You don't raise it up. It's not your job to police the teacher. Don't be "that" parent.

[Anonymous]

Teachers vary widely - impossible to say what's really going on here based on that info.

I use my phone a lot as a teacher because we do most of our DIBELS and TRC assessments via our phones, on an app. I also use it for music cues for routines throughout the day. I also use it as a stopwatch to time various fluency activities. Sometimes my assistant, principal, vice principal or someone else from school texts me an important message. We also get security alerts on our phone, such as lockdowns. So yes, I suppose it could seem that my phone is out a lot but there are valid reasons.

[Anonymous]

My son's third grade teacher was on her phone a lot for a little while. It turned out her mother was in hospice and died. I'd leave it alone. there is probably a good reason.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

NP, for me it would depend on the context. If the teacher is on her phone reading/typing (as opposed to talking) while the kids are taking a test or otherwise working independently, I wouldn't make a fuss because for all I know, she's taking advantage of those quiet minutes to respond to parent emails or other work-related things in a more timely manner than if she left it all until the end of the day. On the other hand, if the teacher were having personal conversations in the classroom for everyone to hear and/or was interrupting instruction to respond to every ding from her phone, I would reach out to the administration about that.

[Anonymous]

We have laptops for communication. Cell phones should be put away. It's becoming a huge problem in schools.

[Anonymous]

I would tell my kid to mind his own business.

[Anonymous]

I would do nothing. Sometimes my cell phone is out but most of the time I am using it to check my email for work while the students are taking a test or completing an activity since my old laptop freezes often. To be fair, I’m in a high school and this isn’t nearly the issue it appears to be in elementary school. Students occasionally have them out texting or listening to music and it is fine. They are not taboo for anyone anymore and really not an issue or distraction for most kids or teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's third grade teacher was on her phone a lot for a little while. It turned out her mother was in hospice and died. I'd leave it alone. there is probably a good reason.

+100

Going through something similar and my phone does not leave my side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have laptops for communication. Cell phones should be put away. It's becoming a huge problem in schools.

Yup.
- teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

Nothing but tell my child to have some goddamn respect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

It might depend on the "issues" that have resulted as a result of the phone use. Most likely I would do nothing unless I had personally witnessed the teacher on her cell phone while students were neglected. As many PPs have noted there may be legitimate reasons for her to be on her phone.

That being said, I work in a school and rarely use my cell phone. I depend more on email for communication and always leave the main office number in case of emergency if my family needs me, I know the secretary will find me if there is truly an emergency. (I do not abuse this or have people call the school to do things like confirm appointments,just truly for emergencies.)

If you are really curious about the policy, you could inquire with the school w/o making any accusations... but again, not sure what the benefit of doing this is. Are you looking to get the teacher in trouble? Seek change to the policy if it is not to your liking? Improve safety of kids?