If I was a teacher I would have reasonable rules for cell phone usage in class. My first rule would be that when there is a presenter or the lesson is important, no one should be on their phones. The phones are either facing down on the desk or out of sight. This is a nice and not very strict rule and most teachers at Consol have this policy. If a student were to break this rule in my class I would take the phone up and keep it at my desk for the rest of class, simple as that. Also when it is a test day or quiz day phones are to be in a backpack not on the student.
Another policy I would have is that the students are allowed to listen to music while note taking or doing classwork/homework with the exception that the must must be facing down. Many high schoolers listen to music in the halls and in the classroom. It would not bother me as a teacher if a student was listening to music as long as the music is not too loud and the student is not being disruptive. If I do see that this policy is affecting grades in way then obviously there would be change and the privilege to listen to music in class will not be allowed. I feel like these policies are fair and reasonable to the students and the teacher. As long as students respect the rules there should be no problem with phones throughout the school year.
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