My apologies to anyone offended by my post. As I said in that post, here in the UK, or at least the part where I live, no staff are allowed their personal phones in school during school times, they must be kept in a locker or somewhere else secure, and can be checked in the staff room during breaks. It is a safeguarding issue due to almost every phone now having a camera. Then again, we aren't allowed to keep guns in our homes that could be brought into school by our 6yr olds, so we wouldn't need personal cell phones to call LE to report an active shooter.
There shouldn't be a need to check weather alerts on a personal phone whilst teaching a class, I'm pretty certainly the office could let you know if there was an urgent weather warning.
Other examples were given in posts here, some I can understand, others not so much, but my confusion was based on what I said, we aren't allowed phones in our classrooms, or even in the kitchens where I worked, and I didn't realise that it was common place in the US to have them. For the majority of examples given, our teachers have walkie talkies to communicate with eachother and the office.
<modsnip> ... It was a question. I specifically said AZ and indeed the whole class, and anyone else that had ever been hurt due to this child's emotionally driven violence, absolutely did not deserve what happened that day. I also didn't say that AZ caused this, I merely tried to point out the motivation from the child's perspective, which I haven't seen many here try to understand. Reasons, not excuses.
The tech level you are describing is 15-20 years old, in Texas. I observe in classrooms all over the state and have worked in education for over 35 years.
While tech availability and use is very different from school to school, it is used everywhere. More and more teachers are mandated to carry a device with them all day long.
Tasks once done by paper and pencil, PA system, phone, email, are now often done quietly without class interruption using a phone.
Attendance now takes less than 5 min. Years ago it took about two hours before all children on a campus were signed in.
During covid teachers communicated with parents during the day using pictures of their kids. Pics of student work, student digital work are now part of portfolios which are visible to parents and teachers. These follow kids if they change schools.
iPADs are being used In some Kindergartens, in some schools each child is issued an iPAD for using at school in 3rd grade. There is no assumption the kids are goofing off because they have a device. And- they are entrusted to take pictures or videos of classmates And record each other’s voices, as they create slide shows and presentations.
Tech has come a long way in the past 15 years, and covid pushed it forward faster.
What seems a big difference is the level of trust. The only reason an admin would demand teachers lock up their phones is a lack of trust. What I’m seeing here is admin who are tech savvy who trust their teachers. We must realize that anything a teacher can do on a computer- can also be done on a mobile device.
Teachers are no longer stuck behind their desks to tend to work, or at the board, or at the overhead projector.
Now they can walk around the room interacting with students, while they teach math using an iPAD that displays on a screen.
Yes there are some places where cell phones must be locked up- those working with classified docs.
It is silly to think adults who choose to teach cannot be trusted, employees all over the world go to work and carry their cell phones in their pockets.
Education must meet technology where it is, of all places Education should not be decades behind when it comes to technology. Yes, safe, private, and secure, but not behind.
JMO
Whatever you want to call it (or not call it)... safety in the school as a work place was at least recognized in Virginia (and OSHA approved this). I still have hope that someone, somewhere has some impact... even if you don't.
