Starting Monday, your phones will be banned in the classroom. You’ve been given one of the pockets in the corner of our room as a holder for that phone:
Notes on the surrounding posters and handouts are in the next section. First, a complete list of assigned pocket numbers:
Write down your number. They are assigned in alphabetical order. We may also use these numbers to do some assigned group work.
Part of what you’re doing is performative — you are showing us, at the start of class, that you’ve chosen to remove the distraction of the phone. Putting that phone in its designated pocket does that. You are basically channeling Oedipus in this scene and playing to the back of the theater.
You should turn off notifications, sound, etc., before storing the phone. Make it obvious that you are removing the distraction.
The Why
You’ll notice posters and handouts all around the storage cubby for your phones. These are reminders about how to start the class period so that you can be most effective. The bigger poster is drawn from this:
While the smaller posters are all gleaned from the following document, which will be added to the “What Do I Do Next?” post when I find an extra hour in the day.
This is all about self-control and removing distraction. Remember that we banned phones once before:
That was the trial run. Keep in mind, too, that we looked at self-control and distraction earlier in the year:
That’s where the black-and-yellow poster by the phone cubby originates, at least in this class: Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. It means, “I see better things, and approve, but I follow worse.” I think you’ll find your productivity increases greatly without that distraction.
Ask questions about any of this, from the protocol for putting away your phones to the philosophy behind the decision, in the comment section below.