Life is a-changing.

Children beware! I have started to substitute teach and may appear soon at a school near you.

I am loving the freedom substituting offers. Every day is a new adventure. I may be in a high school honors biology class (like I am right now as I type this) and an elementary school classroom the next day. I have learned though that my preference starts at twelfth graders and ends in kindergarten. Those kindergartners are hard!! 🙂

Substituting also allows me the opportunity to understand what my kids are or will be exposed to in junior high and high school. It is eye opening and often not in a good way. School culture has changed quite a bit. What is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable are in flux.

About half the teachers I sub for allow cell phones out during class. This one blows my mind. The kids are distracted and not paying attention. Most teachers allow them to listen to music while working. I’m confused about this one because there have always been kids who went home and did homework with music on. The problem is monitoring what they really are doing with their phone in class. Is it music or a video? I’ve caught quite a few “music” listeners doing other things on their devices.

Our culture is so saturated with the idea of instantaneous we are losing every place where and when it is appropriate and respectful to turn everything off and offer our undivided attention. What do you think? Should kids be allowed to have phones in the classroom? Also…what age do you think it is appropriate to give your child a phone? Comment and let me know what you think?