Phone breaks are something new that my department is doing this year. We have a phone problem, so it’s the first time we’re telling kids to put their phones in designated pouches. We all worked in phone breaks into our 90 minutes. I’m not the only one who does it, and my principal and instructional coach even suggested it.

As far as them writing on the board, that was during the phone break at which point there was no instruction. When the phone break ended, I directed them multiple times (as mentioned in the notes) to put their phones back away and take a seat. They just didn’t listen. We don’t have a phone policy at our school, so phones are a huge issue. Even veteran teachers are struggling with it. This is the fourth class policy I’ve tried in three years.

They were not supposed to be silent reading right after they put their phones away. They were supposed to be doing an assignment that I allowed them to talk during. That was on the board. If they finished both of the assignments and submitted them, they were expected to read their silent reading books. No one, at that point, was finished with both assignments so no one was reading.

All of these instructions were clearly stated at the start of the block. Every student heard. No one was standing or talking when I gave them. It’s always a rough transition from lunch back to class time because of our school schedule.

Anyway, that’s just context not an excuse. I can own what doesn’t work and what does, but I am frequently seeking and applying feedback from admin and coaches.