Another cell phone tip

When you see a student with a cell phone, tell the class, "I need everybody to put up their cell phones." The benefit of this approach is there may be someone in the room who you didn't see with a phone and they will think that they are busted and will put it up. That's like a freebie in teacher terms!

Some of you may say, "Why not take the phone up?" That approach might work well for you. In a rough school, you have to ask yourself what are you going to do when the person refuses to give you the phone. What are you going to do when s/he refuses to go to the office? What are you going to do when s/he slips the phone to another student on the way to the office and claims that s/he didn't ever have a phone? Whatever your response is to those situations, it will take away class time. And that investment in time might be worthwhile in the long run.

You could take up the phone and keep it until the end of class. I don't because I might lose it. If you are a female teacher, you could simply put it in your purse. You could do what a friend of mine did. He took the student's phone and texted the student's girlfriend saying I don't want to see you no more. Now that's teacher's revenge! Ha Ha!