cell phones and homework

I took another cell phone yesterday.  That makes three confiscations in seven days.  Either I'm a totally boring teacher who forces them into text messaging during class or they think I'm stupid and that I don't make constant behavioral observations while I'm teaching.  Observe I do!  When hands keep moving between desk and lap, I know something is up.  Eyes down but not on notebook or worksheet?  That's right.  Get a little squirrely and adjust oneself too much when I walk by as if you're hiding something?  Signs, signs, everywhere signs.  

I don't go in for an immediate kill.  I usually wait until I actually see the phone.  Whatever they're reading must be truly absorbing, because I can pounce on them with relative ease.  The best signal comes from a neighbor who knows that his or her friend is texting and realizes that I have become aware of the situation.  They start to elbow or whisper to the person as I approach, telling them to get rid of the phone.  It's great.  I guess I enjoy taking toys from children?

I handed back a recent batch of tests to my third period class.  They didn't do well.  Why?  Because they didn't study!  It's just that simple.  I poll the class to figure out how long most studied to prepare for the test.  My favorite answer is, "I'm gonna be honest with you - I didn't study at all for this test."  Why not?  I told you that it would be worth 35% of your grade!  Sounds important to me!  I told them that they need to put in at least 2 hours of studying for one of my tests.  Everything is brand new material to them and they cannot expect to walk in and know it cold without studying.  One girl asked me a great question:  "Mister, how can I study?  How should I do that?"  Sit down and read the material until you understand it, then read it over again.

I will force them to study and practice by giving them more homework.  I'm pretty lax on homework.  Maybe we're both paying the price because of it?  Anyway, more homework is on the way.