The Game of Texting

As cell phones have become more pervasive and the texting features more tantalizing, controlling the use and abuse of these technologies in schools has become more and more of a challenge.  I asked my students to share school and class texting techniques they have used or observed.  All within the expectation that “If you have a cell phone, it should be turned off.”

 

Under the Table

 

I found that you can text pretty easily under a table while in class. Girls can act like they are looking for something in their purse/bag and do the same thing as well.  What gets interesting is if the student can maintain eye contact with the teacher while he/she is texting because they've memorized the buttons on their phone.  Good luck catching that.  Tyler Bruns

 

Maintain Eye Contact With the Teacher

 

I have friends that can hold a conversation while making eye contact the whole time as they are texting to someone else.  Jenna Schone

 

The Hooded Sweatshirt

 

I keep my phone in the front pocket of my hooded sweatshirt.  It is easily accessible.  It looks like my hands are just in my front pocket but  I'm actually texting.  I can also stick the screen part of my phone out of the pocket without it being obvious.   Jesse King

 

Memorize the Keyboard

 

My sister is 16 and an obsessive texter.  Her phone rarely leaves her hand.  She has the numbers and the letters on each button/key memorized so she can be completely looking at someone and still text her friends without even looking at what she is typing.  She knows each button that well.  She uses her phone during study hall or lunch.   Danielle Davis

Packing My Cell

 

I sometimes hold my phone next to my leg and make sure the teacher is on the opposite side of me than my phone.  This way it looks like my hand is just resting at my side but I'm actually texting. This is more risky than the hooded sweatshirt strategy but it still works.  The hardest part of any of this is keeping your eyes up so it isn't obvious that you are texting.   Jesse King

 

Quick Proof Reading

 

Most students can text without looking and then simply proofread the text before they send it.  This way they are not looking down for more than a few seconds.   Jesse King

 

It’s All in the Flat Phone

 

Serious texters don’t have flip phones.  They have flat phones.  I did the usual "searching in my bag for a pen" routine mostly.  Sometimes I would cross my legs and rest my phone on the lower leg, hidden from view from my teachers with the other leg.  Then I would text with just one hand so it looked like I was just resting my hand in my lap.  It took more time, but wasn't quite as obvious.   Megan Burch

 

Sweatshirts Help Again

 

In high school sweatshirts were part of our uniform.  We would ball the sweatshirts up in our laps and tuck our phones into the folds.  The sweatshirt blocked the teachers view from the front of the classrooms and we didn't have to keep reaching into our bags.  It looked like we were just resting our hands in our lap.  If the teacher walked by it looked like your sweatshirt was just folded on your lap.   Cassandra Hill

 

Location, Location, Location

 

Our teacher sat on the right side of our room and we sat close to the left side.  The student had his cell phone conveniently located in his left pocket.  When our teacher wasn't looking, he would pull his phone out.  He texted the multiple choice questions to one of his friends, and the friend would text the letter of the correct answer back to him.  The student only did this for four or five of the quiz questions, and I'm assuming it was because it was all he had time for before our teacher collected the quizzes.  Our teacher was never completely aware of what was going on.  He almost always read a book when we were taking our tests, so it was easy to “text-cheat.”   Kari Roberta

 

Integrated Systems Texting

 

There are actually some pens that will light up when the student's cell phone receives a signal (text, call, email).  The students then know that they have a text, and they can merely pull their phone
out behind their textbook, in their desk, or go to the bathroom so they can reply to the text message. Students use these pens to not risk getting caught with their cell phones out just checking if
they have a text.    Martha Freeman

 

Who Cares and Who Doesn’t

 

For cell phones, students know which teachers will notice or care if they text in their class.  They know who is clueless.  Some teachers you can text right under their noses, other teachers you have to resort to more subtle strategies.  We had school laptops in our high school classrooms. I would check my email from the computer.   Beth Hannah

 

Can I Go To My Locker and the Bathroom?

 

I found that when students went to their lockers in between class, they were texting, pretending they were looking in their lockers.  There were also a couple instances when I found girls talking on their phones in the bathroom.  Cell phones were a big battle, but honestly I think it was just because there was little disciplinary action that followed when students were caught on them    Abigail Thomas

 

How Old Is Your Teacher? 

 

Students can and have set their text and/or ring tone to a pitch that can not be heard by older teachers.  The tone can be sent as easily as a picture or a text through the phone.  Students in class know when their phones go off or friend's phones go off by the noise, but the teacher is oblivious.  My younger siblings who were in middle school and high school at the time told me about this and tested it on me.  I was 20 and I could still hear it but our parents and Aunts and Uncles didn't hear a thing.    Abbey Holian

 

It’s All In the Thumbs

 

Students hide their phones behind a book and pretend they are reading.  They hold the book and text with their thumbs.  In middle school, students could hide it with the desk if they have the ones with the cubby hole in them or with a flip top.  In my high school we weren't allowed to wear hoodies because they thought that was how people would text.   Monica Head

 

I have actually observed a student texting during a quiz and having someone look up the answers and texting them back.  This was in a 10th grade geography course.  I remember getting really upset when I saw that because unlike that guy, I actually studied for the quiz.  Why should I have taken the time to study if people can just get the answers texted to you?   Kari Kattler

 

From personal experience  it is very easy to have the cell phone in my pocket and text without looking because I too have memorized the buttons.  Also, when reading in a textbook, simply put the book in front of the phone and text away.  These are probably answers you are seeing a lot.   Brian Homan

 

It’s All In the Timing

My sister will hide her phone in the pocket of her hoodie.  Since she has the keys memorized she is able to just keep her hand in her pocket and type out the text.  She waits for the teacher to turn to the board to write something before she looks at any messages she has received.    Greg Croskey

 

On Quiet and No Vibrating

 

I have found that the "sweatshirt method" is pretty successful by students. A big sweatshirt is just folded in their lap.  By doing so, they make a little cradle for their cell phone that the teacher can't see.  Especially if the phone is on total silent. The student can still see their phone light up without the teacher seeing or hearing the phone. Kim Steger

Popularity Contest

 

Students, in particular in Middle School and High School, will do just about anything to prove their level of “coolness” to their peers.  Students will keep their cell phones in their back pockets so other students looking at “butts” will see what brand of phone they have.  Plenty of students also have the guts to carry their phone on their hips attached to their belts, as if they have a crucial business phone call to make in the middle of pre-algebra.  Basically the cell phone has now become an accessory, like a scarf or a purse.  It lets other students know that the one carrying the phone has the guts to carry it around school with it on in their back pocket and the attitude of;  “I don’t care if a teacher sees it or not!”