Students and Phones vs. Teacher

I walk into school feeling amazing. I can’t wait to see a room full of students waiting for me, listen to my every word. And hopefully I can even change their lives! I dressed up tidy and neat this morning, first impressions are always important. 

I can’t wait to tell them about the funny things I did in the summer and I hope that they all feel welcome to share what they did in the summer too. I hope that when I walk in they are all eager to learn and hear from me. I’m so excited to get to know my new students. 

The early bell rings. I stand by the door to greet my new students. Some walk with their friends and don’t acknowledge me when I try to greet them. Some walk straight in as if they try to avoid me. Most of these students were on their phones. I’m probably just over thinking things, they must be looking at their new schedules. 

The late bell rings. I walk into the classroom, the students sit with their friends or with people they don’t know. They are all on their phones. What are they doing? The bell rang, shouldn’t they know to put their phones away now? 

I ignore their eyes being glued onto their phones and start class. I thought I was doing a good job. I was making them feel welcome and to tell them this is a safe space. I tell them a funny joke I heard this morning. It was silent. Not a smile on their face. Only a few eyes on me, but all their faces look annoyed. 

I ignore it all. I can’t let this be the end of my teaching career. I explain to them the material we will learn and the exciting projects we will do. Now less eyes are on me and more eyes are on their phones. What is going on? Why won’t they pay attention to me? I hope this is just a silly prank they are pulling on me. I hope this doesn’t go on for the rest of the year, or worse, my career. 

This is going to be a tough school year. 

My friends and I have our next class together. So we will walk down the hall. I wonder if my teacher is going to be as boring as my last teacher. He talked so much, it was so annoying. I think I see my teacher now. He’s standing at the door with a huge smile on his face and what looks like the only expensive clothes he can afford. Looking at all the kids who walk into his room, we will destroy his little dream of being the teacher that changes our lives. 

My friends and I walk through the door trying not to engage with our try hard teacher. We do not want to be known as the teacher’s pet on the first day of school. That would be horrible.

The bell rings and he walks into the classroom. My friends and I start a new game on our phones. I bet I will win this game. I can see our teacher looking for our attention but none of us will budge. He’s starting to talk about something boring. I don’t really know I’m not paying attention, I am grinding on this game! 

I notice that his smile is getting sadder. He’s so weak! We aren’t even ten minutes into class and he’s already losing his mind over wanting to be our favorite teacher. 

He’s trying to save himself and be the “cool” teacher. He’s leaning on his desk and he just told a really corny dad joke. He’s waiting for a laugh but no one does. 

This is going to be a tough school year.