Text messaging has become a language for many people, especially adolescents. There are certain words and phrases that are understood through text, but would be unfamiliar if used orally. For example, phrases such as “lol” or words such as “finna” can become difficult to understand for people who are unfamiliar with the texting vernacular. It is important to realize and understand that text messaging is a form of language for some of our students and for others it is a form of writing. It is also possible that for some of our students it is a combination of both of these things.
Text messaging is a huge part of the lives of our students and as teachers we should want our students to bring those huge parts of their lives into the classroom with them. Our job as teachers is to figure out how to bring text messaging into the classroom as a productive part of the lesson, as opposed to a distraction in the classroom.
https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/7-ways-can-use-texting-advantage-classroom
The website listed above states ways that texting can be implemented in classroom activities and the ways in which these activities will benefit the students. Some of the activities that are listed in this article include using texting for: Note-taking, Story-telling, Translating, and Studying Vocabulary Words.
I, personally, can see how text messaging can benefit my English classroom. Taking a form of writing that my students have become comfortable with and using it as a bridge for them to learn new content can help them feel more comfortable learning new material.
My only fear would be keeping them on task.
If they become too comfortable on their cellphones, how can I be confident that they are still completing my work as opposed to texting someone in a different class or scrolling through instagram. I would have to come up with a system that ensures that my students will stay on task and do the work that is expected of them.I would also have to consider the students that do not have a cellphone or have a cellphone that is not as accessible for text messaging (flip phones). Would I be able to provide phones? Would they share phones? Would I have them text messaging through a text messaging app, such as “WhatsApp”?
Overall, I definitely think that implementing text messaging in the classroom can be beneficial if executed correctly. There are definitely some issues that could arise when doing a project that involves text messaging, such as students who don’t have phones and keeping students on task, but with proper planning it can be monumental in affecting the way our students learn in the classroom.
Crystal,
In light of our class with Kirkland today I felt compelled to comment on this. You were one week ahead of the game! And I think a lot of your questions and concerns were addressed in our class conversation. Still, I want to applaud you on many of the great points you make in this post and give more perspective than I was able to in the class discussion.
I love your opening remarks about text-language. We have read several articles about how language is reconstructed for meaning making in the digital context. This language play is, in general, an important thing for students and teachers to understand. It enlightens our multiple literacies and resources for mutually intelligible communication.
I think you were really on point when you said that because texting is such a large part of our student’s lives we should focus on bringing this into the classroom. Your post argued this point well but I think you would benefit from exploring this potential from a broader perspective. Why limit it to texting – phones in general are a huge part of our student’s lives and, if texting was a single source for class examination, phones are an entire anthology. This was demonstrated in Kirkland’s “Phone Documentary” activity.
In class you voiced concern about students staying on task while using phones. I would like to re-iterate two points raised in our classroom discussion. The first is Kirkland’s – sometimes by increasing and rules and regulations in the classroom gives rise to behavioral issues. This is especially the case when we try to regulate things as central to a student’s life as a phone. Incorporation of this technology may, in itself, curb some of the behavioral issues surrounding phone use that would be happening anyway. The second point comes from the aside you and I shared in class. Your effort to integrate phones into the classroom will hopefully be seen as an act based on your investment in the students overall learning, as well as a sign of your trust in them not to take advantage of these efforts. I would hope your students felt compelled to stay on task out of respect for this trust. Your response to this comment was, in effect, the answer to your open-ended statement regarding regulations for the incorporations of phones/texting in the classroom.