My students are always connected: on their phones the minute they walk into the classroom and the minute the bell rings. And honestly, I am exactly the same way. I understand the need to keep checking what is going on and see who is trying to reach me. There is so much simplicity and ease in sending a text message instead of calling someone on the phone and my students have expressed similar feelings. So since we are all on the same page, why can’t we use cell phones to everyone’s advantage in the classroom too?

Some students understand the ins and outs of text messaging more than they understand the topics you are teaching. So the two need to be brought together. Since the first day of school I have used a text messaging service called “Remind.” I set up an account online through the computer or through the Remind app on my phone and create digital classes to match the classes I teach. I have all my students join on the first day of school through texting the class name to a number generated by the app. Then they are in! My students don’t see my phone number and I don’t see anything but their names and then we are instantly connected on the digital level. I use Remind in a variety of ways inside and outside of the classroom to engage my students. Students are often bombarded by the amount of work they have, especially as upperclassmen in high school. The one feature my students love most about Remind is my using it as a homework reminder. I teach Italian, so everyday at 3:30pm I have a message scheduled to be texted out to all my students re-explaining the homework in Italian, attaching any relevant files or links. They have to examine and understand what I am asking in the target language and they have a digital reminder to get started on their homework. Almost all my students have a 100% homework average because of this system. And if they have questions, they can just send a text reply to my message. I am the only one that sees their question, no one else in the group, and I can respond directly to the student in real time.

Another way of tapping into text messaging in the classroom is another app called Poll Everywhere. This service is a great way to support teaching and learning inside of the classroom, live and in real time. Through Poll Everywhere, I can set up a question for the whole class to answer. I can even set up how I want answers to appear. Answers can come up as a word cloud with similar responses getting bigger and bigger, an open-ended answer with different responses popping up around the screen, or even multiple choice questions for voting polls. Similar to remind, they text in a message to a generated number by the website to join my question and then they text in their answer. Do students always participate appropriately? Not exactly. I’ll always have one or two students texting in about Harambe or Kim Kardashian instead of answering my question. But on the whole, students get a lot out of this activity. They can compare their answers to other students in terms of accuracy of the Italian language, spelling, grammar, and meaning without necessarily having to label their answers with their names in . As the teacher, I can assess student progress as a whole, getting a sense of the general understanding from the class’ answers.

The use of these apps and text messaging services, however, is not appropriate for every classroom. Depending on the area of your school and socio-economic status of students’ families, not every student will have a cell phone. If there is even a chance you may be singling out one of your students, you either cannot continue with your current practices or instead, find an alternative that works for that particular student. It would be extremely counter-productive if a student was embarrassed in the classroom because they don’t have a phone like their peers and cannot participate. One alternative for Poll Everywhere, for example, would be pairing students up and asking them to come up with a response together only using one device. This solves not only the problem of a lack of cell phone but allows the student to work on their interpersonal skills of the Italian language.