Today's Edition of "I Feel Old"

[MBDeac08]

how often are you having to ask kids to put their phones away these days? are cell phone rules at school pretty strict?

The school policy is no phones out in the class room for any reason. I generally start strict with it and loosen up as the semester goes on. If it's just sitting on a desk or the end of class, I don't care. When they are on their phone while I am teaching, then I have a problem. some classes I have to constantly address it, others not much. It usually depends on the level of the student.

One thing I am surprised about is how defiant some kids get when you try to confiscate their phone because they won't put it away. I've had a few tell me I'll never get their phone and it's their right to have it. They don't care if they get an office referral, as long as they keep their phone. I guess for some it is the only nice thing they own.

 

[DeacHoops]

i imagine it was more of a weepy existence, with more tears coming if she thought about it again. i can see myself getting to a similar spot in a similar situation.
-judgement-free zone-

yeah, i guess this is the right way to put it. it's not like i cried straight through. i was at work. it's more that i'd just be like "i need to tell dhtoy...wait. can't do that." and i'd get all upset. also, typically when he travels, he'll send me little texts in the morning or something just telling me to have a great day, and i knew i wouldn't get any of those. his travel schedule is rough enough on me as is. so knowing that i couldn't call him/text him just made it that much rougher.

 

[qcdeac]

i dropped dhtoy off at the airport sunday night for a week of work travel. as i was pulling out of the airport, i realized that he had left his cell phone in my car. after doing a u-turn and going back to the airport, running through the airport like a madwoman, and then having him paged to come meet me at security to get it (which he didn't hear), i finally realized that he was just going to have to live without it for a week. it's amazing the kind of panic i felt for a solid 24 hours after that. i completely freaked out that there was no way i was going to get to talk to him except through emails. i kept thinking "how the eff did my mom deal with my dad's travel before cell phones existed?"

then we realized that i could just call his hotel land line. i kind of forgot completely about land lines. haven't used one (except maybe to order room service or get a wake-up call) since probably high school.

........i thought about overnighting it. but the trip is only a 3 day trip, so he told me not to worry about it. i still cried for a solid 12 hours about it though before i calmed down. it's ridiculous how we used to live without these things all the time, but now the thought of going 3 days without it caused me to break down like that.

So he leaves his cell phone in the car, "didn't hear" his name being called out on the airport PA system and tells you don't worry about overnighting the phone? Well played dhtoy. Well played.

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

My son is about to turn 3. Realizing that the events of Sept, 11, 2001 will be as foreign to him as, say, the Kennedy assasination is to me makes me feel pretty old.

I teach a freshmen seminar, and we did some reflective writing on 9/11 last Fall. I was surprised at how little impact it had on their lives (they were about 6 or 7 at the time) - it definitely made me feel old.

Yes it has. I remember playing games on graphing calculators in class in high school. That was what we had to pass the time in a boring class. Or sleep.

I still have Baseball, Fall Up, and Tanks on my TI-83. The best game was Pimp Quest (I think that was the name?) - it was a basic RPG, but absolutely hilarious.

how often are you having to ask kids to put their phones away these days? are cell phone rules at school pretty strict?

On a college campus, it's up to the professor to set the expectations or put something in the syllabus. Personally, I do not allow cellphones, laptops, or tablets - I know exactly what I did with those items when I was in school (text friends, post on the boards, and definitely not pay attention in class). However, some professors embrace technology, knowing their students are going to use it no matter what you say. I have a colleague who creates a hashtag for every class period and asks his students to tweet periodically throughout class about the subject.

 

[lbE08]

the tweeting is a kind of cool idea.

as for you not allowing cellphones, laptops or tablets... you're THAT prof. (those classes produced some of my best doodles)

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

the tweeting is a kind of cool idea.

as for you not allowing cellphones, laptops or tablets... you're THAT prof. (those classes produced some of my best doodles)

It's an interesting debate, but if you're a decent instructor you will find ways to keep your students engaged regardless of where you fall on the spectrum.

 

[wfudkn]

I have never once taken a laptop into class. There were a few people that did it when I was in law school ('00-'03), but the vast majority did not.

 

[DeacHoops]

I have never once taken a laptop into class. There were a few people that did it when I was in law school ('00-'03), but the vast majority did not.

i was at wake from 02-07, and i'd say that most people started taking them more after 03/04 because that was when they put in wireless. before that point, unless you were a big fan of solitaire, the only reason to have your computer was to actually take notes...and who wants to actually be productive?

 

[dalbertthekid]

Out on the golf course today, I ran into a pack of what I thought were middle schoolers. I asked them what grade they were in, to which they replied 2nd grade (they start swinging clubs early in Dallas). Out of curiosity, I asked what year they were born - 2005. Astonishing. Missed 9/11 by 4 years... that's history textbooks to them. Missed LeBron's rookie season by 2 years... I'm only 22, but that had me feeling old.

 

[Milhouse]

i dropped dhtoy off at the airport sunday night for a week of work travel. as i was pulling out of the airport, i realized that he had left his cell phone in my car. after doing a u-turn and going back to the airport, running through the airport like a madwoman, and then having him paged to come meet me at security to get it (which he didn't hear), i finally realized that he was just going to have to live without it for a week. it's amazing the kind of panic i felt for a solid 24 hours after that. i completely freaked out that there was no way i was going to get to talk to him except through emails. i kept thinking "how the eff did my mom deal with my dad's travel before cell phones existed?"

then we realized that i could just call his hotel land line. i kind of forgot completely about land lines. haven't used one (except maybe to order room service or get a wake-up call) since probably high school.

yeah, i thought about overnighting it. but the trip is only a 3 day trip, so he told me not to worry about it. i still cried for a solid 12 hours about it though before i calmed down. it's ridiculous how we used to live without these things all the time, but now the thought of going 3 days without it caused me to break down like that.

based on these two posts, leaving the cell phone in the car was not an accident.

 

[Deacfreak07]

i was at wake from 02-07, and i'd say that most people started taking them more after 03/04 because that was when they put in wireless. before that point, unless you were a big fan of solitaire, the only reason to have your computer was to actually take notes...and who wants to actually be productive?

This is pretty true.

 

[DiegoTiger]

based on these two posts, leaving the cell phone in the car was not an accident.

Lol

 

[WFUWaldo]

Whoa.
The idea of a section in a history book trying to explain that day seems insufficient.

Ten years from now there won't be textbooks.

 

[DeacAlum2001]

The first time I felt old was back in 2005. I was in Iraq and trying to explain to some of my soldiers why Ramadan was going to be a month of heightened security and conflict. I started comparing it to the Tet Offensive and they all gave me blank looks. I asked them if they studied the Vietnam War in history classes in high school and they told me no, they studied 9/11 in history class. I was dumbfounded because I had graduated Wake just prior to 9/11 and to think this was something they studied in high school made me feel very old.

 

[DirtySouthDeacon]

What makes me feel old is realizing that when we went on spring break or down to LA for the weedeater bowl or anywhere really, you had to unfold a map and make sure you knew where you were going. And if you go lost, you had to pull over, break out the map, find a pay phone, call the place, whatever. Now, if your indash is not giving you the route you want, you just get the phone out. Amazing that people found place just 20 years ago.

 

[lbE08]

What makes me feel old is realizing that when we went on spring break or down to LA for the weedeater bowl or anywhere really, you had to unfold a map and make sure you knew where you were going. And if you go lost, you had to pull over, break out the map, find a pay phone, call the place, whatever. Now, if your indash is not giving you the route you want, you just get the phone out. Amazing that people found place just 20 years ago.

I'm convinced that if you put today's teenagers into logistics situations (driving somewhere new to meet a group of people) of even 10 years ago, they would fail. just spectacularly fail.

 

[wfudkn]

I'm convinced that if you put today's teenagers into logistics situations (driving somewhere new to meet a group of people) of even 10 years ago, they would fail. just spectacularly fail.

Most defs. A 4 year old may be able to school me when it comes to tech stuff, but when the apocalypse comes these young bloods are gonna be the first to get got.

 

[deacphan]

there's a 0% chance a 4 yo could code w/ me