Student's iPod Blows Up in Class

Shadowmancer..... you say you graduated in the top 7 of your graduating class and you used all those electronic devices... maybe you were able to get by with it but for most students it is a distraction and disrupts learning. I am a recent college grad and now a teacher. If I allow iphones and ipods in class then everyone here at this school would be playing with them all class. If you allow a student to do these things then you are just giving up on teaching. I agree that a lot of stuff taught in school is not preparing kids for reality. I am a health teacher and believe that everything we learn is related to reality, or I won't teach it if it isn't. Don't think that it's okay for students to have whatever they want in class. Most kids lack responsibilities and respect because they think they can do whatever they want anytime. If they don't get discipline at home then someone needs to teach that to them. Being a teacher is much more difficult than what people think. Not always easy having 32 kids in one class, especially when someone gets a phone or ipod out and you have 10 kids telling and crying about it.

That's ridiculous - Just because someone brings an ipod to school and has it on their desk does not make them a spoiled little kid.

Let me tell you, i graduated high school around the time mp3 players were introduced, i dont think the ipod had come out yet, but i had a disc man, a mini disc player, and even a cassette walkman - and so did a zillion other kids ... just because an ipod is a more convenient way to carry your music does not make it any more or less acceptable.

Furthermore ... there's an appropriate way to deal with technology, which many adults havent figured out yet too i might add. I've been in conferences where gentlemen and ladies will just answer the phone during a training seminar ... completely in appropriate; the way to do it is quietly excuse your self from the room, and tend to your personal business if you must.

Also, lets not forget the days before ipods. If kids want to cause a distraction in the class room, they will. I've seen people set fire to rubber cement glue on the table in an art room... so blowing up an ipod... that was just a matter or what was convenient.

If you want to teach kids about responsibility, teach them its ok to have a cell phone on you, and in ipod, and another other technological tool they wish - but there's a right way to act, and a wrong way. Locking an ipod in a locker will not teach kids about acting responsibly.

I am a firm believer in that kids act more responsible when they have more responsibilities - once you start taking them away, kids began acting more immature. Just the way it works.

My sentiments exactly, and dont you love the fact it was sitting on her desk!!!!!!

You people are all rather ridiculous. I can give a decent opinion on this, as someone who just came out of high school last year; a majority of the things being taught in high school are completely and utterly worthless in the real world. You are being taught things that will NEVER be used in the real world. Granted, a lot of our students have low literacy rates; but the problem is, high school English classes CANNOT rectify this, because at this point they're so far behind that you'd have to keep them in school until their twenties to let them catch up.

The problem is not that iPods distract kids. They really don't. If the child wants to learn, then they will pay attention. If they don't want to learn, they'll ignore the teacher. An iPod, for the latter, is just another way to ignore the teacher. If you take it away, they'll sit there and text, or if that's gone too, sleep, or scribble, or simply just not come to class at all.

Myself? I used my iPod all the time in class. In fact, I used portable game systems as well. I also graduated 7th in a class of 350 students with a 5.4 GPA. So.... what does that do to your idea that electronics in schools are bad, hmm?

I agree. In college classes I would disagree as by that time we are all adults and if you fail, you paid to fail so...

In high school however, there is NO need for it in the classroom. It's a little something called respect for your teacher. Argue against me all you want but you will NOT gain any respect from instructors if you use these devices in their class. So even if it is allowed, you reap what you sow.

Why don't we just get rid of the refrigerator and the cooking stove, after all, only need them when we eat and by all accounts, America needs to lose weight. Also, why not eliminate showers, thats really spoiling the kids today when all they have to do is go down by the river and wash up. Save money on water bills. These darn kids today are getting to spoiled. LOL

Shadowmancer, as a person who "just graduated high school last year," what idea could you possibly have as to what the "real world" is all about? And you certainly can't have any idea as to what is "worthless" regarding what you've learned (or obviously not learned) in high school. I don't care how smart you are or how high your GPA is, using an iPod or a gaming system or any other piece of technology that isn't designed to directly enhance the curriculum is unacceptible. And you aen't fooling anyone. It is impossible to have a GPA of 5.4 when, even in districts that recognize A+ grades (not all of them do) the highest GPA you can get is 4.5.

The biggest problem is not that the iPod distracts the student-- a student using an iPod in class is doomed to fail anyway-- it's that the iPod distracts OTHER students-- students who actually care about making something of themselves.

IDIOT! The ads ARE SPAM! The phony dating sites are run out of Toronto, Canada by a company called SiccessfulMatch.com. They have over two dozen url's registed with godaddy.com. The clothing website are all registered in China, and belong to the Chinese government. They sell cheap counterfeit clothing.

Perhaps that one student out of twenty-two advanced students was taking advantage of what was allowed, or the smartest out of all of them. Just because I like listening to music doesn't make me any dumber.

It's ridiculous that you think only the "more advanced" students are smart enough not to have to listen to music. Then again you're only a substitute teacher.

I usually ignore misspelling or the misuse of the English language but for a teacher (even a substitute) in an Advanced English class room to write, “if this where a common level class,” is inexcusable!

It seems to me you should be “in” the class yourself, learning how to use English correctly, and not teaching it!

Or maybe you should put on some IPod headphones on to drown out your distractions?

Shame on you! No wonder the kids of today are so ignorant. They have ignorant people teaching them.

I am curious why the teachers don't simply take up the electronic devices at the beginning of class (as a classroom rule) and then give them back at the end of class?

you sir, are awesome

Are you serious? You really think that the English requirements in schools is to much? When was the last time you tried to speak to a teenager? You hardly ever get a full sentence, or intelligent response anymore. I send my five year old to school for an education, he can listen to music at home. The problem with this country is that we expect so little from our children that they cannot compete in a global economy. Our children lack the education that students in other countries receive. Our kids are behind particularly in math and science. Get a grip sir and perhaps more education!

Hey Buff, Schools may teach english but its the parents that let them get away with speaking in slang and if parents dont enforce their kids to do homework and study and speak kindly and correctly then english class is worthless anyways. Its not all about the schools anymore, kids need to have rules from parents. Its so frustrating that parents let their kids get away with anything they want but they want the schools to turn their children into little prodigies and upstanding citizens.... its not going to happen.. not untill parents start teaching their children to be good people...