2 Ways to Keep Students off their Phones!

The #1 struggle with teachers today is ‘How do I keep students off their phones?‘ I get emails from teachers all. the. time. asking me ‘How do I spice up my teaching and get students more engaged and off their phones in my classes?‘ The struggle is real people! I dealt with students on their phones all the time in my classroom, we all have! – in my distict, teachers are not allowed to touch student’s cell phones. Teaching in the cell phone era is a huge battle for teachers – I don’t have to tell you that! Even if your district has a policy where students put their phones in a ‘garage’ during the school day, you still want to keep them engaged, of course.

Two ways to keep students off their phones.

To keep students engaged and excited for learning in my business classes, I use…

…Student-Led Instruction and

…Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Student-led instruction encourages active participation, keeping students off their phones and fully involved in their learning. This approach reduces my talking time and eliminates the need for PowerPoints, creating a more dynamic classroom environment. It also is a great way for students to get comfortable speaking in class. At the beginning of the year, I allow students to remain at their desks while giving the class the information, then by Christmas break when students are more comfortable with each other, I start having them present at the front of the class – a great way to get students comfortable speaking in front of a group of people.

The student led instruction lessons I made for my classroom all have vetted links that students use to answer questions and discover the facts. These lessons are NOT intended to allow the teacher to sit at their desk while students work. No! No! No!

YES!…they are also great for sub days, remote learning days, and many parents use them for home schooling, but that is not how I use them on a day-to-day basis in my classroom. I am the coach on the side offering insight and stories to enhance the class discussions while students research and present their findings to their classmates.

I highly encourage you to watch this 10-minute video where I explain and demonstrate how you can use student led instruction in YOUR classroom.

I also did a podcast episode (Episode 2) on Student Led Instruction. It’s a quick 8-minute listen. You can listen to the episode on my website – and it is also available wherever you get your podcasts (Spotify or Apple). You can also ask Alexa to the “Play ‘The Art of Teaching Business‘ podcast.”

“Now that you’ve done the student led instruction and you’ve taught them the material, let them apply what you’ve taught them! Students love to see what they are learning in your classroom is relevant to them and their future. That’s where project-based learning takes over!

“Project-based learning allows students to apply what they’ve learned to real-world scenarios. This hands-on approach ensures that the concepts we cover aren’t just theoretical but practical and memorable. As Dr. Maria Montessori, “What the hand does, the mind remembers.” Students will remember the fun and memorable activities they did in your classroom for the rest of their life. They are not going to remember your PowerPoints!

These teaching methods not only make learning more interactive, but also prepare students for real business challenges – working with a team, etc. Seeing students take charge of their learning and succeed in their projects is incredibly rewarding for them and me as their teacher.

I have a whole category of great Business Education projects in my TPT store for all of your business education classes – whether it’s accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, personal finance, business law, computer applications etc. I think you’ll discover that project-based learning will transform your classes and students will love you for it.