Cellphone Debate

Last Friday in my last period class, as the school day was coming to a close something unusual happened that sparked an intense vigor within my peers.  Teacher A was getting mad at Student A for texting during his lesson.  To make a long story short, Teacher A asked Students A through T to place their cell phones in a box at the front of the room.  Me, in my innocence, handed over my cell phone (which I only used to check the time because of the oh-so inconvenient placement of the clock).  However, it became increasingly obvious that my once falling asleep peers were now wide awake; ready to give their lives in defence of their cellphones. 

The events that transpired that day are not unusual when it comes to teens and their cells.  I for one think that my teacher had the right idea when it comes to this issue.  Cellphones are a clear distraction in the classroom. 
I agree with people on the usefulness of cellphones.  Just one day before the events of that class transpired I used my cellphone to take pictures of notes on the blackboard, then email them wirelessly to my teacher who wanted to store them for reference.  The uses of cellphones are bountiful but just because they are useful does not mean that students need to have them during class.  How easy would it be to drop your cellphone of in a box as you enter a classroom?  If the teacher needs someone to time something, or look up a definition of a word that is not in the classroom dictionaries the cellphones can be easily grabbed.  It is clear that opinions on this matter among students are bias, I think that the problem also stems from the teachers. Yes, teachers messed up.  Inconsistencies exist within classrooms.  Some teachers will not tolerate them, while others will let you use them during independent work time just not during lessons and some will allow you full use.  I've even noted teachers sneaking a peek at their cellphones in class. 

The article seemed to have a biased undertone.  Using texting jargons gave an unprofessional tone to the article as well as a bias feel.  As the article continued it became only slightly more formal with the use of quotations.

Maybe teachers shouldn't be so surprised when they see students texting in class when they see the role models in the school disobeying the so called "cellphone policy".  If teachers really want to see cell phones off and away they should turn off their crack berries.

The Very First Blog

Hey all of my fellow Writer's Craft students.  It's Matt here and I would just like to start off by telling you all a little about myself and why I decided to take Writer's Craft.  My reasons for taking this course stem from my love of all things English and because I'm in my fifth year and took most of the other English courses, I decieded that this year my English twitch would be dealt with in Writer's Craft.  So far, I have to say that I enjoy it.  It seems a bit of a stretch writing creatitvely as most of my other English classes had been against the stuff. 

Some of my future aspirations for school include going to Bible college for atleast a year and living in Austrailia for a year or two.  I already have visited Aussie land in the summer, when me and my brother set out on a cross-Australia adventure for two and a half weeks.  It was a great experience and took us to some amazing sites.  We swam in the great barrier reef 40 km off the coast of Cairns, saw Uluru and Kata Tjuta, climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge and tried kangaroo jerky... and yes, it tastes as good as it sounds.  I would definatly recomend Australia as a destination for any avid traveler.

I haven't read that many books to be able to tell anyone my favourite, or who I admire as an author but I will shamefully admit to having dabbled with the four twilight books.

Oh and if anyone reading this has any spare time they would like to fill check out mine and my brother's myspace (http://www.myspace.com/forestethicband).  It's kind of a joke but apparently we're a big hit in the Dominican.