The Grand Experiment

I know it has been a long long time since I have posted here, and probably nobody is checking it.  Things have been hectic this year and I will go back and write a few posts describing some of the big events of this year.

This post is about my newest informal experiment in student communication: Text Messaging.

I was due for a new phone, so I decided to also get an upgrade to my current plan.  I have noticed that my students text a lot.  Possibly more than they talk.  So what I am going to do is communicate with them the way they are most comfortable communicating.  The cheapest way to accomplish this was to add unlimited text messaging to my phone and then collect all my students cell numbers (on a volunteer basis).  I believe I got about 2/3 of my students to give me their numbers without any incentive, which I would say is pretty good, and for most the only reason I'm not closer to 100% is that the other students are absent. 

I have given them my cell number and have told them they can text me with any questions, comments, concerns, etc. that they have. 

I will also text them reminding them about big assignments, homework, binder checks, to check their email if I send them an assignment, etc.  Some students are also signing on to a "wake up text" where I text them around 7:45 to wake up. 

Due to all this potential texting I bought a phone that has a full keyboard so that I can type much faster.  I also am able to create 'groups' by class so I can send out classroom texts and other things.  If a student goes to the bathroom for too long I can text them telling them to get back to class, etc.

This is an experiment to see if this increases communication and assignments being turned in.  I know not all students will respond to it, but there are quite a few who have proven very responsive already (or at least very excited about the prospect of communicating via texting). 

My plan is to see how it works for this last advisory of the year (which starts right after spring break in 2 weeks) and see if I can find a noticeable difference in work getting turned in and people coming to class on time and prepared.

I will need to see if this will get abused by the students, but I honestly doubt it.  They've had my apartment landline number for a long time and hardly any of them call it, so we shall see.  The great thing about this plan is its flexibility.  If my students don't text me all that much then I can reduce the number of texts I need per month and pay less.  If it doesn't work at all I can just cancel the unlimited text messages.  So there really aren't that many extra costs.  I also can probably write this off my taxes as a business expense (it would have to be proportional to the amount of texts I use for work vs. personal - but that isn't too hard to figure out)

Anyways I am excited to see how things go!  I am going to start posting more regularly in the future, both to track my own progress and to keep people more up to date on what is going on over here in DC.