How many of you use your smartphones at your desk? How often do you use it? How acceptable is it at your school to use your phone in the teacher’s office?
I will occassionally pull out my phone, check messages, and respond to people. However, I try to not spend too much time on it because I personally don’t think it looks good to be on it for too long. I just follow what the other teachers do and that is usually an indicator of whats acceptable.
SHS Jet. Yes. All the time. Perfectly acceptable. Other teachers use theirs at their desks too. I use mine in class too, to help with translating words and the teachers are happy with this.
follow what you see other teachers doing. if no one is ever on their phone in your teachers’ office, i wouldn’t use yours. if you see others using theirs, it’s fine. i would avoid using it too much for social media/personal stuff if you’re supposed to be doing something, though. i usually use mine during the lunch break, and if there’s no/very few other teachers in the office.
I use it at work when I want to take a break. I sit in the very back so I am hidden from other teachers. Plus other teachers don’t stay in one office. Some have multiple desks. If I have lesson planning or grading I tend to not use my phone as much.
All the time. I would use it at least part of the time to study kanji, so it was never a problem.
I usually don’t use it much, but that’s only because I prefer using my computer. Talking on the phone (unless related to work) is pretty much unacceptable, and I’m not supposed to even bring it to the classroom. But using it in the teacher’s room is no problem at all
One really hard thing about being an ALT is that teachers or staff won’t tell you that you’re doing something wrong to your face. You have to hear about it at recontracting time or some kind of performance evaluation. You have to watch out for things like this because even if nobody says anything, it doesn’t mean they’re not noticing. Even if someone has a problem with it, it’s not likely to even come up as an issue until it’s too late to do anything about it. Personally, I don’t use my smartphone except for lunch breaks or between classes, and even then, I’m actually doing something on it, not just scrolling Facebook. But again, some teacher’s rooms are really lax and other teachers mess around alot, so you have to read the room too.
I’ll spend all day on it. I have 6 lessons per week, max. I don’t plan lessons (we follow a textbook series largely to the letter), only have marking to do for a couple hours once in a while, and can’t do anything that makes it look like I’m not being productive in front of any kids who might visit the teachers’ lounge, so no headphones, books, etc. The phone can be played off as checking email and searching for stuff, so it seems to get a pass.
They seem to understand that when they leave a person with nothing productive to do for 2/3-3/4 of their time, there’s really no reason to kick up a fuss.
I spend a lot of time desk warming, so I spend more time on my phone than other teachers but usually, it’s for a few minutes or so, then back to computer stuff (rinse and repeat throughout the day). The biggest thing is that I use it as a hotspot for *all* my classes, so I always need it with me. My JTEs are aware of that, so I’ve yet to run into a problem.
I don’t think using it as much of a problem as how you use it, as in your body posture and what not. Tons of teachers are on theirs phones on LINE or reading articles or even watching stuff.
The key thing though is to kind of have it down on your desk or in an inconspicuous way to not distract other teachers. If you’re like leaning back and watching youtube with your phone up to your face than it’s like a middle finger to the other teachers who are busy.
I use it all the time (as i currently reply at school) and i see other teachers doing the same. Obvs esid so just go with whatever seems to be the work culture at your school.
I use it everywhere. Including in class right now. I play my game boy and switch at my desk too
How about students? Do they use their smahos while in classes? If so, what are the parameters of student smaho use at school? What have you observed?
I have it out on my desk, yes. But my LINE, FB messenger, email are on my laptop so I just have that opened. I’ll use my phone if I need to use google Lens, google maps, take a picture, etc. My school is pretty lenient, I see other teachers also using their phones, but my school knows I don’t nearly have as much stuff to do, so I don’t think they care. Besides, they know I am great with the students and in the classroom. They know how hard I study at Japanese. They don’t mind. But I don’t blatantly do it.
I have my phone out most of the day (thought I didn’t use it much the first few months, to establish rapport). Other teachers at my school also use their phone from time to time at their desks, but they have shit to do, so obviously it’s not all the time.
If we need to take a call, we usually go outside.
EDIT: People never take their phones to class though. I only ever use my phone in front of students at my desk or in club. (Ugh, I need to get a pocket dictionary.)
My base is the BOE office. I only use my phone during lunch, break time, and the teacher’s room time at schools if they don’t give me something to do. I use it a lot at the office. Sometimes I look up stuff for classes and what not, but most of the time I use it to entertain myself. The other alts here do things like read books, study, discord, watch dramas, etc. I’ve recently bought an ipad so I draw during my idle time. My coworkers like to see my pictures.
Big no no. I use it fast and discritely if others are watching. I usually go to the locker to chill and use it for longer. Or while taking a long dump that never comes out.
So, for me, I use my phone pretty much during all downtime I have at work. Reading books and social media, etc. Occasionally if I’m having a bad day or my head hurts and the buzz around the office is annoying me, I’ll listen to music or watch a video during lunch. While it’s true that some people never hear about issues until it’s time to recontract, I can also tell you that I’ve been doing this since day one and I was recontracted for a fifth year because I do my job well so clearly my phone isn’t distracting me from my work in any way. Now ESID, but if you’re showing up to class as the bell is ringing all the time or your PowerPoints/worksheets/kahoots are lame and sloppy but people see you constantly on your phone? That might be an issue.
The topic of phones reminded me of a conference I went to a couple of years ago. The principal of one of my schools was one of the organizers of this big mid-year conference and the prefectural ALTs and their JTEs all attended. They had some high level people fly in from MEXT in Tokyo to give presentations. It was a pretty big deal.
During the presentations the vast majority of the ALTs were messing around on their phones, trying to be inconspicuous. Browsing Reddit, texting each other, all kinds of shit. Needless to say, they weren’t as inconspicuous as they thought. The organizers all got emails from Tokyo complaining that the ALTs were fucking around on their phones, why were they allowed to have phones out in the first place, why did we fly in from Tokyo just to talk to people who were staring at their phones. It was a huge embarassment for the organizers. I heard that the schools were contacted and asked to make rules regarding phones for future conferences. So just a word to the wise, if you’re attending a conference or some other sort of JET-related event, don’t be that guy who causes other people to write angry emails.
I only used my phone when I was at the school where they stowed me away in a room on my own. At my other schools where I was in the teachers room area, I used my laptop instead.
Whoever gets their phones out during a conference is a shitbird with no respect and arrogant tendencies.
My base school is the BoE, I use my phone in the BoE office all day when I’m there.
I use it at my schools whenever I want to (obviously if I have no work to do). Other teachers use it in the staffroom or at their homeroom desk too. I just don’t browse tiktok or youtube or play games, but I read the news, reddit, messenger, a bit of insta etc.
I sometimes fish my phone out of my bag in class to google translate. If I’m looking for a word or students can’t explain what they mean, it’s just me checking a dictionary. I do the same in hallways chatting with students sometimes, for the same reason. Tying yourself to English-only will absolutely hamstring how comfortable students are with talking to you – it’s good to unlock meaning with that 1 translated word or phrase.
I use my phone while eating lunch too.
Not a single soul cares.
However, I agree, don’t use it in ALT meetings or conferences. Fuckin listen when all you need to do is listen. When at work doing nothing, that’s different though.
In the same vein, I use my PC all day for anything apart from playing games or watching videos/music, and nobody cares.
The key point: I can use my phone and laptop whenever, but I just have to not look like a douche who’s on youtube or playing games or kicking my feet up. I’m also often free so teachers understand I have nothing to do. Just follow other people’s lead without looking like a douchey lazy person.
Elementary school teacher here. I use it pretty much whenever I want to. When I am teaching class I won’t obviously, but I do take it with me and if I need to look something up or translate something I will use it even in front of the students. No one seems to care.
No complaints here.
I use mine every day all the time.
I used mine when I need it since my computer at work has a firewall and I can barely access any materials. I get complaints NONSTOP from the JTEs to my BOE (my boe is a city hall) so they tell me to not use it if I don’t have to. Then again, after talking to a few JETs, I found my placement is trash anyways. Take my complaint with a grain of salt.
After my 2nd year, I had no shame. But only in my free time
I do but I only started after I noticed my coworkers all did it. I also have a laptop at school so I prefer to use that and either work on class-related things or find something to read or bring for English Club. Usually during a normal work week I only use it during lunch time or after school if there’s no club because I don’t have time, but when I have weeks of deskwarming no one, including my principal and vice-principal, seems to care lol.
I tend not to use it at school, except during lunch. But the other teachers check theirs regularly. My school laptop does have internet though, and I’m in 5/6 lessons in a day so I tend not to have time.
I do a ton of deskwarming, so yeah, I use my phone. No one really seems to care what I do if I have nothing else going on. I don’t use it for games, streaming, etc., but the occasional text message is fine.
The teacher behind me was literally livestreaming a sports game on her work computer and another teacher came by to watch with her for a bit LOL. I see teachers on their tablets or phones all the time. No one cares.
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I will occassionally pull out my phone, check messages, and respond to people. However, I try to not spend too much time on it because I personally don’t think it looks good to be on it for too long. I just follow what the other teachers do and that is usually an indicator of whats acceptable.
SHS Jet. Yes. All the time. Perfectly acceptable. Other teachers use theirs at their desks too. I use mine in class too, to help with translating words and the teachers are happy with this.
follow what you see other teachers doing. if no one is ever on their phone in your teachers’ office, i wouldn’t use yours. if you see others using theirs, it’s fine. i would avoid using it too much for social media/personal stuff if you’re supposed to be doing something, though. i usually use mine during the lunch break, and if there’s no/very few other teachers in the office.
I use it at work when I want to take a break. I sit in the very back so I am hidden from other teachers. Plus other teachers don’t stay in one office. Some have multiple desks. If I have lesson planning or grading I tend to not use my phone as much.
All the time. I would use it at least part of the time to study kanji, so it was never a problem.
I usually don’t use it much, but that’s only because I prefer using my computer. Talking on the phone (unless related to work) is pretty much unacceptable, and I’m not supposed to even bring it to the classroom. But using it in the teacher’s room is no problem at all
One really hard thing about being an ALT is that teachers or staff won’t tell you that you’re doing something wrong to your face. You have to hear about it at recontracting time or some kind of performance evaluation. You have to watch out for things like this because even if nobody says anything, it doesn’t mean they’re not noticing. Even if someone has a problem with it, it’s not likely to even come up as an issue until it’s too late to do anything about it. Personally, I don’t use my smartphone except for lunch breaks or between classes, and even then, I’m actually doing something on it, not just scrolling Facebook. But again, some teacher’s rooms are really lax and other teachers mess around alot, so you have to read the room too.
I’ll spend all day on it. I have 6 lessons per week, max. I don’t plan lessons (we follow a textbook series largely to the letter), only have marking to do for a couple hours once in a while, and can’t do anything that makes it look like I’m not being productive in front of any kids who might visit the teachers’ lounge, so no headphones, books, etc. The phone can be played off as checking email and searching for stuff, so it seems to get a pass.
They seem to understand that when they leave a person with nothing productive to do for 2/3-3/4 of their time, there’s really no reason to kick up a fuss.
I spend a lot of time desk warming, so I spend more time on my phone than other teachers but usually, it’s for a few minutes or so, then back to computer stuff (rinse and repeat throughout the day). The biggest thing is that I use it as a hotspot for *all* my classes, so I always need it with me. My JTEs are aware of that, so I’ve yet to run into a problem.
I don’t think using it as much of a problem as how you use it, as in your body posture and what not. Tons of teachers are on theirs phones on LINE or reading articles or even watching stuff.
The key thing though is to kind of have it down on your desk or in an inconspicuous way to not distract other teachers. If you’re like leaning back and watching youtube with your phone up to your face than it’s like a middle finger to the other teachers who are busy.
I use it all the time (as i currently reply at school) and i see other teachers doing the same. Obvs esid so just go with whatever seems to be the work culture at your school.
I use it everywhere. Including in class right now. I play my game boy and switch at my desk too
How about students? Do they use their smahos while in classes? If so, what are the parameters of student smaho use at school? What have you observed?
I have it out on my desk, yes. But my LINE, FB messenger, email are on my laptop so I just have that opened. I’ll use my phone if I need to use google Lens, google maps, take a picture, etc. My school is pretty lenient, I see other teachers also using their phones, but my school knows I don’t nearly have as much stuff to do, so I don’t think they care. Besides, they know I am great with the students and in the classroom. They know how hard I study at Japanese. They don’t mind. But I don’t blatantly do it.
I have my phone out most of the day (thought I didn’t use it much the first few months, to establish rapport). Other teachers at my school also use their phone from time to time at their desks, but they have shit to do, so obviously it’s not all the time.
If we need to take a call, we usually go outside.
EDIT: People never take their phones to class though. I only ever use my phone in front of students at my desk or in club. (Ugh, I need to get a pocket dictionary.)
My base is the BOE office. I only use my phone during lunch, break time, and the teacher’s room time at schools if they don’t give me something to do. I use it a lot at the office. Sometimes I look up stuff for classes and what not, but most of the time I use it to entertain myself. The other alts here do things like read books, study, discord, watch dramas, etc. I’ve recently bought an ipad so I draw during my idle time. My coworkers like to see my pictures.
Big no no. I use it fast and discritely if others are watching. I usually go to the locker to chill and use it for longer. Or while taking a long dump that never comes out.
So, for me, I use my phone pretty much during all downtime I have at work. Reading books and social media, etc. Occasionally if I’m having a bad day or my head hurts and the buzz around the office is annoying me, I’ll listen to music or watch a video during lunch. While it’s true that some people never hear about issues until it’s time to recontract, I can also tell you that I’ve been doing this since day one and I was recontracted for a fifth year because I do my job well so clearly my phone isn’t distracting me from my work in any way. Now ESID, but if you’re showing up to class as the bell is ringing all the time or your PowerPoints/worksheets/kahoots are lame and sloppy but people see you constantly on your phone? That might be an issue.
The topic of phones reminded me of a conference I went to a couple of years ago. The principal of one of my schools was one of the organizers of this big mid-year conference and the prefectural ALTs and their JTEs all attended. They had some high level people fly in from MEXT in Tokyo to give presentations. It was a pretty big deal.
During the presentations the vast majority of the ALTs were messing around on their phones, trying to be inconspicuous. Browsing Reddit, texting each other, all kinds of shit. Needless to say, they weren’t as inconspicuous as they thought. The organizers all got emails from Tokyo complaining that the ALTs were fucking around on their phones, why were they allowed to have phones out in the first place, why did we fly in from Tokyo just to talk to people who were staring at their phones. It was a huge embarassment for the organizers. I heard that the schools were contacted and asked to make rules regarding phones for future conferences. So just a word to the wise, if you’re attending a conference or some other sort of JET-related event, don’t be that guy who causes other people to write angry emails.
I only used my phone when I was at the school where they stowed me away in a room on my own. At my other schools where I was in the teachers room area, I used my laptop instead.
Whoever gets their phones out during a conference is a shitbird with no respect and arrogant tendencies.
My base school is the BoE, I use my phone in the BoE office all day when I’m there.
I use it at my schools whenever I want to (obviously if I have no work to do). Other teachers use it in the staffroom or at their homeroom desk too. I just don’t browse tiktok or youtube or play games, but I read the news, reddit, messenger, a bit of insta etc.
I sometimes fish my phone out of my bag in class to google translate. If I’m looking for a word or students can’t explain what they mean, it’s just me checking a dictionary. I do the same in hallways chatting with students sometimes, for the same reason. Tying yourself to English-only will absolutely hamstring how comfortable students are with talking to you – it’s good to unlock meaning with that 1 translated word or phrase.
I use my phone while eating lunch too.
Not a single soul cares.
However, I agree, don’t use it in ALT meetings or conferences. Fuckin listen when all you need to do is listen. When at work doing nothing, that’s different though.
In the same vein, I use my PC all day for anything apart from playing games or watching videos/music, and nobody cares.
The key point: I can use my phone and laptop whenever, but I just have to not look like a douche who’s on youtube or playing games or kicking my feet up. I’m also often free so teachers understand I have nothing to do. Just follow other people’s lead without looking like a douchey lazy person.
Elementary school teacher here.
I use it pretty much whenever I want to. When I am teaching class I won’t obviously, but I do take it with me and if I need to look something up or translate something I will use it even in front of the students. No one seems to care.
No complaints here.
I use mine every day all the time.
I used mine when I need it since my computer at work has a firewall and I can barely access any materials. I get complaints NONSTOP from the JTEs to my BOE (my boe is a city hall) so they tell me to not use it if I don’t have to.
Then again, after talking to a few JETs, I found my placement is trash anyways. Take my complaint with a grain of salt.
After my 2nd year, I had no shame. But only in my free time
I do but I only started after I noticed my coworkers all did it. I also have a laptop at school so I prefer to use that and either work on class-related things or find something to read or bring for English Club. Usually during a normal work week I only use it during lunch time or after school if there’s no club because I don’t have time, but when I have weeks of deskwarming no one, including my principal and vice-principal, seems to care lol.
I tend not to use it at school, except during lunch. But the other teachers check theirs regularly.
My school laptop does have internet though, and I’m in 5/6 lessons in a day so I tend not to have time.
I do a ton of deskwarming, so yeah, I use my phone. No one really seems to care what I do if I have nothing else going on. I don’t use it for games, streaming, etc., but the occasional text message is fine.
The teacher behind me was literally livestreaming a sports game on her work computer and another teacher came by to watch with her for a bit LOL. I see teachers on their tablets or phones all the time. No one cares.