LTTIC
What did you learn on your summer vacation?
We know language changes over time. Remember reading The Canterbury Tales? "Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote..." is English, of course, and means the same as "When April with its showers sweet." All language changes, some faster than others (English seems to be one of the faster changers while Japanese tends to be a slower changer). The reasons for change are often obvious (invading armies and migration bring new cultures and regimes and new technology drives the need for new terms). There are three main aspects of linguistic change: pronunciations, sentence structure and vocabulary. It's this latter that is at the heart of what many of our students learned during their summer vacation.
The number of cell phones in use in the US in 2007 was 255,000,000 out of approximately 306,000,000 people. Take out the 6% of the people who are over 73 and the 10% who are under ten and that leaves one cell phone for every person between the ages of 10 and 73 with a cell phone. (Obviously, some must have two or three!)
New vocabulary grew from both the technology demands (Twitter's 140 character maximum limit and the texting restraints of typing on that cell phone) along with the concurrent need for speaking "code."
Do you know what "P911" means? (Parents coming into the room alert)
How about "PAW"? (Parents are watching)
"PIR"? (Parents in room)
Or how about LTTIC? (Look, the teacher is coming)
You get the picture.
"LGH" is Let's get high and so is "420" and IGHT is "I got high tonight."
There are excellent "translator" websites out there for those who need help reading this code.
How prevalent is texting? In the United States, the most common "texters" are in the age group 13-27 with over 87% texting on a regular basis. What are the implications for educators? Wikipedia has an excellent article on texting with plenty of references to historical trends. But the bottom line is that for the classroom, "smart" cell phones are problematic. There is one report of a 14-year-old girl from Wisconsin who was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for texting in class. A new law (Texas House Bill 55) goes into effect in Texas which bans the use of cell phones in "school zones."
However, it's a tough trend to fight when 87% of your students are involved with the activity to the extent that is has become a part of their lives. One Australian school has decided to "go with the flow" and now offers SMS 101 - a course that teaches the development of the English language that incorporats the texting phenomenon.
Of critial concern is the widespread use of texting to intimidate or bully. And the newly coined phrase "sexting." A good source of information is the website Committe for Children. In order to combat this growing trend both teachers and parents will have to work together to prevent abuse. The first step: be aware. The second step: have a plan. An excellent start to your plan might start with Bright Hub. Julia Bodeeb lists step-by-step suggestions for educators:
- Enforce Rules
- Confiscate
- Contact Parents
- Talk to the Class about Hazards
If your students become bored and act out in class, why place them in a detention room where they will become even more bored, and perhaps act out again? Give them something to do that will not only keep them active, but will help them set goals to prevent future misbehavior. The Advantage Press, Inc. publishes a number of behavior packets ready to use "right out of the box." No learning curve, no working at understanding basic theoretical concepts -- students simply read material that can help teachers successfully manage student behavior. You are welcome to try our free samples.
Free samples are provided at our website.
All new for 2009-2010: Truancy Packets. Our Truancy Packets are designed to keep kids in school and in class. These packets focus on the most common reasons for truancy and provide positive and rational reasons for students to drop their truancy habits and set goals to attend school regularly and graduate. Try a free sample.