Texting/ahas
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Tell us how you figured things out, over time.
Note to documenters: please share the following:
COMMUNICATION AHAS. In the process of doing the work, what did the working group learn about improving communications in education? (Who needs to share which information with whom, via which media, to support a young person? What are the barriers to that communication, and how can those barriers be overcome?)
IMPLEMENTATION AHAS. In the process of doing the work, what did the working group learn about implementing innovations (and specifically, communication solutions) in education?
TURNING POINTS. Moments when you redirected the project accordingly, after a communication aha or an implementation aha.
Share visual examples and use photos or videos of people whenever you can!
Do a Google search for student-teacher texting and most of what you will find is fear: districts considering bans on texting or teachers quietly posting updates about their own personal experiences with trying it. Many view texting as an inappropriate mode of communication between teachers and students, for several main reasons: Even more a year ago than now, texting feels like a “youth” medium. Also, the sort of support it could offer immediately seems particularly personal because it really feels like a private “tube” between two people. As stated earlier, it also extends the boundaries of potential communication with students outside the school day and into teachers’ own “personal lives.”
Instead of just fearing texting, we rolled out a texting pilot explicitly with 40 students and put our joint findings on the internet. But Mo and Ted were special teachers, and FC/NW is a special school: all teachers work in what Ted called “teacher-counselor mode” and expect personal support relationships as part of their job. Each teacher has a co-counseling group that meets twice a week, where they get to know more about their young people’s personal struggles. They work in a “triangle” with other professionals, “between clinician, academic, teacher-counselor, daily. “ But really, Ted and Mo are simply encouraged by their school to build teacher-student support relationships, something every teacher has to do but may not have the time or the administrative support to do as some part of her job.
Over time, our overall COMMUNICATION AHA would be about the benefits of texting for student-teacher relationship. But our first COMMUNICATION AHA was more obvious: texting works when you can’t reach young people any other way for time-sensitive information.
In a visit in February, Ted said that he was “using the system pretty well.” He gave an example of how he’d used GoogleVoice: Ted got last minute info in a staff meeting that a ski trip was available to a new student he’d recently met and had been helping with math. The “kid’s voicemail was full.” So, Ted texted the student to tell him to bring needed info and a signed permission slip the next day. “Lots of exclamation points, ‘thank you,’” Ted said, adding that with the student there was now a ‘high level of communication.” Later in retelling this story, Ted added that this exchange, which happened “in an 18 hour turnout,” “allowed us to make a strong connection right when he got to the school.”
Similarly, another student said that he lacked a home phone, so texting helped:
“Sometimes they call your house when there’s no school, but I don’t have a house phone. They might call my mom but she never picks up. If he (Ted) hadn’t texted me (about the snow day), I wouldn’t have woken up for school.”
In another case, a student who had been kicked out of school (and relatedly, was the only texting student to actually say “fuck you” via text that year) then texted Ted to find out what his situation was and whether he faced expulsion. And here’s an e.g. of texting that helped when a student was literally absent from school:
Me: Worried about you!! 8:15 PM Student: im feeling much better now I will deff see u tmr (: 8:16 PM Me: Good we miss you!! Can mom right a note for the last 2 days 8:17 PM Student: she called watson today telling him I was out sick not truent 8:18 PM Me: Good..see you tomorrow..and glad your feeling better!! 8:19 PM Student: thanks 8:24 PM
COMMUNICATION AHA: Texting particularly helps with building relationships.
In early March, Uche and Mica got together with Mo and Ted and looked at the GoogleVoice record of their texts. Neither Mo or Ted had seen the others’ before. Our plan: to “pull out examples of texts that you find interesting. How would you label the “type” of communication that occurred? (e.g., we see a lot of “wake-up calls”; other labels might be “the location check-in”; “the reminder”: the “personal check-in”). What does the example make you think about the benefits of texting in student-teacher relationships? How about any cautions about it? Finally, can you provide any evidence of any text’s effects on any student’s achievement/motivation/relationship with you?”
It was notable how many different school-related subjects a teacher and student could text about! So far, Mo had primarily been texting with students for wakeup calls; paperwork reminders; discussions of personal updates; updates on other students that students knew about; health check-ins; and discussions of absence. She bantered a lot with the students, too. We laughed often in the pilot about the number of exclamation points Mo tended to use in her texts!!!!!!!!
Ted reported that he had reviewed his own Google Voice record and “broke it up into categories – who talks to about what. (There’s) a cluster about being on time. Another about dropout prevention, kids who haven’t been to school in a long time, what can we do to transition you out of here easier. And, checkins w/ students about miscellaneous—academics, work, home, if they’re heading toward that dropout prevention category . . . Also snow days, field trips, some kids need to bring attire for electives (gym attire, skates, something they may need for the next day). back to on time, staying a full day – if kids walk out I remind them about the day before. . . . And also, jobs. Kids that want jobs.”
Ted was texting with students about absences and lateness; afterschool activity (he coached a boxing club and led a lot of trips); and for personal checkins, which then often considered academic issues. Students were checking in with him via text about academic issues like credits and discipline records. One student had texted him to ask how he was doing after a fraught interaction, and how his weekend went. A few kids had texted him for help in class – and in some cases he was strongly pushing young people to attend class or keep up their motivation via text. The other texts Ted had been sending in February were “more like routine -- no school, snowstorm, ‘you haven’t been in school where are ya’ type stuff.” “Some kids don’t respond to those at all, some kids do,” he said. Ted had said in February that his students were texting him to ask questions about the semester change – “New electives, new teachers, new schedules – some confirmations on preparations for the next day – are we going skating, to boxing club tomorrow, to bring in the right clothes.” An example:
Me: Bring in your insurance info tomorrow, the company and your policy number, with 10 bucks, yor going skiing thursday! 3:23 PM Student: Thank you soo much ted! i will .. ill have it all tomarrow! 4:12 PM Me: Are you going to school tomorrow? 6:59 PM Student: Yea .. deffintly 9:36 PM Me: Boxing club tomorrow 6:18 PM Student: Ok .. should i bring anything? 6:41 PM Me: Workout clothes 6:42 PM Student: Ok .. thanks .. 7:03 PM
Also when reading such texts, teachers expressed surprise and satisfaction with “the language that the kids are using to thank (them)…It’s refreshing to know that they have that capability.” As in the example above, many student expressed gratitude and other emotions through their texts that that teachers said they didn’t experience as often in the classroom.
Neither teacher was fielding lots of questions about schoolwork via text. Instead, they were texting more about logistics, reminders, updates, absence explanations -- and in the process, building relationships. In fact,
In our March conversation, we realized another COMMUNICATION AHA: it could be very useful to a teacher to have an entire “relationship” with a young person documented via texting.
In several other cases, Mo had shown texts with a depressed or self-destructive student to the principal, to say “look, I’m really worried.” As Ted put it, documenting a relationship helped in less crucial cases as well:
“when I’m texting a kid I creep back up to the history to see what concerns have come up in the past – helpful for me, just so I can keep it all together, keep track. To remind myself – would like to help them more, talk to them more frequently.” (Later in the pilot, Ted would also point out the opposite: it became a burden to look back at exchanges that were complicated, and sometimes you just wanted to start clean with a student the next day.)
Shelia agreed on our April Research Day that texts kept a relationship around with you, for later viewing. “With a phone call, it’s out of your head,” Shelia explained. “With a text message it’s still there when you turn on your phone – it still reminds you. You have to delete it if you don’t want it – it’s there to remind you.”
If one judged texting by the immediate consequences of a given text, it could look at times unsuccessful. Last week, Ted said in February, a doctor showed up at school for testing one of his students, but “the kid didn’t show up for school that day.” Ted texted him at 10 (the appt was 9-11); he “texted me right back w/ what sounded like a confirmation that he was coming but then didn’t come. So that was almost a success story but not.” Mo noted that students she texted to wake up still came late. But, the same students were using text to contact her with serious support needs, even during drug rehab placements. Mo was using her texting to support one young person with depression, so that they eventually came in to school. As Mo put it in March, “Success for a depressed student in a sense is the engagement itself. Even having this exchange.” And as Ted said earlier in the year, “In some ways, it comes down to someone paying attention to them.” As Mo explained of one text she sent to a student in March, “I wanted to make her feel good before she went to bed.” And Mo reported in March that she had this talk with a student the previous day:
"I just wanna make sure you’re ok – when I text you I wanna know you’re ok, safe,” she said, adding, “we worry about you!” He had responded, “I know you guys do, I will definitely write you something.”
Over and over in the pilot, we talked about how texts showed not just connection but true caring. Shelia pointed out Mo’s own text to a student as similarly important: “worried about you.” “It shows that she really cares,” Shelia explained. “You had a bad day yesterday” was pointed out as a particularly caring teacher “check-in.” Mo pointed out that one student had asked Ted “how was your weekend.” Students pointed out texts from Ted and Mo like “you made 1 day last week” (“I like the encouragement,” said one student) and “you’re a smart kid” (“That’s really nice because some kids might feel doubt and don’t get many compliments from people,” another student said.). Shelia pointed out that overall, the texts could build relationship and simultaneously, the motivation to try. “You need to know [teachers] care in order to do stuff. Otherwise what’s the point in trying. If a person is ‘I’m here for you’ – you feel someone else cares, I should care too.”
In the next case, the youth was still not in school, but a relationship was being built to get him in the next time. Note the three quick appreciative texts back after a compliment, which many students pointed out on Research Day:
Me: Hey is your mom coming in 8:20 AM Student: Yah bro waiting for her that's y I ain't in school my G G=grandma lmao ur old 8:21 AM Me: Not funny....lol 8:23 AM Student: Ii hate the fact u don't apritiate my jokes 8:24 AM Student: -_- 8:24 AM Me: But I appreciate you:-) 8:26 AM Student: Ahhh good made my morning 8:31 AM Student: =) 8:32 AM Student: Lol jk jk idc 8:32 AM Me: Awwwww 8:33 AM
Similarly, in the next case it was of course not the actual medical help Ted offered via text that could be supportive to the student, but the caring itself:
Hey I dont think im going to come to school tomorw im wicked sick 7:19 PM Have a glass of o.j. and drink water often. Get some rest, and you'll feel great in the morning, ready for school 7:44 PM Ive been doing that all day and it hasnt helped one bit 7:58 PM Lets have a good full 1/2 day tomorrow 9:31 PM Idont know if im goin to school tomorrow 9:46 PM You haven't been putting consecutive full days together, push yourself to improve, you can do it! 9:49 PM
Still, COMMUNICATION AHA: Fundamental academic support, personal support, and light banter can occur in the same conversation. Just as in face to face conversation, there’s no either/or.
Here’s an exchange that went from a basic schedule update, to a communication about stickers (Somerville “Villen” gear), to fundamental questions about school deadlines:
Me: No school tomorrow 7:09 PM Student: -_- aww .... Hey do you have any villen stickers by any chance :) jw 7:11 PM Me: Haha, no 7:12 PM Student: Aww :( .... I wish there was school tommorrow .... Hey do you think the school will extend the add drop day .... Like give us another week for add drop o 7:16 PM Student: r no...??? Jw 7:16 PM Me: Not sure 7:16 PM Student: Okaii well I hope you have a nice day or two off :) 7:17 PM Me: Thanks you too 7:19 PM Student: Ill try -_- ..... :) 7:20 PM
Conversely, communications that started about serious school status questions could then turn into banter that was both joking and academically important:
Student: Ted do u kn how long I am suspened for 9:41 PM Me: David wanted to have a meeting this week, I will call you tomorrow, sorry so late 10:48 PM Student: No I kn that I just need to kn wen is the meeting 10:49 PM Student: Thow 10:54 PM Me: Tony do you still have the math book I gave you for homework? If you do let me know and Lisa too 2:38 PM Student: Ya I do 2:59 PM Me: Use it! 3:27 PM Student: Ok. I will 3:31 PM
Another text exchange between Ted and a student mixed banter and serious stuff:
X: I just left my house right now so I'm going to b late 7:47 AM Me: And I need to know this? 7:48 AM Me: Hurry up! 7:49 AM X: Because I don't want you to worry 7:49 AM Me: You miss school regularly silly goose 7:51 AM X: I came in all this week and collected points 7:54 AM Me: Get here, we can celebrate 7:55 AM X: Hahaha okk I'm on cross street now 7:58 A X: Noo! almost closest ive been! 7:27 AM Me: Good try though, we both have some studying to do over vacation 7:28 AM X: thanks and i know my eyes will be glued to that rmv book 7:29 AM
COMMUNICATION AHA: In many texts, we saw that texting can build a relationship for school even if you are not talking about school.
Several students texted Ted about sports events: even one student (above with "silly goose") who had been asked to leave school a few months earlier, “texted me after lakers beat the celtics last week, at 10:30 pm”:
Student: Lol wat just happend to ur celtics 10:48 PM Me: Ha 10:57 PM
When a HGSE student asked one of Ted’s students, who had not been responding to Ted’s texts, about the utility of the texts to him, he suggested that he “finds (them) useful, but I just don’t want to text back.” He added that he’d like to hear from Ted over the weekend once in a while, even if just to “how his weekend was going.” The student wanted to know more about Ted outside of school: for example, “is he working anywhere else, or is he just a teacher?” Talking about this non school-related stuff, the student claimed, would “make their relationship grow even stronger.” Many students made similar statements in private interviews and group discussions. Obens, another of Ted’s students summed up the sentiment in our April Research Day: “When you’re texting you feel like you’re closer to the teacher.” Ted agreed, “(Texting) definitely strengthens our face to face, day to day relationships.”
Texting relationships could also morph over time from banter to serious exchanges. Ted’s first group text that winter prompted this response from a student who at first did not text at all with Ted but later would build a relationship trusting enough that she could reveal serious personal struggles to him:
Me: A reminder that tonight is Parent-Teacher night at NW/FC. Please notify your loved one at home that teachers are at school to meet them from 6:30-7:45pm. 9:05 AM Student: O please lol 9:10 AM
Ironically, Ted noted in March that texting could allow more “words” to be exchanged between student and teacher, rather than less: “One word answers [in person] with teenagers are more typical,” but via texting, “This is not one word answers. . .it’s better than “huh.” As Uche put it, “it takes more effort to text than to talk.” Ted added: “even more than they know they are giving – it might seem mindless, just chatting, and next thing you’re their friend!”
Finally, COMMUNICATION AHA: unsurprisingly, normalizing texting as something students and teachers can do makes it easier to strike up that sort of relationship with a young person.
Mo and Ted agreed that the OneVille Project made student-teacher texting seem normal and acceptable. In the past, for example, Ted probably would not have asked a new student for his texting number so quickly. As Mo put it, “in the past I would wait until I developed a relationship w/ the kid and then get his texting number. I would have waited to overhear a conversation about texting, then say, “oh, you text? You don’t have my number!” and then, start texting.”
COMMUNICATION AHA: Texting didn’t supplant face to face conversation. Often, the text was really just a portal to a more informed face to face conversation.
For example, one of the teachers texted one student this:
Me: I heard you had a bad afternoon at school. Check in first thing tomorrow 7:03 PM
In another text, this student informed one of the two teachers about a physical argument with a former boyfriend via text; texting back, the teacher “said we could talk later [in person], and we did.” “She never told me that,” said the other teacher, adding that it was indicative of both texting and the growth in the student-teacher relationship “That she could share something so big, with you, that she trusts you so much that she could tell you that.”
“Have good conversations,” Yose advised other teachers considering texting with students as we ended our April Research Day. “Like don’t just talk about school. Also talk about how your day’s going, stuff like that. Don’t just keep it about school.” Ted finished our Research Day with more overall advice: “It’s up to both people to enhance the texting relationship. If the student is just responding “ok” or “yes” or “no,” that doesn’t allow the texting relationship to develop and to go towards communications that aren’t just ‘be on time.’”
COMMUNICATION AHA: politeness and respect while texting!
On our April Research Day at Harvard, students read transcripts taken from Google Voice (with participants’ permission and anonymized for analysis) and were immediately perceptive about another “pattern in the data”: students and teachers were noticeably polite to each other, texting “thanks and you’re welcome” after texts about permission slips, reminders, and personal check-ins on grades or life. “The kids haven’t been crossing boundaries in any way – no one has been inappropriate,” Mo said that day.
VIDEO OF MO HERE FROM RESEARCH DAY?
Another student, Obens, explained that for texting to be successful, you’ve got to “keep it private, clean, respectful, stuff like that.” When pushed to define respect, he suggested that students should “give the teacher the same respect you’d give them in school. Don’t think that outside you should act different.”
Ted had noted in our March review of texts the “language the students are using in thanking us – they’re receptive to positive talk that they don’t do verbally with you.” In person, they don’t necessarily “stop and appreciate you in moments” the way they were doing with texting. Students were “taking the time to write back, thanking you for letting them know about something – it strengthens the relationship with us and the school.” In research day, several students noted the following texting exchange as interesting and important in its level of student-teacher respect. Starting from an unsolicited text from student to teacher, the exchange turned into communications about “putting a grade up” in the class:
Student: Hope your alright man.sorry that happened too u 9:43 PM Me: I'm cool, thanks tho, have a good weekend 9:47 PM Student: Alright man have a good n 11:22 PM Me: Everything ok? 9:30 AM Student: Ted? 10:39 AM Me: Yup 11:02 AM Student: Everythings alright I guess im gonna b in tm .. Is there anything I can do to put my grade up for your class 11:05 AM Me: Be on time tomorrow, we'll talk then. 11:06 AM Student: Alright 11:09 AM
COMMUNICATION AHA: concerns about students being “inappropriate” with the channel may be overblown.
In Feb, Ted reported that “kids are testing limits w/ texting me while they are standing next to me in school, to get a reaction, not get a reaction – b/c they know they can’t use their phone in school. but they’re not abusing it or anything, they are just testing it.“ In March, Mo noted that one student whose “mouth is a gutter” had “corrected himself” after using the “n word” in a text because “he knows I would say something.” In March, Ted also noted that “A good boundary has unintentionally or intentionally been set by the kids or us – a few texts over weekend at night but didn’t start coming in at one in the morning.” Ted and Mo both agreed that kids had done basically nothing inappropriate with the texts -- as our ground rules had requested.
Here was another important COMMUNICATION AHA: Looking again at Ted’s text “you need to be in school way more my friend,” both Mo and Shelia noted on Research Day that texts put students and teachers “on the same level.” Students felt equally comfortable with the medium, even more comfortable at times:
“Some people might feel more comfortable saying it via texting more than face to face --- because in person you might feel shy, awkward and not know what to say back,” said a student from across the room on Research Day. “I’d rather text my parents than call them,” a student added.
Pointing out uses of humor in the texts, Yose made another point about how texting could add to student-teacher relationships: people could communicate even if a student was in a bad mood. A face to face conversation might end with the student “shouting” out of anger, unable to help it; with texting, you could “be mad” and still “send a funny text.” With texting you could show the recipient the “emotions” you wanted them to see, and not necessarily what you felt. Another student elaborated relatedly from across the room: with texting, you could overcome the “intimidation” of possible “rejection” by the other person, by sending lighthearted texts across the private channel that did not have to be responded to immediately. Emotion was “easier to handle” via texts, another student said.
We noted many times over the year that texting can handle many “styles” of communication. Ted noted in March that, “Mo is more of a conversationalist with the way she is texting – mine are more announcement style, school 8 a.m. tomorrow, don’t forget boxing tomorrow, stuff they don’t have to respond to – I do that to protect myself a little bit – I don’t want to burden them or feel like I’m waiting for a response from them.” Mo added, “more an FYI type of thing.” Ted agreed: “if they have a follow up they text me back.” Still, Ted later received and sent many joking texts as well and followed up proactively and personally with many a student over the course of the pilot.
By late spring, when we asked Ted what his response would be “to a teacher who might say ‘banter’ or misspellings that happen via text are a problem for education.” Ted had this to say, though not all teachers would agree:
Ted: lighten up. Anyone who does text is probably aware that the spellings and capitalization and punctuation are going to be all over the place. So we might need to say, against fear of this tech, ‘get used to this -- this is not going anywhere, this is what people are doing.’ It’s almost unhealthy to fear this at this point; this is where we are going. If you want the perfect sentences, do that in an English class, but that’s not what we’re trying to do.
Over and over, students noted that texts demonstrated caring because they demonstrated effort by both students and teachers to respond to the other. Texting somebody back “shows you appreciate the person and you’re thankful they helped you out,” Shelia said. Mo added: “They appreciate (Ted, our Full Circle teacher) taking time out of his own private life to send these texts.” Obens said that texts from Ted had gotten him to school on time.
When we analyzed this next example in research day, the students noted the easy but respectful banter between student and teacher (“ahhh jesus ted. Fine 8”).The student who had sent these texts noted that he himself was putting in the time to do back and forth texting about attendance rules and felt motivated to be there on time:
Me: School 8:00am manana 7:10 PM Student: ok boss 9:33 PM Me: 8am! 6:19 PM Student: Ok lol 6:22 PM Student: 8:10? 6:22 PM Me: Try for 7:55, and get settled with something to read mi amigo 6:24 PM Student: That's too early ted. I'm make it before 8:10 6:25 PM Me: Nooooooo, 8! 6:26 PM Student: Ahhh jesus ted. Fine 8 6:43 PM Me: Arrive late, leave early, booo 3:26 PM Student: I made it on time 3:34 PM Me: School starts at 8, no later 3:36 PM Me: You can do it! 3:37 PM Student: But to be late its 8:10 4:00 PM
Wielding her highlighter, Shelia selected another text from Ted to a student as important evidence: “you need to be in school way more my friend.” “ I feel like it’s genuine concern,” she explained. “It shows connection,” Obens added. “It also shows courage.” He pointed out that the teacher was “taking time to text people about stuff – taking time to get a person to school on time. That shows courage on the part of the teacher. Also on the student, by replying back.” Shelia agreed, adding, “It takes the courage to make that bond – from the teacher -- and also for the student to participate in the bond.”
The student above ("Ahhh jesus ted") added on Research Day, “Who would want to text a teacher – there’s a lot you could be doing at that time. A lot of people won’t do it – that they do it means they really care about what they are doing.” As evidence, he pointed out a text he himself had sent back to Ted: he had “put in the effort” with responses, like “fine” and “I’ll make it [to school] by 8:10.” “I sleep a lot – but I made it before 8:10. It did help. I was used to coming in around 8:30,” he said. Ted highlighted this same point later in the research day: student texts to teachers “show a level of investment. Even if (the text is) not school related, the student is checking in, making that contact, when they don’t have to. It’s really important to understand – the value of doing things not only when you have to do things.”
On Research Day, we left sure that texting had “helped” in these teachers’ classrooms but unsure how it might work in “a school of like 600,” as someone put it. Full Circle/Next Wave are particularly “personal” schools, some pointed out: “in other schools it’s less personal, you get five minutes with that teacher,” Shelia said. We left with a question: does that sort of lack of “personal” time for face to face attention in other schools make something like texting more likely to get traction or not? More likely to help, or less?
These thoughts raised a key COMMUNICATION AHA: texting’s time commitment showed caring and built relationship. But it also -- took time!
As Ted put it in March, “if we had serious students who wanted help academically this could get out of control – multiple texts, multiple students, if students do their homework every night and want a question answered every night – so maybe structuring that with a [texting] office hours idea – [a group chat ] a couple days a week – with that type of demographics.” While computers would be most useful for serious group homework help, “texting is better b/c they don’t need a computer” and many didn’t have them to use. Further, Ted pointed out that as with any channel, you could just choose how much support you do and don’t offer as a texting teacher.
As Ted put it re. wakeup texts, “I’m going to try not to go as far as the Next Wave (junior high) will go – I’m trying to put more responsibility on the high school student – I’m shying away from the pre-school conversation.” Students indicated that they were indeed used to getting reminders: “I don’t like getting nagged but it’s what gets me to do stuff,” said a student.
In June, as paperwork and school’s ending takes over, texting began to feel a bit “extra” to the teachers. Mo had stopped doing daily wakeup texts for now: “The last couple months I haven’t texted as much as I did in the first half of the year,” she said. “There’s so much crap you have to do – paperwork for SPED – time consumed w/ life,” said Ted, who had just had a baby. “Especially w/ the baby, I haven’t thought about texting kids that much – but I have more on personal stuff b/c I haven’t been in classroom so much – “how’s your daughter . .They texted me when the Bruins won.”
While one-to-one relationship-building definitely took time, quick check-ins via text could of course also save time. Some quick check-ins otherwise simply couldn’t happen in person during busy days. “She’s making sure the kid doesn’t get in trouble – she asks him to call his mom and stuff,” Yose noted of another of Mo’s texts on Research Day. “She couldn’t do this face to face b/c he wasn’t in school.” Similarly, Mo pointed out a quick student request for useful information that had happened via text: “hey do you think they’re gonna extend the add drop period?” In class, Oben explained, “I don’t feel like bothering (Ted) w/ those types of questions.“
In March, Mo had mentioned that to save time, she really needed a tweaked Google Voice, which typically only allows a text to a group of 5 people. Having “started out texting every Thursday for homework,” she had “got away from it b/c was a pain to do 5 and then 5 – to do all at once will make it a whole lot easier.” Ted argued in June that a texting “blast” to all would save him time, once we worked out the technical kinks. But time was still a concern in one-to-one texting -- even as for now, the relationship-building made it worth it.
We had some final “ahas” about the use of texting in public schools:
COMMUNICATION AHA: of course, if your support network uses your phone to reach you, you need a phone.
Several times in the pilot, students lost phones, had their phones shut off b/c of not paying bills, or simply ran out of plan minutes. In March, Mo reported a range of “Someone who lost phone, someone who left in cousin’s car, someone who got it taken away – some shut off – [xx] owes 500 on his phone, so doesn’t have his phone any more… . and they’re always changing numbers.” In these cases, it was clear that economics matters in using texting for student support and that texting was hardly a foolproof method of reaching students. But this is the case regardless of whether people are using phones – and relying on phones may be more equitable in some ways than relying on people to have the flexibility to meet you for face to face meetings whenever you’re free, or, to have computers and internet access.
A quote on the complexity of economics, from a student who had 78 texting minutes a month, period:
I think I have email on my phone but I have to pay for it. I could check on my mom’s phone, she has a blackberry. If I’m near a computer. . I’ll check my facebook and then my email. [how often do you check your email?] not often. . I could try to check and let you know. Could I do it via phone call? I don’t have minutes and so I can’t text. Like when you get a cell phone it runs off of minutes, you have to pay for cell phone, internet, texts. When I have no minutes I have no text messages, no phone calls, nothing. [that’s the situation, til when?] till the 8th or 9th of April. [so If I text you you don’t even get it?] nope. . . . I dn’t have a lot so easy to run out – 78 minutes.
This student later got a Droid that allowed her to do texting, internet, even “edit papers.” And students also made their own solutions within economic limits. Another student showed us his ingenious phone arrangement: to save on texting and internet charges, he carried an unactivated iphone (purchased from a friend for xx) that he used to access the internet over the school’s wifi network. Coupled with smartphone apps for different social networks and texting over the internet, he was able to approximate having a full fledge smartphone while saving money. The student also carried a prepaid phone for calls and texts.
COMMUNICATION AHA: in our brief test of texting between HGSE students and the FC/NW students, we began to see that texting can support ongoing career mentoring, too.
In February, we decided that the HGSE students needed a clearer “role” with the young people even just to check in with them via text on “how is texting going” or “how are you doing.” The students also noted that a relationship was needed first, before students could feel comfortable texting with new adults. Our decision: HGSE students would return with new roles as college/career readiness mentors on call as well as co-researchers.
A texting relationship really did blossom between youth and the HGSE folks who headed to the school a number of times for personal conversations (and, as one student put it, to crack a few jokes). Privately, Mica had this extended conversation with one student, two months after we began:
March 15, 2011, 9:17 p.m.
M: Hey there – a mentor signed up with district but she wants to mentor in journalism carers. Not your thing, correct? Still seeking science and math person from them. And, any questions for me on college/academic stuff? I’m always here to be asked Student: (immediately!): Do you have any info on culinary arts. M: I know someone starting a restaurant as a chef. And someone else who made it as a chef in NYC S: Do you have anything on culinary colleges? M:I think the chef in NYC went to one. Want me to ask? S: Yes thanks M: What’s your email address or how would I put him in touch with you? I have to go through his dad, etc. S: (email address deleted) M: Ps is it chef role you are interested in or something else? S: chef. But I’m also interested in everything actually. M: everything in the world or everything about culinary school? S: Culinary school. Lol M: How about the science of food btw? There’s a course at Harvard about that; maybe google it S: I’ll google it. M: ((having googled it myself too)): How about this to get started too – Harvard lectures online from chefs on science and food! http://scientopia.org/blogs/everydaybiology/2011/03/03/harvard-lectures-the-science-of-cooking-and-molecular-gastronomy S: (10:31): Awesome thanks. I’ll ttyl. Good night ((I have to google “ttyl” and learn it means “talk to you later” (!!!)))
As it turned out, she had no way to look up these links without going to school to use the computers, because her phone had no access to the internet and she had no internet-linked computer at home. Still, we began a conversation about her career interests that expanded in the months to come -- and she later got a Droid.
Texting afforded immediate career links and also, highlighted a key IMPLEMENTATION AHA: face to face mentoring meetings can be really hard to schedule!
We promised early on to bring new tutors and mentors on to students’ “teams” if they wanted them. But it took a long time to get recommendations from the district coordinator (who needed clearance from the principal and then, descriptions of students’ precise interests), and it was very hard to schedule the face to face afterschool meetings between the tutors interested and the students. One tutor was only available after 5:00 and on weekends, as she worked. And the student we were seeking this tutor for described her own work schedule at Kmart:
“. . .every week it is different” – she can’t guarantee that they won’t schedule her for that day! KMart asked what days she can’t work and she said Fri and Wed and they always put her on those days! It also changes every week how many hours she gets – some weeks she’ll have 2 days, some 4 days – she never knows how many hours she’ll get exactly. A range usually 3:45-10. Sometimes 5:15-10. . . .“I also work on weekends. . . sometimes I can work in the morning, like this Sat I’m scheduled from 11 to 6:15.”
In the end, it took several weeks of coordinating texts, emails, and phone calls to try to get one tutor to meet 3 girls face to face in the school. After we finally set up a meeting between the tutor and the girls after school at Dunkin Donuts, just one student took the tutor up on the opportunity – after Mica sent multiple text messages urging the student to reschedule a conflict and advised the tutor via text through gridlock traffic. No better evidence that face-to-face mentoring just isn't possible all the time!