TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) – A west Alabama high school teacher is singing the praises of the new state ban on cell phones in class after Alabama lawmakers passed the no cell ban during their most recent legislative session.
Tuscaloosa County High School U.S. history teacher Jonathan Buchwalter expressed his happiness on social media, calling the new ban a major difference in classroom learning and retention.
Buchwalter posted on TikTok about how amazed he was by what the ban has done. It’s driven teaching and learning back to the basics.
“Today, all of my students, 100% took notes in my class, did their assignments,” Buchwalter said on TikTok.
“A fun creative outlook,” said Buchwalter when speaking with WBRC.
A creative outlook with a very pointed message with a touch of comedy; the no cell phone ban is working for Buchwalter, and it’s made his job easier, fun again, and the students are learning. A recent quiz told the story.
“The scores were much better than I usually expect for my first test,” he said.
Before the ban, teachers like Buchwalter often struggled to teach because there were the constant interruptions of cell phones ringing, pinging, singing, and vibrating. Even the former Marine was close to a breaking point.
“I have been pulling my hair out for like.. 8 years,” said Buchwalter on TikTok.
“You get a lot of friction with students over the phones, and what was most frustrating for me wasn’t me trying to enforce it, it was them in conversations about their phone use, they know it’s a problem,” he said.
Not anymore.
Buchwalter says the statewide ban is working and the buy-in is growing at ‘county’ high.
“So far the buy-in is way better than I expected from the students.”
“Has it been this easy all along?,” he asked on TikTok.
Apparently so. It just took the will to do it.
Before the ban, Buchwalter says it never got to the point where he thought about leaving the teaching profession. He says, “this is what ‘I am supposed to do.”
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