The Literate Teacher's Manifesto

I want to start this post with a small story. My family went to dinner with some friends on Friday night, and I wanted to make a real, concerted effort to be present, without my phone. And it turns out, if one person makes that effort, it seems to spread and be contagious, because we were at dinner for about an hour and a half and phones only made an appearance twice. Once, because we were trying to remember "tan George's" real name (George Hamilton... thanks Google), and once because my son got so tickled trying to tell a story that my husband had to take a video of his struggles--they were truly epic. Both of these were good reminders that technology can enrich our time together instead of distract us! And now for the real update: my tracking app predictions were just about right. On average, over the course of the last 5 days, I pick my phone up 40-60 times a day, and spend 3-4 hours on it per day. Ugh. Just seeing it written down there makes me feel even worse. A...

Day Four Update: I am not suffering DT's yet. These first days of the 30-day phone breakup are mostly about paying closer attention: to when you grab your phone, to how you're feeling before and after, and about being mindful to think about WHY you're picking it up before you actually do. I have noticed several patterns already. First, I always reach for my phone while I'm driving--a terrible habit just waiting to turn into a disaster. I have also noticed that I reach for my phone when I am purposelessly sitting somewhere public; like waiting for someone or for something to start. I think it stems from the need to look busy, like I'm not just sitting there like a lame duck. I am an important person with important things going on. I have noticed that phones are contagious, like yawning. You can observe this phenomenon in any public space. When one person picks up his/ her phone, the motion spreads across the crowd. It's crazy. I reach for my phone when I ...

Do you ever get the feeling that your entire existence is dictated by whatever sound your phone makes? In my case, every time I hear a snippet of the Harry Potter theme song (dum-dum da-da-dum da-duumm-duumm), I drop what I'm doing and grab my phone. I've been pretty convicted over the last few months that I need to do something to get this addiction under control, and to take back the reins of my own time. I just finished reading How to Break Up With Your Phone  by Catherine Price. The 30-day plan laid out in this book, compounded with its focus on mindfulness, seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. So, I'm taking thirty days to regroup on my relationship with my phone. And I'm devoting some of the extra time I'll have to writing more on my blog (probably about how the breakup is going).  This post will serve as both an introduction, and an update on the first two days. The first question the book poses is, "What do you want to pay attention to...