Losing my mind over losing my phone
I was going to write about brain research and a runaway bunny. But my brain isn’t working well these days, and my stress level is like a runaway train.
And the reason is I lost my cell phone.
It was a 2G iPhone I bought from a friend in LA. To the best of my recollection of things I did last week, I most probably lost it as I dropped a friend at a hospital on Tuesday, March 2, around 11:30 am. An honest person would have returned it to me by now.
That phone was so important to me. It had all my important numbers and the numbers of fellow teachers at my school. Peer mentoring and collegiality is so critical in my profession. I need to be able to call a teacher friend and say “Johnny did that thing again. I think it’s time to set up a Child Study Team.” “I can’t attend the focus group meeting because I have another meeting.” “Can you watch my class while I run to the bathroom?” “Do you have extra strength Tylenol?”
That phone was important to me because I use it to call my students’ parents during the day. My students know their parents and I can call each other anytime. This year I did something very different with that phone. I called parents to tell them how well their child was doing. When I did I sometimes I heard silence on the other end. As if they were bracing for impact. Or a jaw had dropped. A teacher calling with good news? Why hadn’t I done that before? And now I can’t do it as easily because I lost my phone.
That phone was important to me because it had pictures of wire connections at the back of my classroom TV and the DVD player. I had taken our small home TV to school because the curriculum we use requires we show a short instructional video segment regularly. But I sometimes have to bring the TV back home. The picture of the wire connections helped me put them back together again at school. The phone also had pictures my students, pictures of worksheets I sent to the office for copying, pictures of an exit paper I submitted for a graduate class. All these pictures were on the phone and I lost the phone.
That phone was important to me because I promised my class I would purchase and download music we needed for the next talent show. Twenty three 8-year old students are not practicing for the performance of their life because I lost my cell phone.
That phone was important to me because it had my walking music and my podcasts. Education researchers Christopher M. Clark and Penelope Peterson estimate that a teacher makes real time decisions every two minutes. Walter Doyle of University of Austin, Texas estimates that 60 to 70 percent of class time is used up by teacher-designed tasks. Lynne Housner and David Griffey found that experienced teachers anticipate and generate contingency plans, and one of five instructional strategy decisions they make have to do with adaptations. No wonder we are exhausted at the end of the day. Teachers need to take care of their health. The music and podcasts were my incentives to go out and walk. Now I don’t have those incentives because I lost my phone.
That phone was important to me because I had just downloaded a free calendar/note-taking application. It had due dates for my University of Portland graduate papers. As a professional educator, I am required to continuously take classes to improve my teaching. The phone helped me juggle school, church, home, friends, family and work. And I had a killer app that helped me keep track of expenses. Not anymore. I lost the phone.
That phone was important to me because it had a recording of my husband promising he will help wash the dishes everyday when he retires. I said I wanted everything on tape. To play it back at the appropriate time. And now that recording is gone because I lost my phone.
That phone did not have internet service, but it was a very versatile phone. It was a friend that served me unconditionally no matter how many times I dropped it or dinged it or roughly tapped on it.
The Bible in Jeremiah 33:3 says “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great
and unsearchable things you do not know.” I know in my head that by “call on me” God did not mean for me to use my phone. But I am not thinking rationally these days, because it certainly feels like I do need my cell phone to call on God instead of just sighing my need for him. When the Proverbs 18:24 says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, I must remember that that friend is God, and not my cell phone.
And I know this is Public Schools Week. But excuse me for not feeling like celebrating. Hadn’t I told you yet? I lost my phone.
And the reason is I lost my cell phone.
It was a 2G iPhone I bought from a friend in LA. To the best of my recollection of things I did last week, I most probably lost it as I dropped a friend at a hospital on Tuesday, March 2, around 11:30 am. An honest person would have returned it to me by now.
That phone was so important to me. It had all my important numbers and the numbers of fellow teachers at my school. Peer mentoring and collegiality is so critical in my profession. I need to be able to call a teacher friend and say “Johnny did that thing again. I think it’s time to set up a Child Study Team.” “I can’t attend the focus group meeting because I have another meeting.” “Can you watch my class while I run to the bathroom?” “Do you have extra strength Tylenol?”
That phone was important to me because I use it to call my students’ parents during the day. My students know their parents and I can call each other anytime. This year I did something very different with that phone. I called parents to tell them how well their child was doing. When I did I sometimes I heard silence on the other end. As if they were bracing for impact. Or a jaw had dropped. A teacher calling with good news? Why hadn’t I done that before? And now I can’t do it as easily because I lost my phone.
That phone was important to me because it had pictures of wire connections at the back of my classroom TV and the DVD player. I had taken our small home TV to school because the curriculum we use requires we show a short instructional video segment regularly. But I sometimes have to bring the TV back home. The picture of the wire connections helped me put them back together again at school. The phone also had pictures my students, pictures of worksheets I sent to the office for copying, pictures of an exit paper I submitted for a graduate class. All these pictures were on the phone and I lost the phone.
That phone was important to me because I promised my class I would purchase and download music we needed for the next talent show. Twenty three 8-year old students are not practicing for the performance of their life because I lost my cell phone.
That phone was important to me because it had my walking music and my podcasts. Education researchers Christopher M. Clark and Penelope Peterson estimate that a teacher makes real time decisions every two minutes. Walter Doyle of University of Austin, Texas estimates that 60 to 70 percent of class time is used up by teacher-designed tasks. Lynne Housner and David Griffey found that experienced teachers anticipate and generate contingency plans, and one of five instructional strategy decisions they make have to do with adaptations. No wonder we are exhausted at the end of the day. Teachers need to take care of their health. The music and podcasts were my incentives to go out and walk. Now I don’t have those incentives because I lost my phone.
That phone was important to me because I had just downloaded a free calendar/note-taking application. It had due dates for my University of Portland graduate papers. As a professional educator, I am required to continuously take classes to improve my teaching. The phone helped me juggle school, church, home, friends, family and work. And I had a killer app that helped me keep track of expenses. Not anymore. I lost the phone.
That phone was important to me because it had a recording of my husband promising he will help wash the dishes everyday when he retires. I said I wanted everything on tape. To play it back at the appropriate time. And now that recording is gone because I lost my phone.
That phone did not have internet service, but it was a very versatile phone. It was a friend that served me unconditionally no matter how many times I dropped it or dinged it or roughly tapped on it.
The Bible in Jeremiah 33:3 says “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great
and unsearchable things you do not know.” I know in my head that by “call on me” God did not mean for me to use my phone. But I am not thinking rationally these days, because it certainly feels like I do need my cell phone to call on God instead of just sighing my need for him. When the Proverbs 18:24 says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, I must remember that that friend is God, and not my cell phone.
And I know this is Public Schools Week. But excuse me for not feeling like celebrating. Hadn’t I told you yet? I lost my phone.
