This fall, middle and high schools throughout the United States are banning cell phones from classrooms. Previous restrictions that required that students keep cell phones in their bags did not prevent them from being a constant source of distraction. In 2017, researcher Larry Rosen described the intense anxiety that students feel when they hear a phone’s buzz. Davide Marengo’s 2021 research argued that adolescents were afraid that failure to constantly participate in a group chat would quickly lead to exclusion or harassment.

Yet, if real-time classroom activity is going to take the place of virtual activity on phones, classrooms need to offer what adolescents crave: the opportunity to gain recognition for their social and intellectual savvy.

At Riveting Results, we have seen how a particular practice routine–oral fluency practice–prepares students for rigorous and satisfying debate. After listening to a recording of a professional actor read a particular passage, students practice excerpts from that passage until they are ready to read expressively. They then record themselves, and receive feedback from remote scorers that tell them if they are having their intended impact. As students improve their fluency with the text, they begin to express insight.

Listen to these fluency recordings from Kayla and Teresa. Each recording expresses a different interpretation of Langston Hughes’ description of his early days in Paris. Kayla doubles down on Hughes’ hunger and exhaustion by emphasizing his laborious climb up the stairs of his apartment. Teresa, on the other hand, finishes on a note of optimism by raising her pitch when Hughes speaks to his landlady.

Both students received feedback the next morning that their recordings had inspired a new understanding of the text. For Kayla and Teresa, fluency practice gave them a sense that their authentic responses were interesting and smart. In the classroom discussion that followed, they were both prepared to challenge their peers and contribute to a dynamic and engaging classroom community.

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