Teacher Shares Genius Way She's Helped Her Kindergarteners Open Up to Her (Exclusive)

A kindergarten teacher is going viral for implementing a longstanding classroom management tool — with a twist.

"I didn't come up with the idea myself, but teachers have been sharing resources by word of mouth and websites like Teachers Pay Teachers for years. Now social media is part of that," Sara James tells PEOPLE of her idea to put a 'tattle phone' in her classroom.

Across social media, teachers are putting prop phones in their classrooms, where students can air their grievances about each other and other things bothering them throughout their days. James decided to get a phone that records the messages, so she can go back and hear what her students have to say.

"There are a bunch of teachers who have come across my For You Page who have used similar phones," she shares. "Some don't record, or some use a video device, but teachers have used phones in this way in the classroom for a while. I came across one recently and took it as my sign to go ahead with the idea. I went on Amazon looking for phones that record messages, like the ones used for weddings."

James' classroom of kindergarteners was "immediately receptive" to the idea, she says. "They see something new in the classroom and they all want to use it. "

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The phone arrived one week before winter break, so her students have had access to it for just a few weeks. So far, James believes, "It's been very successful."

"I didn't think it would be but it's helping me identify a lot of like issues in the classroom that go missed every single day, just because there's so many kids and there's one of me," she explains. "I'm teaching, and if I'm not teaching the class, I'm working one-on-one with them. There are so many little things that happen that I'm not even aware of, so this is like having a little spy, in a sense, to fill me in."

It's especially helpful because while all of the problems kindergarteners encounter during a day feel big to them, they don't necessarily require a big response.

"There's levels to tattling. Sometimes it's something as little as 'So and so is copying me,' or 'So and so keeps looking at me,' And those don't need to cause an interruption. You can just walk up to the phone and sit down and I'll get back to you," James says.

"There have been times that someone will tell me another student kicked them. Kicks are quick so it's a great opportunity to address something I've missed. I can bring them to the side and talk to them and figure out solutions for how we can resolve it and prevent it from happening again."

She adds, "It also helps with kids who aren't going to come tell you something happened to your face. They're too shy or they're scared they'll get in trouble, but telling the phone makes it easier."

Sharing the idea and how it's going in her classroom on TikTok has been a "fun experience" for the teacher.

"There's been some negative feedback too," she adds. "Some people feel like it gives them an excuse to tattle. Most of those people aren't educators, however. When it comes to kindergarteners, if they want to say something, they're going to say it. Usually, it's when I'm teaching a lesson which makes lessons longer and it's more stressful for students because we keep stopping and going."

However, "a lot of people really want to hear what the kids have to say," James notes.

"It's been a really fun experience seeing them be able to speak up for themselves in a new way where they don't have to say it face-to-face. Some people are just not confrontational, and it starts at a young age. It's been fun, and some of the things they do say are really so funny," she says.

"I'm going to keep it in the classroom because I do feel like it's helping," she adds. "[Negative] behavior has dropped a lot. They still come to me with some problems, but they're also comfortable talking to the phone. It gives me the ability to address more things as a whole versus dealing with incidents as they pop up in the middle of the day, which can be overwhelming."

Read the original article on People