We have been having some issues in the bathroom at our school lately - students playing in there, making messes, and even breaking stalls! Good Grief! Our Vice Principal asked us to keep some classroom sign-out sheets for the bathroom so we might be able to figure out who is and who isn't causing trouble while out and about. I looked on-line but couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I made my own.
I made bathroom passes (one girl and one boy) for the students to keep on their desk and a few that are smaller that could be used to hang on a lanyard for them to take with them. I really hate the idea of them carrying a pass to the bathroom with all of those germies in there and then bringing them back - YUCK!
They put the pass on their desk when they leave the room (only one boy and one girl is allowed out at one time), and then sign out on the classroom sign out sheet for the bathroom.
As you can see from the picture below, they were quite excited to use our new system. I ALWAYS let my students use the bathroom when they ask unless it becomes a major problem because I had one student have an accident when I refused to let him go because it was almost recess and he had just gone 5 minutes before. I really don't want to deal with that again!
And... being the teacher that I am, and the fact that we are working on elapsed time, I also made up a sheet that allows the students to calculate their time in the bathroom. I will introduce that to my students next week. Any excuse to get in some extra practice!
By the end of the week the newness had worn off, and we were back to our regularly scheduled bathroom breaks. And now, if some naughtiness does happen outside of the classroom at a certain time, I can refer back to the bathroom sign in sheet to see exactly who was roaming the hallways at that time.
In addition to appeasing our VP, I can see some extra benefits to these sign-out sheets:
1. If I notice that a student ALWAYS goes to the bathroom at a certain time of day, it might make me wonder if they are avoiding a certain class activity?
2. What if a student starts to frequently use the bathroom out of the blue? This will give me some documentation to show the parents in case their might be a medical issue.
If you would like to give these bathroom passes and restroom sign-out sheets a try, you can download the freebie at my Teachers Pay Teachers store using the link below:
While you are there, be sure to click on the green star to follow my store to be eligible to win a $100 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card each month!
No comments:
Post a Comment