Monday Management: Bathroom Breaks

Our school district is taking part in a new teacher evaluation program. I'm going to (attempt to) wait to form an opinion until the end of the year to give these folks a fair chance. That being neither here nor there, let's cut to the chase. The evaluation crew has decreed that group bathroom breaks are going the way of the dodo bird, even for kindergarten. Welcome to the new normal, friends!

For this new potty plan to cause minimal damage, I came up with a few necessities to maintain sanity in my classroom.

1. Everyone goes to the bathroom (2 by 2, like getting on the ark) first thing in the morning, right before lunch, and right before special class.
2. Other than these trips, options for bathroom breaks must be limited. No taking off just because you don't love our current activity!
3. Carpet time and calendar math time are not times for restroom breaks. You'll just have to hold it. (See explanation on item 2).
4. Cleanliness is top priority, immediately followed by don't-you-dare-get in-trouble-in-the-hallway.

Since it's early in the school year, I decided to give my students three chances to use the restroom before a consequence takes effect. Later in the year, I may lower this to two chances or remove one of the built in bathroom breaks.

To put the new plan into effect, I began by writing each students name on a popsicle stick. (Thanks for saving those, Mom!) All of the popsicle sticks start the day in a cup labeled "0". The first time a student goes to the restroom, they must move their stick to the cup labeled "1". The second trip sends your stick to "2", the third to "3", and the fourth is a clip down on our behavior clip chart. So far, no one has gotten that far. Yay! Here's a look at the whole set up.

After a brief Pinterest session one evening, I discovered a perfect accessory to create bathroom break bliss in my classroom. Ladies and gentleman, I give you...the new and improved hall pass.

Please note that this is not an original idea. According to the link on Pinterest, it came from 3rd Grade Thoughts. I'll go ahead and explain it here for simplicity's sake. Decorate two bottles of hand sanitizer--one boy's, one girl's--to serve as "hall passes". When a student needs to use the restroom, he places the hall pass on his desk or table area. Once he returns, he uses the hand sanitizer and returns the bottle to its home with the bathroom sticks. Genius, right? 

I'll keep you posted on our restroom rodeo. In the meantime, keep it class-y, ya'll.