Hi All, What are your policies on Bathroom/Drinks? How often do you let them go? Bathrooms are starting to become a chronic problem for us, and drinks..where kids are asking multiple times in a 2 hr period (especially during whole group carpet times), to go to the bathroom. We are in a unique situation, because the kids are in a class before they come to our room, and I'm almost positive that they get drinks/bathroom break while they are coming in. Thoughts? Procedures that curb the bathroom/drink usage? We have 1 boy pass and 1 girl pass, and only one person goes at a time. It just seems to be getting out of control with chronic bathroom users as a way to take a break or get out of the lesson. Thanks!
I would love advise on this, too. I am a new hire and started school about a month after the kids started back. They were all in other classes and were separated out. I usually take my kids for 3 whole group bathroom breaks, spread throughout the day...one in the morning, one about mid-day, and one in the afternoon. During my second week with kiddos, the same student had an "accident" twice...once on Monday and again on Wednesday. I let the kids go to the restroom (using passes) when I am not teaching new material, but with first graders, I find that they want to get out of class to play instead of actually using the restroom. I don't want to tell students no, though, because of the accident situation. Any advise?
My class has two restroom/water breaks. They also have the opportunity again when we come inside from recess before lunch. My class rule is if they need to use the restroom or water at any other time there are two options; they either owe me a buck from our reward system or if it's a true emergency they will pay to go with no second guessing.
My teammate has her kiddos sign out. She is able to see who is going and when to target key times or repetitive potty-goers. She has documentation so she can ask parents if their child goes that frequently at home or if there is some medical reason she needs to be made aware of. My class knows not to ask during whole group lessons, that a better time is during independent work. As long as they're getting work done, I don't mind them leaving. I know one girl who goes even when she doesn't need to... but I don't mind as long as she is working hard. I often do the same thing at workshops, lol.
Thanks so much for your replies. I think I will introduce the sign out policy for the bathroom tomorrow. Today was crazy. A little boy asked to get a drink, so I said okay, and about two minutes later, I saw him standing outside the door looking into the class across the hall. When I opened the door, he looked at me and started walking towards the bathroom, so I said "Have you taken a drink of water yet?" He said "no", and I said "You've lost your privilege to get a drink" and further explained why and what he can do better next time. Kids..they remind me of me when I was their age. On all of my elementary report cards, my teachers wrote that I was very social with my peers and should give my school work the same type of attention. Now that I'm a teacher, I bet I drove them crazy! hehe.
This is something that I did with a student who the first week of school was asking to go 6-7 times a day. After consulting with his mother that there was no medical issue I wrote three B's on my board. I explained he was going to have three bathroom passes to use all day and once they were gone they were gone. For the first few days he would use up all three bathroom passes. However, in the past two weeks he usually goes once or not at all. The visual aspect of seeing how many "passes" they have left really helps to keep the students accountable but also allows you to know the frequency of when they are going.
I give my students 5 tickets each every Monday (their passes) and they can use it anytime they need to leave the classroom (bathroom, water, etc). They are encouraged to use the bathroom during their recess and lunch times. On Fridays, the students get a prize if they still have all five tickets. I remind the students that if it's an emergency, it's best to give up a ticket...that there's always the following week to try to get a prize. So far, everything has been going pretty well...and I hardly have students asking to use the bathroom. Most have learned to go during their recess and lunch times.
In our school I have to watch the kids until they actually get to lunch or recess so if they are using the bathroom during these times it is on my watch which means a shortened break for me. Lunch and recess are very short periods for us as well. I usually do a whole group bathroom/drink break twice during the day. No one leaves during instruction but can leave during work periods. I do 1 boy/ 1 girl out of the room at a time.
First of all, our kids are to have water bottles in class, so this eliminates water breaks. For those who still do not have water bottles, they can only go for water when I am teaching. Now, the way I control the drinks & bathroom is I have them on a point system. They sit in groups and earn points for staying on task, getting ready quickly, etc. But, they lose points when they go for drinks or bathroom. They have to pay a point to leave the room, and they hate losing their points. At the end of the week, they use their points to have free time. If their group doesn't have enough points, they have to sit out. Occasionally this happens, and it is very upsetting to them as they see the other groups having free time. This has been a very effective method for me.
I think with experience a first-grade teacher develops a sixth sense about real bathroom needs and kids just wanting to get a break to leave the classroom. I drill into them that they need to take care of their bathroom needs on their time (before school, recess, lunch). At the beginning of the year (like right now) I can be liberal, but I've already identified the kids who just want to go out and goof off, and I say no, wait five minutes and ask me again. Invariably, they forget all about it. If I see a kid looking like they really have to go, I say OK, but then all the copycat kids ask to go as well, and I just tell them, wait till so and so comes back. They're still training their bodies to go on a schedule. But, there are also the sneaky ones. And then, like today, there are the ones who wait till the last minute like the little girl who was so excited about going to the paint center that once I put the oversized tee-shirt I use as a paint smock on her, told me: Teacher, I'm doing pee (my kids are all ELLs). And sure enough, a little rivulet of pee was cascading down her little leg. I admit my first thought was, The brand new tee shirt! Don't get pee on the tee shirt! But I just followed my protocol in those situations, which is to hustle the kid out the door, and make him/her stand by the door, outside of the classroom. I lean in and say, Don't worry, it happens to everyone, it's OK. Which I did as I pulled the tee shirt of her (no pee on it, phew!). And then I sent her to nurse, who deals with accidents. As for drinking fountains, we have one in the classroom, I let them drink when we come in from recess and lunch (but the kids in line to drink count from 1 to 5, at 5 that's it). I also use it as an incentive. (People who finish can have a little water).
Thanks for the ideas...I implemented the sign out system, which has worked..and the kids LOVE to sign out..it's also good for us, because we're able to see who are the more chronic bathroom users...our kids sit at tables too so maybe we can do the point system there too to get a little peer pressure going..that's a good idea! Thanks so much!!
