I'm in fourth. I never seem to have a system that I like. I notice that the students never "go" during recess, they are too busy playing. There are also four or five students who MUST go as we line up for lunch. After lunch, some of the boys want to get out of their seats for water often. It isn't that it is a disruption, but a constant out of their seats activity. How do you manage this in your room?
My kids sit in groups and earn group points daily throughout the day. These points go towards free time on Fridays, but also for other things (lining up first, forming the first row on the floor, etc.). It costs a group point to go outside for water/bathroom (kids are supposed to have water bottles with them so they don't have to leave for water, but you know how that goes).
Is there a way that you can cut recess short by 5 minutes to have an all class bathroom break? I give kids one pass a week to use the restroom outside of their scheduled breaks. They are only allowed to go during work time, not instructional time.
I take the whole class in the morning. They are expected to also use the bathroom at recess. I have a clipboard with a class list on it and record any emergency visits. I allow only 2 of those a month. The students rarely ask to go other than the allowed times. These are 3rd graders, and if they can hold it during our extended day, surely 4th graders can. I find that recording it on the clipboard holds them accountable. They don't abuse the situation. I tell them that the time to get water is during recess. Rarely do I allow anyone to get it at other times. Otherwise, it quickly turns into a parade. The smart kids will catch me taking a drink out of my thermos and ask if they can get water. How can I turn them down? That is about the only time I let them get it.
That is one of the perks of my job. I see students in their homes and in hospitals, and they rarely ask to use the restroom. When I worked in a classroom last year, students were permitted to get ONE drink during independent work times. It did not cause an issue, but I had older students.
I cut us down to one bathroom break after lunch with the understanding that they may go individually during guided reading/centers. I sold this to them as being self-sufficient. :lol: I said "Only BABIES need to take TWO whole class bathroom breaks....this is third grade now! I can trust you to go alone if you really need to, right?" We talked about what a real emergency was and how to look around during centers to see if 1 or 2 people were already gone. (I don't want to look up and 14 people are in the restroom.) I said if they abuse this privilege I need to go back to treating them like BABIES and taking them myself. For whatever reason, my class thinks they're totally grown and would like to be treated as such. It saves me so much instructional time and makes them feel all responsible! For water, I don't care as much unless it's a hotter month. They have permission to bring water bottles in the classroom. It's also expected that if you use the restroom you get a drink. We have lunch at 11:30 and they are free to get drinks before and after school so there shouldn't be many hydration emergencies.
I got this fabulous idea from this site a couple of years ago... forgive me because I can't remember who's it was. This person's idea was to have punch cards for each student, kind-of like a coffee card (I got mine on VistaPrint). You can use a punch on the card to go to the restroom or get a drink. Each square that is NOT punched at the end of the quarter is worth extra credit points. For those frequent restroom users, once my students are done with their punch cards they need to pull a card (and yes I have had to give a detention to students for pulling too many cards to use the restroom). I try and "train" my students to use the bathroom during appropriate times so recess and lunch are free times when they can use the restroom without taking a punch on their cards.
It "flows" nicely in my class this year because we switch classes about every hour. They scamper to the restroom in between class changes. Teachers are in the hall during that time, and the restroom is just down the hall from us.
We have an early lunch and my lunch aide takes them to the bathroom during our lunch hour. We don't take scheduled bathroom breaks. I do have a rule that if I am teaching, they are not allowed to go to the bathroom. (most want to walk down and get a drink of water and see what's going on in other classrooms) I have learned that if a child really has to go, they will ask twice. The ones fooling around will only ask once.
Lucky you! We take a class break right after lunch and when possible before they go to PE. Otherwise I allow them to use the restroom when I am not teaching (i.e. quiet work time) provided they don't abuse the privilidge. This year I have enough frequent fliers that I chose to limit them to one visit per day aside from when we go as a class. They have passes they have to sign so I can keep track easily. They are allowed to keep water bottles in the room so no one leaves for a drink. And I tell them if we go as a class I won't let anyone go on their pass for 40 minutes after we return. Either they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to enter the RR or they were messing around rather than using the facilities.
