Skip to main content

Classroom Management - Bathroom Breaks



I was in a fifth grade classroom just before the holidays and saw a boy put a hand sanitize bottle on his desk with a timer taped to it. I asked him to explain and he said that if they want to go to the bathroom they pick one of the two bottles on the shelf (see second picture), set the timer for three minutes, and go to the bathroom. They have to make it back before the three minutes is up, use the hand sanitizer, turn off the alarm and put it back on the shelf.  

The teacher said that the three minute alarm is her indication that someone might be playing or taking too long in the bathroom. 

Clearly all the kids knew the bathroom procedure. There are two bottles for the boys and two for the girls. Apparently the boys lost one of the bottles before the break and they can only go out one at a time.

I thought this was a clever way to manage bathroom procedures so I thought I would share. 

Comments

What a great idea! I have students put a stuffed animal on their desk so that I know they are out. I have a blue one for boys and a purple one for the girls since I only let of each go out at a time. I love the idea of using hand sanitizer and a timer. Thanks for sharing!

Jennifer
Elementary School Garden
Tori said…
That sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing! I just started following you!
BeachTeach5 said…
I LOVE this idea! Usually if my students take too long in the restroom, it's because something is wrong. The timer is a great reminder to go check on them. Thank you for sharing!

Liz
BeachTeach


Elaina Weaver said…
What an interesting idea. I wonder how much time is wasted setting the timer.
Brian said…
I really like the idea. I was just wondering, if the exchange between bottle and then setting the timer is distracting to other students in the class? Do they watch to see if the other student will make it on time?
Bob said…
Love the idea! I teach urban 6th graders, and need to start this (or something similar). I would imagine, the teacher has taught them and given them practice using the timer. Maybe in groups with a project, or science lab. It is a good point, but teaching procedures will save a lot of time. I wonder what happens when they are late? Is there a consequence or just embarrassment? I definitely need to rework my procedures for next year. This will help.
Carissa Peck said…
Interesting. I have a whole blog post about different bathroom procedures ( http://www.eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2014/01/i-have-to-go-to-bathroom.html ), but I have never seen teachers use a timer before! What a great idea!

Popular posts from this blog

Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Activity

I saw this activity at a science conference years ago and haven't had a chance to use it in a classroom until this week (mainly because I didn't teach weathering, erosion, and deposition). It is a great way to reinforce the definition of the weathering, erosion, and deposition in a highly kinesthetic manner. Basically you break the students up into groups of three. One group is "Weathering" another group is "Erosion" and the third group is "Deposition". Add tape to the back because you are going to stick them to the forehead of the children in each group. The "weathering" students get a sheet of paper that is their "rock" they will be breaking down. At the start of the activity the "weathering" students will start ripping tiny pieces of their "rock" and handing it to the "erosion" students. The "erosion" students will be running their tiny piece of "rock&

Picture of the Day - Activity

I attended a training class and a science coach shared an activity that he does with his students to help them differentiate between observations, inferences, and predictions. He puts a picture on the interactive white board as a warm up (he gets the pictures from a variety of sources but uses National Geographic's Picture of the Day a lot). The picture above is from the National Geographic site. He has the students make five observations. Then he makes the students make five inferences. Finally he has the students make five predictions. He does this every day and it really drives home the difference between those three key inquiry vocabulary terms. I've done this activity with both my sixth and fourth grade science classes and the students really got into it and became proficient at telling me the difference between those terms.

Rock Cycle Activity

Today I got to spend the day with a 3rd grade science teacher doing a rock cycle activity. She had asked for help a couple of weekends ago to find some engaging rock cycle activities for her students. I quickly did a Pinterest search and came up with a link to a middle school blog where they featured a fun looking rock cycle station activity. That website took me to the originating activity site - Illinois State Museum Geology Online and their Ride the Rock Cycle activity . I read through it and felt it was doable for third graders (although I was a little nervous about the cartooning). I offered my help and we put together the activity. The kids did it WONDERFULLY. It was one of those lesson you wish was observed (but of course never is :) They are on an alternating science schedule so she only had two of the four classes today but it was a good sampling of children. She had one class that had a high portion of struggling learners and the second class had a high