Cutting Down on Bathroom Trips

I'm so excited to be able to link up with my buddy Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation today!  If you haven't gotten to know Joanne, you should!  She has amazing ideas and is one of the sweetest people I've "met" in blog land!  :)

As I am about to embark on a new school year with new students, I am looking for ways to help motivate my students to do their best learning.  However, if the kiddos are making tons of trips to the bathroom, they aren't in our classroom learning. 

 

We take bathroom breaks throughout the day, usually when we are on our way back from specials, recess or at snack time.  Students have lots of opportunities to "go."  However, there are always a few who decide it's better to go in the middle of an in-depth math lesson or during our read aloud than at a common time.  Do you have any students like that?

 

So last year, I decided to use a Bathroom Pass system.

All students are given a new pass at the beginning of a new quarter.  They have six opportunities to leave the room to use the restroom simply by giving me their card and I paper punch a number.  (However, the rule remains that you can only leave during a work time, not a teaching time.)

What happens when students run out of punches?  Easy...they have to buy a new Pass using our Collegiate Cash.  Passes cost $10.  Pricey, I know. (Students earn $10 a day for showing up and doing their "job" as a student so it really costs a whole day's pay.)   But it really "motivates" students to use the restroom when given the opportunity and to think about when they are using up their punches or not keeping their cards in a safe place.  (Replacement cost is $10 as well.)

Bathroom Passes also help me keep track of students who are leaving the room, as well as using the restroom excessively.  (This could be an indicator of a health issue as well.)

Now, if I could only invent a Bathroom Pass for myself....

Head on over to Head Over Heels for Teaching to check out other ways to motivate your kiddos!

I hope you will stop back tomorrow to link up your plans for next week with my new "A Peek at My Week" linky party!