I don't restrict By mjh96

I don't know if it's true or not, but when I started teaching my mentor told me that it is illegal to restrict student bathroom use. Regardless of whether that's true or not, I still think it borders on inhumane to restrict

bathroom use. We spend a lot of time talking about building a culture of respect in our classrooms, and I think it would seriously undermine my students' ability to believe that I care about and respect them as human beings if I did not allow them to fulfull their basic human needs (like using the bathroom) when they need to. In the beginning of the year, I introduce my bathroom

procedure--
1. You may use the bathroom any time you are working independently or in groups.
2. If you can possibly help it, don't use the bathroom if I am speaking to the class (giving directions, or in the middle of a lesson)-but if it's an emergency, leave without disturbing the lesson.
3. Only one boy and one girl may use the bathroom at any given time. If it's an emergency, and you can't wait for the person who is out to come back, quietly come up to me to let me know that it's an emergency and you will be able to go.
4. Sign out when you leave and return. There is a sign out clipboard by the door. This is required by administration in case of bathroom incidents so that they have a record of who was in there when. but I can also use it to make sure no one is abusing the procedure.
5. Do not ever ask me if you can go to the bathroom. If no one of the same gender is out, and you need to go, then sign out and go. I tell them that at 10 years old, they are old enought to decide if they need to use the bathroom or not. The only time they have to ask is if someone is already out, and it is an emergency.

I have to say, that they are so used to being controlled by teachers that they find it pretty tough at the beginning of the year--it is hard for them to accept that they don't need someone else's permission to pee.

I also have to say that I have had maybe only one or two bathroom policy abusers in the six years that i have used this system. If I have an "abuser" then I just pull them aside with the clipboard, and show them the pattern of their sign outs. Then I ask them if there is a medical issue regarding bathroom use that I should know about, and if I should give mom and dad a call about that. They usually say no, and the problem is resolved.

The bottom line is that this policy works for me...and that's the trick in our classrooms, isn't it? To make things work for us?

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