restroom

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Home : 2007 : August : 9

restroom
By Teach'n'Learn

I give the students a set amount of minutes per week to be "out of the classroom." They can use those minutes for whatever they want - get a drink, call mom in the office, get something out of a locker, go to the restroom,
just get out of te room for a few seconds.

But once those minutes are gone, they're gone. In a dire emergency, they may leave but the time has to be made up out of their recess, which cuts down on the leaving for leaving's sake.

I give out raffle tickets for every minute under the limit that they have left at the end of the week, too, which cuts down on the use of

minutes. They tend to plan their day better - use the restroom at recess to avoid having to use minutes during class or remember to get everything from their backpacks before class, for example.

Five minutes per week was more than sufficient for most students.

ETA: Oh, and I have an electronic hall pass timer. So the students were responsible for writing down how long they were gone, but it keeps track of the last three sessions, so I could spot check for truthfulness.