The Great Bathroom Break

Since school has begun, I have noticed a surge in use of the bathroom. In order to keep my sanity, I needed to come up with a new system. Before, I just let the next student go to the bathroom, one boy and one girl at a time, but couldn't track who was going when and how frequently.

But, that has all changed! I am happy to say, that I have a new system in place and it's quite amazing to see my results. 

I found the idea to use an old iPhone for students to sign out with using Google Forms. The neat thing is, the form time stamps when they are leaving, and how often they go. Now I can quickly tell how long a student has been gone. 

I should also add, the iPhone is locked into this screen. Students aren't able to change from this screen or go into any other apps.

So now, if a student wants to use the restroom, they sign their name on the whiteboard, this way I don't have to keep track of the order. When it's their turn to go, they just sign out with their initials on the iPhone and go. Unless I am in the middle of a lesson, I will tell them no.

This graph shows which subject students to go the restroom in. Reading, first thing in the morning, seems to be the most busy time to go to the bathroom! 

I'll be completely honest, I have never had a class go to the bathroom SO much in a day. I do have a few friends that I am keeping an eye on as their name is very frequent on my form. 

I find it almost comical the amount we have used the restroom in 4 days (how long we've been using the system). So far it has been working! 

But I do ask, if you could please have a conversation with your child about using the restroom only when they really need to, not just to get out of class! I wouldn't want to tell a student no when they really did need to you the restroom!