Bathroom Passes

We've all heard it before, especially as kids get older.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

This question always caused me so many issues my first year of teaching. Sometimes, kids would ask every day. Sometimes, kids would go and come right back. Sometimes, they'd go and be gone for five or ten minutes, maybe even fifteen or twenty. I wasn't sure what to do, so I, being the nerd I am, looked back at my Spanish I binder that's been under my bed for almost 14 years (HA!) and pulled out my Spanish I teacher's bathroom pass idea. All credit for this post goes to Sra. Delzer.

This can be done with literally any class, but I use fake pesos. I just Googled an image of Monopoly money and then Photoshopped it a little. It's at school, so I can upload it later if anyone is interested in having the document I made. I printed out enough for each student to have 3. I have reused them every year since my second year of teaching, and they aren't even laminated.

The object is to give each student 3 pesos, and tell them that they serve 3 purposes:

1. Pay to go to the bathroom.

2. Pay to go to the water fountain.

3. Pay to buy a new homework assignment if you lost yours.

If the students can keep their pesos all 9 weeks (or semester, you choose), they get 2 extra credit points per peso they have left. Most students use them for emergencies only now! :)

If they don't have any pesos left, I let them go to the bathroom, but they owe me the time they spend in the bathroom after school, even if it's just a couple minutes. It still annoys them enough that they remember to go to the bathroom during passing period the next day! If they need a new homework assignment, they get to copy my original onto notebook paper by hand; also annoying enough to help remind them to stay organized.

This strategy has GREATLY decreased the number of students leaving the room and/or losing homework assignments. I hope it works well for you!