Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Hand Sanitizer for Hall Passes {Tried it Tuesday}


Hey there friends!

I wanted to do a quick post to link up with my sweet friend Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried it Tuesday.  I feel like I've tried lots of things, I just haven't had a chance to blog about them!!!  I've missed Holly and her linky!!


I've seen how clever some teachers have been using hand sanitizer as a hall pass on Pinterest and I thought it was a great idea.  

Then a while back I saw that Elizabeth from Fun in Room 4B had made a freebie of labels for just this exact purpose!!  Lucky day!!  

 
(Pictures from Elizabeth's blog)

Of course, I saw this last year but I didn't use it because I didn't have a need to.

But this year, holy guacamole do I have a group that loooooooves going to the bathroom.  They are getting much better about it (now that their little bladders are being trained) but they still need to go to the restroom during our Language Arts block.  Inevitably, it's when I'm pulling my small groups.  

I can not STAND interruptions to my small group, especially for things like, "Can I go to the bathroom?"

I only have 15 minutes with my groups so I want to make the most of it!!  I do not want to discuss a bathroom situation with a child during my group!

So, I was waving students off to the bathroom and then forgetting who they were or if it was a girl or a boy and should I wait before I send another boy?  Or was it a girl?  Or is anyone even in the bathroom???  Who knows because I'm not paying attention.  I'M DOING GROUPS!!

Ugh.

Ok.  I got that off my chest.

I think it doesn't help that I have one of those kiddos who goes and plays in the bathroom...or just walks off and disappears...and hides in the bathroom when you go looking for him...

Yeah, anyway, I get a little paranoid about the bathroom.

So, I realized I needed a system.  This group just can't handle the freedom of using the bathroom and to be quite honest, some just can't be trusted.  Yet.  But I'll fix that.  Don't you worry.

Insert Hand Sanitizer Hall Pass.

Ok, so when I instated this new method, I wasn't really sure if it would work.  I wanted them to leave the sanitizer on their desk so I knew who was out of the room and I told them if the sanitizer was on a desk, then they would have to wait their turn.

So, now I know only one boy and/or one girl is out of the room at a time.

Then, we talked about how I really should not be interrupted from group unless there has been a death or there is lots of bleeding.  Or I suppose I'd have to be interrupted by a fire.  But that IS ALL!

So, now they can just flash me the bottle, I nod, they put it on their desk, and then off they go to do their business.  They come back, use the sanitizer (after having washed their hands- we talked about that too).  The sanitizer goes back to the sink.  End of bathroom story.

This is a lot less interruption which makes me happy.  And if I'm happy, the kiddos are happy!!

But, honestly, they really love the hand sanitizer pass.  I mean, really love it.  You just never know sometimes what will do it, but apparently a hand sanitizer pass will.  Thank goodness for no more interruptions (in the perfect world anyway- in which I do not live- but it's close to perfect!).

Try it out for yourself!  Everyone will love it (and they'll be disinfected on top of it- win win!!)

Have a great Tuesday!
Amanda

PS- I realize I should have always had a system but I was spoiled last year with kids that went to the bathroom when we went as a class and rarely ever needed to go any other time.  Sigh.  I miss them.  ;O)

12 comments:

  1. I can totally relate to this! We all have those classes where we think, "Why does this class have to do _______ so much?" Sometimes I think it is contagious too when one student sees another one, it just catches on like wildfire! I really like how they leave the sanitizer on their desk to let you know who is gone too. Thanks for linking up!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the sanitizer pass idea. I am so thankful that I have a bathroom in my classroom. The kids are able to just get up and go during work time. This class does get "caught up" in what we are doing and many of them have to go all of a sudden...like right before we go to a special. I'm slowly training them. I'm glad you found a system that worked well for you!

    Hunter's Teaching Tales
    Find me on Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great idea girls!
    I was on the hunt for a quick fix and you just saved the day!
    Thank you!!!
    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am trying this for the first time too. So far so good. Although I did have one day where the boys at a table were all passing it around because they all needed to 'go.' And this was after we had just went as a class...

    Crystal

    Teaching Little Miracles

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a wonderful idea! I am blessed to have four bathrooms in my pod. Having 5th graders, I tell them they can just go whenever they need. Although, I've been known to pop my head up during groups and blurt out..."Did you wash your hands?" I think I'll share this idea with the Specials teachers that don't have bathrooms in there room!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have the same issue and this would help a lot. Can I go to the bathroom? No someone's in there. No there isn't. They came back. Okay fine go. Where's so and so? I'm always worried that we will have a fire drill during lunch or sometime when I have no idea who is in the restroom. Are you going to refill the bottles or put new labels on each bottle? My students like to waste the "hanitizer" as they call it.

    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love this idea - simple, yet effective and so clean!! I don't like when my students bring in hand sanitizer that is heavily scented though and it overpowers you when they use it - all at the same time :)
    Thanks for sharing this idea!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I saw this on Pinterest a couple of years ago, and it has worked like a CHARM in my room for both fourth and fifth graders. I don't get interrupted while I'm teaching, and they know if they're out of the room, it's their responsibility to catch up on what they've missed. What would we do without Pinterest?!

    Janie
    Are We There Yet?
    http://janiefahey.edublogs.org/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like I have a class a lot like yours. We use hand signals to "ask" to go to the bathroom. This works well but then I forget who went where, so it's hard to keep track of the kids. I think this hand sanitizer pass would be a good fix for that. Thanks for showing us how it works!
    ~Lindsay
    Mrs. Miller’s Monkey Business

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yeah, it can really be distracting when you’re in a flow and someone in the class disrupts you. It happens a lot, especially with younger children. Anyway, this is a brilliant idea! Not only does it minimize distractions, it would also help teach the kids to be sanitary.

    Natalie Becker

    ReplyDelete
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