I've never understood why teachers did that. Granted, most of them will comply if the student says it's an emergency, but preventing someone from performing a necessary bodily function is just wrong and they don't always have time to go between classes. Besides, the student can get the three minutes of information they missed from a classmate.
The problem is when one kid is allowed to go then half the class decides to ask and they make a habit of asking everyday. The kids who take advantage and get into trouble ruin it for everyone else.
My favorite was when girls had to use the restroom, and when they finally did get permission to go they'd get their stuff and the teacher would loudly ask "Why do you need your bag!?" Seriously? Because that's where girls keep their cotton vag sticks for God's sake, do they not teach that in teacher school?
One time I had to go to the bathroom obly a few minutes into class and my teacher made a HUGE deal in front of the whole class that I should be able to plan my bathroom breaks so that it doesn't ruin our class schedule and to this day I regret not telling him "I'm so sorry my early period is inconveniencing you and your class schedule"
Not to mention, if you tried to make a bathroom stop in those few minutes between classes and ended up getting to class late because you were trying to work around the class schedule, half the time you got bitched at even WORSE.
3rd grade teacher here. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which kids have to go to the bathroom and which is just task avoidance behaviors. We take 5 scheduled bathroom breaks, plus opportunities during morning work or lunch. If a student has a real medical necessity to use the bathroom more than this, it will be listed in their health plan. Teachers aren't idiots. Lol.
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· 8 years ago
Answer me this when do teachs ever read the health plan?
I don't blame a teacher for being like "Dude, it was literally just lunch time/break time. Why didn't you go then?" Because I know what they mean with that and it must be annoying having your lesson interuptted loads. But I think they should still let you go.
I'm trying to write things down for when I become a teacher (hopefully!) so that I can be the best teacher XD
When my sister was in junior high, she got detention for the one and only time in her life. My mom went to pick her up from detention an hour and a half early for an appointment, and the teacher refused to let my sister leave. The school never screwed with my mom after the shit-show she started over that.
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· 8 years ago
Would you mind elaborating? I want to hear the rest of this story.
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· 8 years ago
It's not particularly interesting, my mom just went to the principal and made him personally tell that teacher that my sister could leave. I'm younger than my sister and had the same teacher years later, and she was noticeably nicer to me than the other kids. My mom did similarly give a lot of shit to my basketball coach the one year I played for not letting me play during a game, and she frequently made calls to the school if I told her a classmate was getting mistreated by a teacher or another kid.
I disagree. I teach kindergarten. It took them about a week into the school year to figure out that the bathroom is a fun place to go when you don't feel like doing your work. It's also a fun place to cause some trouble without adult supervision.
Once you get to know your students, you can figure out pretty easily when someone actually needs the bathroom or when they just don't want to do their work. I have a kid this year who was asking to use the bathroom every fifteen to twenty minutes. I called mom after two days of this and let her know this was happening, and asked her if there was a medical need I should be aware of so I can accommodate. Her response? "Oh, hell no. He's definitely just messing around. I'll talk to him." He asks to go once, maybe twice a day now.
When I was in grade 3, this happened to me. My teacher was in a bad mood, and a few students had already asked to go to the bathroom. When I asked to go, he was that fed up that he told me 'no'. I waited and waited and I was in pain I needed to go so badly. I asked the teacher again and he told me not to waste his time, so I promptly looked at him and peed my pants. Still laugh at that today!
I don't stop sending kids to the bathroom just because a lot of kids are asking. But if Jane, Bob, and Timmy are asking to go, and Jane and Bob were doing their work and only ask to go once or twice a day, and Timmy was building a marker sword and asked to go once he noticed Bob got permission, I'm probably not letting Timmy go. But if Timmy was doing the 'I gotta go' dance, I'd let him go. It's all about getting to know the kids.
Another good trick is to tell them to ask again in five minutes. If a kid actually has to go, they'll remind you. A kid who wants to go play will usually find another form of trouble to get into in that time.
I'm trying to write things down for when I become a teacher (hopefully!) so that I can be the best teacher XD
Once you get to know your students, you can figure out pretty easily when someone actually needs the bathroom or when they just don't want to do their work. I have a kid this year who was asking to use the bathroom every fifteen to twenty minutes. I called mom after two days of this and let her know this was happening, and asked her if there was a medical need I should be aware of so I can accommodate. Her response? "Oh, hell no. He's definitely just messing around. I'll talk to him." He asks to go once, maybe twice a day now.
Another good trick is to tell them to ask again in five minutes. If a kid actually has to go, they'll remind you. A kid who wants to go play will usually find another form of trouble to get into in that time.