HALL PASSES
SERIOUSLY? A whole page on hall passes?!?!? How can something as boring as hall passes call for so much attention?
In a perfect world, this page wouldn't exist. In a perfect world, no students would roam school hallways given the opportunity. In a perfect world, students would always do their very best to remember to bring their materials to class each day. And in a perfect world, we would not be frequently reminded that inside a locked classroom is usually the safest place for students in a school setting.
If you've taught for at least a year, you've almost certainly seen something get blown out of proportion to which hall passes are at least indirectly related. So yes, hall passes are an issue. You want a sane, workable policy to keep everyone sane.
I've had principals in the past who simply told teachers not to allow students to leave the classroom for any reason. But in the real world, it's not that simple.
In a perfect world, this page wouldn't exist. In a perfect world, no students would roam school hallways given the opportunity. In a perfect world, students would always do their very best to remember to bring their materials to class each day. And in a perfect world, we would not be frequently reminded that inside a locked classroom is usually the safest place for students in a school setting.
If you've taught for at least a year, you've almost certainly seen something get blown out of proportion to which hall passes are at least indirectly related. So yes, hall passes are an issue. You want a sane, workable policy to keep everyone sane.
I've had principals in the past who simply told teachers not to allow students to leave the classroom for any reason. But in the real world, it's not that simple.
When I was in my 20s, a sixth grade girl did not ask to go to the restroom and instead ended up peeing on my classroom floor. I did not have a strict hall pass policy, and she had just come to our school from a very traumatic living situation. But even though I did not have a hand in causing this embarrassing situation for her, it certainly has stuck with me through the years. I will never tell a student that he or she flatly cannot go to the restroom.
On the other hand, I have worked with teachers who claimed, "I can tell when a student really needs to go!" You can? Are you psychic? How do you know? I don't care how badly a student is doing "the potty dance." The only thing that actually proves is that the student is willing to act strangely in order to leave the classroom. Do not be intimidated by teachers who THINK they know the unknowable!
On the other hand, I have worked with teachers who claimed, "I can tell when a student really needs to go!" You can? Are you psychic? How do you know? I don't care how badly a student is doing "the potty dance." The only thing that actually proves is that the student is willing to act strangely in order to leave the classroom. Do not be intimidated by teachers who THINK they know the unknowable!
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Here are some things I have determined for myself:
1. I will be the target of parents' wrath if I just refuse to allow hall passes. Plus I'm just not convinced that's fair. 2. There will always be students who will intentionally abuse hall passes, given the opportunity. 3. There will be other students who simply feel no urgency to bring their supplies and materials from their lockers to class if they have unlimited hall passes. 4. I need a balance between my being flexible and expecting students to be responsible. 5. I do NOT want reusable bathroom passes that go to the bathroom WITH the students. Ick! Just ick! |
So what to do? Over the years, I have ended up allowing students a limited number of passes for them to use at their own discretion. Students never have to use their own passes to go to the nurse, to respond to an office call, and seldom use their own pass to go to the library. But bathroom trips, water fountain visits, and trips to their lockers require the use of their student passes.
Many years ago, I just printed them on white copy paper. I chopped them up and gave each student a certain amount. That was okay, but certainly made it easy to forge.
Many years ago, I just printed them on white copy paper. I chopped them up and gave each student a certain amount. That was okay, but certainly made it easy to forge.
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I later started making passes that contained unique artwork and were printed on dark colored copy paper. The artwork made them hard to counterfeit and the dark paper made them very hard to photocopy.
Another year, I printed passes on regular white paper and laminated them, using a hole punch to laminating them and used a hole-punch to record when one was used. I remember thinking how cool it would be! But of course, cutting out all those laminated cards was a huge pain! And since I didn't want to hassle with it every quarter, I made the passes to last all semester. So many kids had lost them by the last half of the semester that I was fighting battles every day about whether or not a kid could use a pass the kid no longer had. Ah, the best-laid plans. . . . |
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And there were a couple of years when the entire school was "required" to use a page at the back of student agendas for passes. Of course, many teachers were so inconsistent with it that those of us trying to use this method were constantly frustrated.
Here's what I've become more comfortable with:
Each quarter, I give each student a reusable hall pass. It can be used four times that quarter. (I've also allowed only three times. But I'm pretty happy with four.)
What-ifs:
"What if I lose it?" When I hand them out, I tell them (repeatedly) to get their names written on them. If another student finds a pass without a name, it's like finding a quarter somewhere. Anyone can claim it.
"But what if it's lost. How do I get a new one?" You won't get a new one until next quarter.
"Can I use another student's pass?" You can only if I believe the student is totally happy to let you use it. (Unused hall passes are worth nominal bonus points at the end of the quarter. This tends to discourage sharing of passes.)
"What happens after I use all my passes?" You don't leave.
"But what if I really have to GO?!?!?" I will never tell any student that he or she is not allowed to go to the restroom. (Okay, I actually did tell Tom that about a month ago. But that's a very l-o-n-g story.) If a student has lost of used up the pass and insists they need to use the restroom (or do anything else outside the classroom), I tell them they can "borrow" a pass from me. Here's how the debt works: I write the student's name on my seating chart in pencil, along with the date, to remind myself that the student owes me a pass. If the pass shows up, the student is welcome to bring it to me anytime and I'll mark the pass and erase the debt. If the student knows the pass will never be found, that student can come in for 5 minutes before or after school to "pay off" the pass. This goes by so fast that it's almost ridiculous; but you'd be amazed how many kids I've seen doing the potty dance who suddenly decide they don't want to go to the restroom after all. (This is how I learned that co-workers who said they knew "when kids really need to go" were NOT, in fact, psychic.)
"What if I borrow a pass from you and then I forget to do the 5 minutes but I need to borrow another one?" I use this analogy with them: If you get a loan from a bank, don't bother to pay it back but still ask them for another loan, what do you suppose the bank will say about the second loan? Most of the time, that's the end of the conversation. However, I have been known to give in if I think there might be a real need. HOWEVER, when the next quarter starts, I ALWAYS check my list of "owed passes" and sign those off of the new quarter's pass for students who still owe me a pass.
WHAT KIND OF PASS?
I use professionally-printed cards the size of index cards and the size of business cards. (Yes, I purchase them myself. It's the price of sanity, like so many of the things we purchase for classroom use!) For several years I printed them postcard-size. Here's what one of my passes looked like:
Each quarter, I give each student a reusable hall pass. It can be used four times that quarter. (I've also allowed only three times. But I'm pretty happy with four.)
What-ifs:
"What if I lose it?" When I hand them out, I tell them (repeatedly) to get their names written on them. If another student finds a pass without a name, it's like finding a quarter somewhere. Anyone can claim it.
"But what if it's lost. How do I get a new one?" You won't get a new one until next quarter.
"Can I use another student's pass?" You can only if I believe the student is totally happy to let you use it. (Unused hall passes are worth nominal bonus points at the end of the quarter. This tends to discourage sharing of passes.)
"What happens after I use all my passes?" You don't leave.
"But what if I really have to GO?!?!?" I will never tell any student that he or she is not allowed to go to the restroom. (Okay, I actually did tell Tom that about a month ago. But that's a very l-o-n-g story.) If a student has lost of used up the pass and insists they need to use the restroom (or do anything else outside the classroom), I tell them they can "borrow" a pass from me. Here's how the debt works: I write the student's name on my seating chart in pencil, along with the date, to remind myself that the student owes me a pass. If the pass shows up, the student is welcome to bring it to me anytime and I'll mark the pass and erase the debt. If the student knows the pass will never be found, that student can come in for 5 minutes before or after school to "pay off" the pass. This goes by so fast that it's almost ridiculous; but you'd be amazed how many kids I've seen doing the potty dance who suddenly decide they don't want to go to the restroom after all. (This is how I learned that co-workers who said they knew "when kids really need to go" were NOT, in fact, psychic.)
"What if I borrow a pass from you and then I forget to do the 5 minutes but I need to borrow another one?" I use this analogy with them: If you get a loan from a bank, don't bother to pay it back but still ask them for another loan, what do you suppose the bank will say about the second loan? Most of the time, that's the end of the conversation. However, I have been known to give in if I think there might be a real need. HOWEVER, when the next quarter starts, I ALWAYS check my list of "owed passes" and sign those off of the new quarter's pass for students who still owe me a pass.
WHAT KIND OF PASS?
I use professionally-printed cards the size of index cards and the size of business cards. (Yes, I purchase them myself. It's the price of sanity, like so many of the things we purchase for classroom use!) For several years I printed them postcard-size. Here's what one of my passes looked like:
I actually had a lot of fun designing a different one for every quarter! I used Vistaprint.com and was always happy with the results. But even though they have some great promotional specials from time to time, I got tired of paying for them after a few years.
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This year, I'm still using passes printed by Vistaprint. However, I've "downgraded" to business card size. It cuts my cost dramatically. However, I worry that the smaller size also makes them easier for the students to lose. The cards are still two-sided and still require a date and teacher signature for each use. (I never actually "signed" the larger postcard passes; I've always just used my initials.) To the left is a pass I'm currently using.
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ONE MORE THING: Some students have medical issues - long or short term - which require unlimited restroom access. I sometimes even announce to my classes that these students should have their parents give the office medical information to allow that.