Wednesday. Eighth grade English. Third period.
Bernard asked to use the restroom.
Restroom policies are thorny. Why can't we just let the kiddos go? Because some of them just roam campus, getting into mischief and missing class time. So, there are various policies.
My policy is one at a time, and I keep a list. If the teacher doesn't care about the list, they can ignore it. But for those that keep track, it's there.
Ms. N left me her policy, which was that the students were given a pass with five out-of-class-free times. I was to initial this for any student who went.
So, when Bernard asked to use the restroom, I asked him for his pass. He told me Ms. N had never given him one.
I don't like telling a student no for the restroom, so I let Bernard go. But I made a note on my restroom list that "Bernard said he never got a pass".
The next day I got an email from Ms. N. (She just responded to the email I sent her about how the day went.)
Quick question: did you sign off on the students who used the restroom yesterday? If not, I will do that tomorrow or make them stay after and owe time, especially since they know they need a bathroom pass (Bernard did get a bathroom pass, FYI... sorry you had to deal with that).
Uh oh... Bernard's in trouble...
This is why I write these things down. Students get caught in these lies (and hopefully will be less likely to lie in the future when they get caught).
As for my answer, I replied that everyone else had given me their pass.
Middle schoolers trying to get away with stuff. If I had a dollar for every time they made the attempt...
Once the five are used up, do they get a new pass? I suppose if Bernard's was full he'd have said so, rather than lie.
ReplyDeleteNo. They get five get-out-of-class-frees per semester. They know they only get the five, so it helps them decide if they really should take the time out of class. (Some students would spend more time out of class than in it if we didn't.)
DeleteI was thinking exactly what Lisa said above. 5 in what period of time...a semester? Kids that age do lie...a lot!
ReplyDeleteYes, five a semester. And they do lie a lot at that age. The good news is they're very bad at it.
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