The Line

Restroom passes are tricky. Some teachers refuse all. Some permit all. Some limit passes per quarter or semester. And many teachers leave no clue as to their class's routine in the lesson plans.

When in doubt, I go with my own rules. The main one is that I only allow one student out of the room at a time.

Which means that if I get several requests, I end up with a sort of waiting list. (Although, once we get to revolving door status, I tend to cut them off as I feel I'm being taken advantage of.) And once the waiting list is more than two students long, I lose track of who goes next.

If I'm in some class where many of the students are strangers to me, I have a hard time keeping everyone straight to begin with. I rely heavily on seating charts. Then throw in a lot of restroom pass requests...

So, it was a 10th grade biology class. One girl had gone to the restroom. A second boy was out of the room. I got my third request. Immediately followed by requests four, five, and six.

"Not right now." (My standard reply when someone is out of the room.)

The second boy returned. The third boy...

Remember how I said I lose track? Which boy asked next? Where is he sitting now?

Oh well. I went on with watching the class. (They had a worksheet, and most were doing it.)

Some time passed. I expected the boy to make himself known and repeat his request. He didn't. Then someone else asked to go.

I said yes.

"I was next."

Oh, there you are!

"Yeah. Twenty minutes ago," I said.

I would think that if he really had to go, he would have noticed the other boy's return. Or he would have asked if the boy had returned a whole lot sooner.

On the bright side, that really cut down on the rest of the restroom requests. (I don't think they really had to go.)