This calendar week, teacher Sandy wrote into the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE! asking for ideas on bathroom passes. "Anyone do annihilation artistic for bath or hallway passes?" she asked. "My schoolhouse doesn't mandate the written Post-its anymore, and I'one thousand looking to supercede them with something a piffling more interesting and efficient." Hither are some of the top suggestions.

Go for sense of humor.

"One teacher at my school uses a 'Pee-Male monarch'—a T-rex. dinosaur doll." —Stefanie B.

Y'all tin't beat utilitarianism.

"My bathroom laissez passer is a plunger!" —Jennifer B.

Promote hygiene.

"I have two bottles of hand sanitizer with boys on one and girls on the other. They take the bottle and fix it on their desks when they become, so I know who is gone. When they become back, they apply the manus sanitizer. Of course, I tell them to wash with lather and h2o in the bathroom, but this is an actress measure since I'm 100% sure that nearly don't!" —Laurie H.

You could also have them carry the sanitizer to and from the bath if your school requires them to bring a physical laissez passer to the bathroom.

Stay hands-free.

"I laminated proper name plates, punched a pigsty in them, and hung them from a lanyard. The kids can hang them around their necks, and I tin can spray them with Lysol." —S.K.O.

Or, on a smaller scale: "I've used clothespins in the grade. Students prune them to their shirts." —Patty R.

Get crafty.

"I went to Michael'south and bought huge wooden 'B'south. I painted ane bluish, the other one red, and put my proper noun on both with a blackness Sharpie. Those are my passes." —Jeanine K.

Go techie.

"We use a Google form now. Kids cheque out on a tablet and check dorsum in when they come back to the room. It allows usa to rail how frequently they're out of the room, and if there's ever a trouble in the bathroom, we can see who was in at that place at that fourth dimension." —Ann M.

Stick to your class theme.

"I use safari safety ducks. They match my room theme and are like shooting fish in a barrel to clean and sanitize with Lysol." —Stephanie G.

Use … an bodily toilet?!

"I replaced a toilet in my house, then took the cheap plastic seat/lid that came with it to school. I put my proper name and room number on it. It worked to keep my students in class and not walking around in the hallway when they left my room!" —Amy H.

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