FFS. It's not rocket science. Rule Number One in Effective Education:

[NYC_SKP]

(a rant inspired by a GD thread about a kid who peed in a bottle because the teacher wouldn't give him a pass).

"We Serve Students.

Is that so difficult to understand?

I left the classroom to begin administering programs.

I hire teachers, and last year I had to replace a teacher that didn't fit.

Some teachers get it and other teachers don't.

Everything I do is to support teachers so that they can support students.

Every teacher's job is to support students.

Everyone in my building "gets it", most importantly the kids and parents.

And the students return the favor with positive outputs and attitudes that are of immeasurable value to everyone in the picture.

Our only discipline issues are with visiting students.

That it may be difficult or impossible to implement this principal in every school and district, the fact remains:

Our role is to serve students, and I feel that whenever this isn't understood and celebrated, that failure and grief are soon to follow.

PS: let kids used the restroom, FFS.

[seabeyond]

1. really, this is why i support and stand up for the schools.

i have found exactly this.... to always be a part of my kids education regardless of what school they were in. and if i didnt find this in a school, there are options. take them to another district. but i have never found an adm or teachers where the goal was not the students.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Link? n/t

[NYC_SKP]

3. Links to GD thread and to original story (Houston, Texas):

Thread in GD:

Student disciplined for unauthorized potty break

A 12-year-old Klein ISD student is facing one month in an alternative campus as punishment for relieving himself in a water bottle after his teacher refused to let him leave class to use the rest room, according the boys' attorney.

On Jan. 13, the seventh-grader repeatedly asked the teacher if he could go to the bathroom and he was denied, said Houston attorney Bill Hawkins. The teacher also told him she would write him up as truant if he left the classroom, he said.

"The really outrageous part is that she told him, "I hope you pee on yourself,"" Hawkins said.

He said the student's parents, who do not want their names released, contacted him last week to appeal the school's decision. An appeal hearing is scheduled Wednesday, he said.

District officials on Tuesday declined to discuss the case, but released a written statement.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Student-disciplined-for-unauthorized-potty-break-2683496.php

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002214898

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. You're missing an important point

TEACHERS don't create policies that say kids can only go to the restroom at certain times. ADMINISTRATORS do that. And teachers, if they want to keep their jobs, are forced to respect those policies. So even if they want to just let a child use the restroom, they can't.

Every building I've worked in with a restricted restroom policy also kept those restrooms locked during class time. So no, I couldn't just send kids when they asked.

When they insisted it was an emergency I sent them to the nurse.

DH is a maintenance employee at a high school. He spends well over 50% of his day cleaning up graffiti, mainly in the restrooms. And every bit of that graffiti was put there by kids who were UNSUPERVISED. The school is unable to paint classrooms and other areas in the building because the entire budget for paint is being used in the restrooms.

So the real lesson here to teachers is SUPERVISE YOUR STUDENTS.

[NYC_SKP]

5. My criticism is directed toward the entire system and all of its parts.

All employees, not just teachers, I'm sure you agree.



Edited "it's" to "its" in subject line...

[mopinko]

6. +1