There are certain parts of the teaching day that many don’t think about. For example, going to the restroom, getting drinks, tending to owies and more! One particular activity that can take forever and be a huge mess if you aren’t organized is washing hands. We typically wash hands before lunch, after using the restroom, after being outside, and after doing a particularly messy craft. That’s why speeding up hand washing can be such a lifesaver! How do you speed up hand washing? By following these easy hacks!
1: Create an Assembly Line
One of the best inventions for speed and production was the assembly line. While it is typically used in the workforce, it can be incredibly effective when doing anything with classroom management. Speeding up handwashing is possible if you simply make an assembly line out of it. By having stations where students have to get soap, scrub their hands, rinse their hands, then dry their hands, your students will be moving through the line much faster.
Students are great at getting into a little mischief, that’s what makes them kids! However, you don’t want this to be the case when you are trying to get everyone’s hands washed. Speeding up handwashing not only saves time, but also sidesteps a potential behavior problem.
2: Speed Up Hand Washing with “Spray Soap”
Students, while they are all amazing learners, are just kids. Kids who are around other kids always seem to find some way to get into a little bit of trouble. One area where this can happen is at the soap dispenser. Some students take too much soap while others have a hard time getting the automatic dispenser to work. We won’t even mention what happens if the soap dispenser is empty! You can avoid any soap dispenser mishaps by having soap in a spray bottle ready to go.
When you have soap in a spray bottle, your students will have at least 20 seconds to scrub their hands together. Plus, you’re not fighting over who gets the soap. In addition, if you don’t have an automatic soap dispenser in your school, you don’t have to worry about students’ hands getting messier by touching the one that everyone else has. Because we all know, if one student has wet paint on their hands from an End of the Year art project, he or she is the one who is going to be first in line. What does that mean for everyone else? They get a handful of paint. Having soap in a simple spray bottle eliminates the problem.
3: Nix the Paper Towel Dispenser
When students are done washing their hands, there is always another hurdle they have to jump: the paper towel dispenser. You can speed this up too and avoid this hurdle all together! Speed up hand washing by putting the paper towels into a basket. This is much easier than waiting for the automatic ones to work or using the lever to get out as much as you need. In addition, it avoids everyone shaking their hands and getting water everywhere.
You want to make sure you put the paper towel basket far enough away from the hand washing station that you don’t have a traffic jam. This will keep your hand washing assembly line going and your objective, speeding up hand washing, a success! Make sure the garbage can is on the way out so students can throw them away.
There is so much “extra” we do during the school day that many would never think about and these things can take a lot of time! Speeding up hand washing with these simple steps can be an easy way to make your day a little more organized. If you like this idea, you can find more classroom organization tips here!
