Module 3: 

Please go through all of the following resources for Module 3:

• Readings

• Articles

• Videos

Then answer the discussion questions found in your LRP 

For this section,  I have created tutorial videos and have also attached YouTube Videos to further your understanding.  Please feel free to review any/all resources necessary to complete the discussion questions.  

*Note: if any video doesn't load, just simply refresh your page.  

Digital Hall Pass

Make a QR-Code from a Google Form

The Benefits:

Keeps accurate data of who, where, and when.  I use my Digital Hall Pass to keep accurate data on any student leaving my class.  Data collection is something that I feel is important, but never seem to have the time to properly do.  With my Digital Hall Pass, students complete a google form about where they are leaving.  Their information is automatically stored in a Google Sheet, which also contains a time stamp of when the Google Form was submitted.  I do not make students sign back in just to expedite the process, but you could have students do that too if that is something your classroom needs.  

Allows the teacher to keep teaching, instead of writing a pass.  I started to implement a Digital Hall Pass, because I hated having to stop whatever I was in the middle of to write a pass with the student name, data, time, and destination.  Right when the student got back from the whenever they went, another student would ask to go to the bathroom, and I would have to write another pass.  This accumulated to a lot of wasted teaching time, which caused more student behavior problems as well.  If you feel like your students are too young or not able to complete the form on their own, you could fill it in for them.  However, with my middle school students, having them fill in their own information makes data collection a breeze.  I just check the form at the end of the day, and see every student who left my class that day.  Students simply ask to use the bathroom or give you a non-verbal signal that they need to use the bathroom.  From the beginning of the year I train my students to use the class iPad to put their information in.  As they are completing the Google Form, I continue to teach the rest of my students.  

You can use the data for an IEP meeting, investigation, parents, or for your own records.  Since the data from the Digital Hall Pass is automatically saved in a Google Sheet, you are easily able to search/filter for students with IEP's.  Why is this useful?  Well, many students with IEP's require breaks, and this allows you to show evidence of that in your classroom.  When a parent, counselor, or admin is concerned about a student in my class, I refer to the Digital Hall Pass Google Sheet to analyze how frequently they leave class.  Parents are often happy to see evidence of their child receiving classroom supports, and using a Digital Hall Pass has made this process very easy.

The Challenges:

Requires students to have constant access to a technology device: I have a class iPad that students use to complete the Google Form.  Any other device would be sufficient and students could even use their phones (even though I think allowing kids on their phones opens up the opportunity for more harm than good in regards to classroom procedures).

Students could sign out with fake or inappropriate information.  If you are having students type in their name into the Google Form, it creates an opportunity for them to type in anything they want.  This is a major concern, especially with the certain students that you are trying to keep close tabs on.  If this a major problem/concern for you, you can limit the Google Form to only members of your school.  This means that each student would need to sign-in with their google accounts to access the Google Form.  While this addresses one problem, it also creates another with the time it takes to complete this process.  Also, what if a student forgets their google account info?  Then you have to stop what you're doing and help them out.  It really defeats the whole purpose of the Digital Hall Pass, which is time-saving, efficient, and accurate data collection.  

Students have to remember to take/return the physical pass with them:  Most schools require a physical hall pass for students outside the classroom.  After signing out digitally, students may often forget to take this physical pass with them.  However, I think this may be a universal problem, not just limited to a Digital Hall Pass procedure.  In my classroom, after students sign-out on the class iPad, I have them take a physical hall pass with them to wherever they are going.  The physical pass can be anything (I'm sure you probably already have one in your classroom).  My pass is a simple laminated card with my name and room number on it.  This physical pass is for any staff member that sops the student outside of the classroom.  

Addressing Student Concerns

I have had an extreme case, where my Digital Hall Pass was used in a police investigation.  A student of mine said they were going to the bathroom, signed out and didn't return.  I won't go into the details of the situation to keep the confidentiality of those involved, but the student did not end up going to the bathroom, and instead found themselves in trouble.  A situation where police were called.  Why is this important?  Well, police wanted to know where this students was supposed to be during this time, and when they found out it was my class, they came to me asking questions.  I provided the police with a copy of my records on google sheets, which contained significant information for them.  I had the timestamp of when the student left, along with a message typed into the form of where the student was going.  The student typed in a location different than bathroom, and the police were able to validate their findings with my records.  Obviously, this is not a situation that occurs everyday within the school setting, but I was very thankful to have this data gathered.  It covered me as a teacher, because I was able to show that the student had signed out of my classroom, giving the intention of going to the bathroom, but simply never returned.  

On a smaller scale, I have also used the evidence on a positive note.  I offer my students extra credit for being in class as much as they can.  Each quarter, I award a possible 6 extra credit points for staying in class.  Each time a student uses the bathroom or drinks water during class, they lose 1 of the possible 6 extra credit points.  The extra credit can only help their grade, not penalize them.  This has motivated students to use the bathroom or drink water before/after my class, because it can actually help their grade by staying in class.  Using google forms and sheets, I am able to easily keep track of all the data.  The digital hall pass records all the information for me.  At the end of each quarter I organize/search the form by name, to see how many times the student left the room in the quarter.  Then I award the extra credit to each student.  Students are pleasantly surprised to see extra credit for simply being in class.  At the same time, this is when I really see the data for how often some of my frequent bathroom users leave class.  When I talk with these frequent bathroom users about their numbers (sometimes over 20 for a quarter) they are also surprised.  I have taught middle/high school math on a block schedule, so I only see each student 3 times a week on full weeks.  Considering there are about 10 week in each quarter, I see each student about 30 times in a quarter.  Classes range from 45 minutes to 75 minutes. Unless there is a medical situation, a student leaving the class 20 times out of only 30 class periods accumulates to a lot of instruction missed.  I think many teachers know which students are frequently in and out of there classrooms, but actually having the data to look at confirms the behavior.  I have used this data in parent teacher conferences, IEP Meetings, and incident reports.  The evidence is great for meetings, because there it is clear and really offers no room for questioning.  

Ensuring Accurate Data

Instead of collecting email addresses for students to fill out the Google Form, I have my students type in their names.  This process is a lot faster, especially when students are in a rush to use the bathroom.  However, this does open up the opportunity for students to type in someone else's name.  In my 3 years of using a Digital Hall Pass, I have had only one student do this.  After realizing this student was not putting their correct name, I monitored their responses for the next time, and addressed the problem.  If you don't want to face this possibility, simply enable the feature "collect email addresses".  This forces students to login to their school google accounts before they can fill out the form.  I have found that this takes extra time, which is counterproductive for why I am using a Digital Hall Pass in the first place.  Again, whatever you decide, make sure it fits the need for your classroom and students.  

 At the end of the day, I tend to glance over all of the responses and make sure the data seems to match who I remember leaving the classroom.  This usually takes less than a minute.  Knowing my students, I look for specific names that I know might try to be sneaky, and ensure they signed out properly.  I do not have students sign back in, just to be as efficient as possible, but you could definitely have students do this.  This would provide you with an accurate determination of how long each student was out of the classroom, with specific times they were outside.  

Distance Learning (*New):

You can use a "Digital Hall Pass" to track student breaks during synchronous learning sessions.  Anytime a student needs to take a break, you can have students complete the google form.  Or, you could have the google form open and simply input the student information on your own, when they take a break.  If you are doing breakout sessions in groups, you could also track student's attendance and participation within the group using a google form.  

When considering the widespread of any virus, such as Covid-19, a Digital Hall Pass can help a school community monitor the migration of students on any given day.  If a student was found to have Covid-19, school administration could look back at the Digital Hall Pass Responses to see when and where that student was on campus.  This can help with contact tracing and identify possible close contacts before the virus becomes widespread.  For example: If that student signed out of a particular classroom at 10:00am and returned at 10:10am, a school could use the Google Sheet to determine other students who were also out of the classroom during that 10 minute window.  These other students likely had contact with the student, especially if students used the same bathroom.  This is just another example of how the simple use of a Digital Hall Pass could help the current situation we are living in.