By the end of the day, jackets were dry but the world outside was not. We packed up with extra time - I promise that we did! But as I was dismissing students, many were missing their jackets. Where were they? Stuffed into their backpacks. So I told the whole class to wear their jackets - drivers would wait in the rain, walkers would meet their pickup person in the rain, and afterschool program students would meet their class outside on the lunch patio. I needed to give personal directions to a number of students who weren't listening. Despite my best efforts, two walkers never put their jackets on only to have their pickup person tell them to, "Put on your jacket!" as soon as they met them out front of school.
Please reinforce with your child that while they will be comfortable in our heated classroom without their jacket, they need to follow my instructions to wear their jacket for dismissal.
(I promise not to require they wear their jackets once the weather changes.)
On a related note, students who went downstairs to eat a snack were reminded to use the restroom before returning to class. Those in class were encouraged to use the restroom at the beginning of recess and everyone got another reminder with the "5 minutes until the end of recess" announcement. Some left to use the restroom, most did not. Then, 10 minutes into our math review (Topic 5 test tomorrow) a steady stream of students suddenly had a "bathroom emergency" and left class one by one.
This all repeated at lunch when the entire class ate in the cafeteria (lucky us because our assigned lunch tables are always wet when it rains). Reminders to use the restroom before returning to class went unheeded by many.
Students know that they are expected to use the restroom during their recess. On non-rainy days, everyone knows that they can use the restroom quickly after the whistle blows and before returning to class, so they aren't even having to miss any play time. This remains a chronic problem, probably in part because I can't (nor would I) refuse them a trip to the restroom in the middle of class.
However, please reinforce with your child that part of being in charge of their own body is planning ahead since "everyone pees and poops" - I think there's a preschool book about that - haha.
(Quite a few are having trouble keeping their hands off their classmates, but that's a topic for another day.)