Forget Goofing Around: Recess Has a New Boss

[groovedaddy]

NEWARK — At Broadway Elementary School here, there is no more sitting around after lunch. No more goofing off with friends. No more doing nothing. Instead there is Brandi Parker, a $14-an-hour recess coach with a whistle around her neck, corralling children behind bright orange cones to play organized games. There she was the other day, breaking up a renegade game of hopscotch and overruling stragglers’ lame excuses.

They were bored. They had tired feet. They were no good at running.

“I don’t like to play,” protested Esmeilyn Almendarez, 11.

“Why do I have to go through this every day with you?” replied Ms. Parker, waving her back in line. “There’s no choice.”

Broadway Elementary brought in Ms. Parker in January out of exasperation with students who, left to their own devices, used to run into one another, squabble over balls and jump-ropes or monopolize the blacktop while exiling their classmates to the sidelines. Since she started, disciplinary referrals at recess have dropped by three-quarters, to an average of three a week. And injuries are no longer a daily occurrence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/education/15recess.html?th&emc=th

[Catshrink]

1. This is so stupid.

Kids need "down time" not more regimentation. Wonder who came up with this? An educator who understands how kids learn or a business person sticking his nose into something he knows nothing about?

Playtime is when kids learn about negotiation, social skills, and just blow off steam.

[tonysam]

2. Recess is as much a learning experience as being in a classroom

And yes, kids need to burn off that energy. They can't sit still for any significant length of time.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. We've not had good experiences with unstructured recess

I hear this from other urban teachers as well. Our kids need structure and organized activities at recess. Without that they chase each other and fight. It's a mess. Organized games are a must.

[femmocrat]

15. It's the same with country kids.

Kids don't know how to "play nice" anymore. They cannot self-monitor to organize a simple game of kickball without bickering and arguing. They bully each other at recess. It's a veritable Lord of the Flies! Maybe it's all just part of growing up, but then the parents are calling to complain.

I loathe recess duty. It's 30 minutes of whistle-blowing, taking kids to the nurse, and mediating arguments. Sometimes there are more kids standing along the wall (time-outs) than are on the playground. Anyone who has a fuzzy, romanticized illusion of recess being fun and relaxing has not been on a playground in a very long time.

[tonysam]

18. I KNOW it's not fun; I used to do it.

But face it, the reason this school hired a "coach" was so the teachers would spend more time prepping for teaching to the tests.

[immoderate]

10. Nah! That's for lunchtime.

I'm assuming that recess is some play time or break other than lunch time. Children benefit from structured, group physical activity. From miming and dancing for small kids, to marching and relay race for older kids. It is inclusive. Negotiation, socializing and blowing off steam are included. Also, teamwork, sportsmanship, and actual physical skills. Children benefit from this education.

--imm

[Catshrink]

12. Ugh. Sounds like PE.

I hated PE.

:hi:

[immoderate]

14. Well yeah, I didn't like it all the time either, but it's good stuff.

There is an age at which accomplishing these things is rewarding and fun. And then you change activities. Physical education is education. Children should be taught how to control their bodies, how to move in unison, and how to move under direction. This makes them smart and strong. :)

--imm

[Starry Messenger]

3. That's just all kinds of wrong

"Broadway Elementary, with 367 students in kindergarten to fourth grade, rises above a rough-hewn industrial neighborhood in the North Ward. Nearly all the students are black or Hispanic, and poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

There are three 15-minute recesses, with more than 100 children at a time packed into a fenced-in basketball court equipped with nothing more than a pair of netless hoops."


There's the problem. How about instead of spending money on stupid crap like regimented recess, we actually commit to building and maintaining a beautiful school with stuff to play on & with.

[yellowcanine]

7. My elementary school had a little wooded area that was great for playing "Civil War" in.

We used sticks for guns and swords. No one got hurt, not even me when I went out there with my arm in a sling after dislocating my elbow in another bout of "unstructured play" at home in the barn with my brothers. My slinged arm just immediately became a "war wound".

[PavePusher]

13. That'll get you expelled these days.

Zero-thought, err, tolerance, dontchya know...

[femmocrat]

17. How long ago was that?

It's a different recess today. For one thing, all weapons and imaginary "weapons" are banned.

[yellowcanine]

33. late 1950s - 1962

[Hannah Bell]

19. 100 kids on a basketball court? i agree, there's the problem.

my fondest memories of recess are me & my girlfriend building little houses (complete with stick beds & tables) for wooly bear caterpillars at the far back of the baseball field that was next to the blacktopped games area.



the caterpillars, to our disappointment, didn't like their houses. :>(

[Starry Messenger]

23. For us it was pillbugs.

:D I didn't like sports so my friends and I always ended up in the dirt making things. Seeing all the kids jammed into the basketball court there just reminds me of pictures of a prison yard. :(

[yellowcanine]

4. Recess "coach"?? What happened to an old fashioned "recess monitor" who basically kept

the kids from hurting each other or themselves, (as much as is possible - they are kids and they will do that), but let kids engage in free play? This is nuts. How are the kids going to learn social, organizational and leadership skills if there is an adult constantly running things?

[tonysam]

5. It would be teachers on duty who would run interference

Evidently they are supposed to be busy preparing to teach to the test to worry much about recess.

[yellowcanine]

6. I don't have a problem relieving teachers of recess duty - they get very few breaks as it is.

But I do have a problem with thinking that unstructured play is to be avoided as a waste of time. I learned most of the social skills I have, such as they are, and a lot more, during unstructured play time as a kid.

[tonysam]

11. They NEED unstructured play

Everything they need to know about the human race they can find out on the playground.

[femmocrat]

16. Then let them have it at home! LOL

They might need it, but they can't handle it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. AMEN

No way would I ever just send kids outside for recess and tell them to play. They'd be hurting each other in about 30 seconds. Anyone who doesn't get that hasn't been in an elementary school in a LONG time.

[FiveGoodMen]

30. Goodbye, proud2BAuthoritarianKansan!

[FiveGoodMen]

8. In the land of the free, no one should ever be able to decide what to do

There should always be orders.

"There's no choice."

Anyone waking up yet? Anyone??

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. They are KIDS

Would you leave them alone unsupervised at home because you want them to be able to make their own decisions? LOL

[FiveGoodMen]

25. How is your response related to the topic of regimenting kids recess time?

When I was young, we had supervisors to keep us out of trouble, but they didn't tell us where to stand and what to do.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. They need to be in organized activities

Telling them they can either play kickball or jump rope is hardly regimentation.

[FiveGoodMen]

29. Suppose they want to stand around and talk?

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. My principal would get on me if I allowed that

So no I don't let them stand around and talk.

[harry_pothead]

22. This is about making more corporate drones.

[mbperrin]

24. Little worry about this in west Texas. Elementary kids get 2

20 minute recess periods PER WEEK. Was interfering with instructional time, they say...

[Catshrink]

26. That's criminal.

They're still kids and need to wiggle and run and have down time to goof off.

[mbperrin]

28. Yep. Next year, naps will eliminated for Pre-K to 2 as well.

Recess could be eliminated completely as well; the board is still talking about that one.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. We eliminated kindergarten naps 20 years ago in our district

[mbperrin]

35. Wow. I'm 58, and I still take a 30 minute nap each afternoon from 4-4:30.

Does me a world of good.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. The kids probably nap when they get home

[AnneD]

32. I can't believe....

study after study has shown how important unstructured time is in human development. Children need to learn to socialize with each other, esp these days when kids spend so much time on line. Unstructured recess is so critical esp in young kids.

Kid are slowly forgetting how to imagine-they have forgotten how to create and imagine. They are not allowed to daydream. Some kids need to run off steam some need to dream. People that want to do away with recess and naps for the wee one know nothing about how kid learn and this just proves it
.

Sharpening The Saw

Here it is, the famous “Sharpening the Saw” story.
A man was struggling in the woods to saw down a tree. An old farmer came by, watched for a while, then quietly said, “What are you doing?”
“Can’t you see?” the man impatiently replied, “I’m sawing down this tree.”
“You look exhausted,” said the farmer. “How long have you been at it?”
“Over five hours, and I’m beat,” replied the man. “This is hard work.”
“That saw looks pretty dull,” said the farmer. “Why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen it? I’m sure it would go a lot faster.”
“I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!”
In this story, it is pretty obvious that if the man took a few minutes to sharpen his saw, he would be able to save a lot of time afterwards. However, in real life, it isn’t always so obvious when we need to stop and “sharpen the saw.”