9 Ideas You Can Use Without Taking Away Recess
9/28/2016
Missing recesses has come under fire recently and rightly so! All the latest brain research in the past decade proclaims increases of academic success are directly related to a student's physical activity level. Some schools are even going to four recesses per day. In my school most students receive three recesses totaling about 50 minutes. They are strategically placed about every 75-90 minutes throughout the school day. If you researched, most schools across the US are probably similar.
In my school we rarely take away all of a student's recess, but when we do, it is because students are just "not ready." When we use this language we talk about students being able to participate in recess only when they are ready…meaning they are safe and kind to others. When they can consistently do this, we pull our support away. In our school we have four different levels of support:
Level 1: Student transitions in the classroom and around the school safely and independently.
Level 2: Student transitions in the classroom and around the school no more than six feet or less from an adult (any staff member in charge: teacher, aide, principal, etc…).
Level 3: Student transitions "next to" or "hand-in-hand" from teacher to teacher (or staff member to staff member) in all places on the school campus.
Level 4: Student does not transition (rarely…usually in-school suspension).
Sometimes our biggest opponents to taking away recesses are the student's parents. If I am taking away recesses, I always let parents know they will be back outside when they are safe and kind. When I say this, parents also want to know what students will be doing inside with me. The last few years I have started doing social stories, drawings, written plans, and one-on-one "re-teachings." Students can choose to write or draw about how they will be safe or kind outside. We then discuss the pictures or stories; both of us sign the document with our names signifying what the student will be working on while outside (goals). We include the date so if this happens again we can revisit it. I want to stress that I do not believe in using writing as a punishment, but as a teaching tool and in the development of a recess contract. By giving choice, students get to decide how they want to communicate the goals we set.
The following are nine ideas you can use so students still get recess and are active outside:
1 - Walking Ticket
We use little blue tickets when a student gets in trouble called a "walking ticket." The student receives one that states they will be walking at recess. We have a large white line painted around the edge of our playground where students can walk. A teacher writes on the walking ticket how many minutes the student will be walking. The student takes the blue ticket outside to the recess teacher. The recess teacher then times the student's walk. At the end of walking time period, the recess teacher signs their initials, hands it back to the student, and the student takes the ticket back into the teacher. The teacher then keeps the blue tickets in their daily planner to track behavior over time. This is one more piece of data that can come in handy with parent communication.
2 - Zones
When two students are not getting along and we have tried to mediate the relationship several times, we end up setting up zones for even and odd days. At our school we have both grass and blacktop on the playgrounds. On even days one student gets the blacktop and on odd days the other student gets the grass. When they are ready to treat each other with respect, then we can take the zones away. You can set up different zones at your school that match your playground.
3 - Student Supporters
Student Council members are chosen each year and one of their duties is to teach younger students the games on our playground. We actually have a schedule for these student council members to go outside for recesses every week to have fun and play with younger students. They are tremendous role models and these relationships connect our primary students with our intermediate students. These students are not in charge of discipline, but they do report to the recess teacher if they see problems outside. Many times we try to hook up students who struggle on the playground with older students outside. Sometimes giving them a distraction of playing with older students who are organizing games and activities is just what they need to successful, kind, and safe!
4 - All-Time Quarterback
Many times throughout my career I have taken away recesses for too rough of play by our older students. They tend to go from using flags, to two-hand touch, to tackling each other within one recess. I have taken away football, had students sign sportsmanship contracts, and even wrote out rules and contracts. Sometimes all these interventions do not work. The only other option is "to teach." Having been a football enthusiast, as well as having the high school football coaches' kids attend our school, I wanted to come up with something more hands-on. I started with refereeing, but found it hard to make it outside all the time and our problems persisted. Then a colleague of mine, Principal Lance Boyd of Sunnyside Elementary, told me about the "All-Time QB." He would go outside and be the all-time quarterback for both teams. He could teach the rules, make sure everyone was getting the ball, and model positive sportsmanship. When I started this, it changed everything…and I had fun! This concept can be used for other any sports and activities.
5 - 22, 44, 1:11
Instead of taking away a whole recess from a student, make 22 seconds, 44 seconds, or even 1 minute and 11 seconds seem like an eternity. Most teams are created, activities started, and groupings occur in the first two minutes of recess. Having students miss these weird amounts of time may seem like nothing, but it's all in how you perceive this time and how you use it. In 22 seconds I can have a student own their behavior by stating what they did, tell me what they are going to be working on, and how will I know that they are successful on the goal. In 44 seconds, we can do all of the previous, plus we can make a list of the things that we are going to see when the student returns that shows they are working on the goal. In 1:11 we can do all of the previous, I can hand the student a stop watch, and the student can actually have some quiet time to reflect before they head outside. Again, I am only going to take away all the recess when I know the student may continue to be unsafe or unkind outside… the/she is just "not ready."
6 - Practice Recess With An Adult
The most successful intervention a teacher or principal can use is 1:1 practice with students. I reserve this for the students who struggle the most and may be on a behavior plan or RtI plan. When the bell rings, the student comes to my office. We sit down and talk about the unwanted behavior, discuss and review ideas, strategies, and replacement behaviors, then we go outside and practice. We may have 11 minutes left of the 15 minute recess, or we may only practice for 2 minutes. You may increase the time after more success. While outside, I stay close to the student to listen and watch actions and language of the student. Then I gradually pull back from the student over time; this may be a week, but with most students it is usually one to three recesses. Then I go out once a day, but I do not tell the student which recess I am coming. This follow-up helps support the student's follow-through. Don't forget to celebrate when the student improves.
7 - Serve Consequences Before or After Recess
Why do the consequences of a student's behavior have to be a lost recess? I have always wondered that since I was in elementary school. I got in trouble in the classroom (a lot), so why does that equate to missing recesses? Age old question with a simple answer…"You are wasting our time, I will use your free time at recess." A teacher can also work 1:1, in private, on a student's behavior. I guess I understand that…but, what if we got outside of this box and made our consequences match more of the exhibited "unwanted" behavior. A student who constantly blurts out could serve a timeout in the classroom when it occurs instead of waiting for a delayed consequence at recess. There are many situations that if we matched the consequences to the behavior when it occurs, we realize we don't need to use their recess. One of my favorites was having the student own their behavior, and call home immediately. The student can leave a message such as this, "Mom, can you support me more in the classroom on blurt outs? Can we come up with plan tonight to give to Mr. Konen tomorrow? Thank you for your support. Have a great day, mom. Bye!"….click! Many times I got more out of those conversations than having me call: 1) the student's already owned it, and 2) we are "going to solution" rather than putting all our effort into talking about the problem!
8 - Check-In Check-Out
I wish I had this strategy when I was teaching; I would have tracked and solved more recess problems. A Check-In, Check-Out strategy involves the student, the recess teacher, and the classroom teacher. When the recess bell rings for all students to go outside, the student "checks-in." The student waits until everyone has left the classroom, and has a 1:1 conversation with the teacher. The teacher talks about the exhibited behavior that needs to be corrected, discusses the replacement behavior or strategy the student can use, and then has the student repeat the conversation back to you in their own words before they go outside. This takes 30-60 seconds. Let the student know that the recess teacher will be watching and supporting, as well as letting the student know that he/she will be coming in to report to you on how they did outside with their goals. If there are no reports from the recess teacher, and the student tells the truth…everyone wins. There are several variations and levels to this strategy. A recess card can go between the student, recess teacher, and classroom teacher that tracks data on a rubric. A score can be tallied and used to set goals. A more intense strategy, or escalated level, could include the principal doing the Check-In, Check-Out. This card can then be scanned weekly/daily to parents and other support staff.
9 - Service Work on Playground
Giving back to our community can be fun and worthwhile. We try to teach this to all students in our school. How can this connect to a missed recess? I sometimes give students the choice of serving time to practice recess or cleaning our school. We pride ourselves on having a clean work place. Students can sweep hallways, clean tables in the lunch room, sweep rocks on playground, pick up garbage, empty garbage, and even support the janitor with his/her work. This service work needs to be connected to premise of giving back to our school.
Recesses are also important to educators. I know teachers in my school that can get more done in a 15-minute period than I can all day! Getting our mind away from the classroom, getting time to go talk to other adults, or even making a personal phone call cannot happen if students are in our rooms serving recess. I think if we revisit the power of recesses, specifically fresh air and exercise for our students, I think we will find that students are happier, healthier, and more focused and ready for instruction. What other ideas do you have in order for students not to miss recess?
As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 Jon won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award.
Jon is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com)
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