Teachers please stop taking recess away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in school to become a teacher. I have interned in a school and witnessed various teachers take away minutes from recess as a form of punishment. I asked the teacher who I was working with why they do that and she said because it not only works, but also because there is nothing else they can do. It made me wonder, what can they do? Parents, if your child is constantly disturbing the class (speaking out of turn, putting down another child, not doing work, etc), what do you suggest a teacher do? Honestly, I hate taking away recess but no clue what would work

Talk to the parent. Perhaps switch the child's teacher if it is not a good fit. Not all teachers are good fits for all kids, even good teachers who try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never take away all of recess but I sometimes have students walk the perimeter of the tennis courts instead of playing with their friends. They spend class trying to do that.

No, just no. They need a break. Find other ways to deal with bad behavior.

If parents would deal with unacceptable behavior at home, we'd have much less to deal with at school. Too many kids never hear "no."

Seriously. I don't necessarily agree with taking away recess because kids need that time for movement and fresh air, but there are SO MANY behaviors seen in schools today that were rare even 10 years ago. I'm talking about elementary school kids calling teachers names, kids who continually yell out loud noises during the whole group lesson, kids who stand on chairs while they are supposed to be in centers while the teacher is in small group and the teacher has to constantly stop small group instruction to deal with students who are off task, etc.

Parents here say they want to be contacted but the reality is that many parents actually don't. I've called home to hear the parent say "well, that's too bad because it's your problem during school hours so you can deal with it." We are a PBIS school and that worked at first but kids quickly figured out that when there are no consequences for bad behavior then they can continue to escalate it. Central office has created a code of conduct so that students can get away with practically anything and there won't be consequences.

People who aren't in schools witnessing this firsthand say to figure out the problem, figure out how to work with the kid, what makes them tick etc. That's great, but there are 20 something kids in my class and it would literally take all day every day to deal with each issue that way. It's not laziness--it's that my job is to to instruct and educate and while coping skills and behavioral skills are extremely important, I am still responsible for teaching content, not just playing counselor/therapist. I'm not qualified for that job and frankly we need more counselors in schools. We have one counselor for over 600 students.

Honestly it starts at home. Too many parents these days want to leave parenting to the schools. They are too busy or too disinterested or maybe just feel overwhelmed. I don't know what it is. But they're doing a severe disservice to their children and to the other children who are able to function in a classroom environment without causing distraction and disruption to others who want to be able to learn.

Yes, taking away recess as a blanket punishment is lazy. No, I don't agree with that. But the issues plaguing schools these days are serious and impactful. It's exhausting to deal with it day in and day out. Think of the times your own children have tested every boundary and you've been ready to tear your hair out. Multiply that by multiple children doing the same thing at different times of the day. Yes, we're teachers but at the end of the day we're only human. We don't have some superhuman parenting power that mere mortals don't have. Sometimes teachers just snap and out comes a threat like the whole class will miss recess if the behavior continues. Just like I'm sure most people have done as parents. If you haven't and have strategies that will work for 20 something individuals at once without needing to do something completely different for each child (which takes time) then please list your ideas here. It used to be that there would be a FBA or a BIP in place for kids who continually had these kinds of disruptive issues but now the issues are so prevalent that it only happens with the most severe cases where there's violence or physical aggression.

If you're unhappy that your kid's teacher takes recess away then by all means write or call her and ask her to explain why she does that and express your displeasure. But please understand the climate that teachers are working under these days--tension, stress and pressure like you wouldn't believe. Not an excuse--just an explanation.

[Anonymous]

While I am somewhat sympathetic to the PP above, I remind you that if you have to get to know each one of your students afresh every day you are doing it wrong. Supposedly you take time to learn what makes each tick when you first get them. I also don't believe that the problems you are having are all that new. Kids didn't change that dramatically in the last 10 years. Instead of taking away the only break they have, find other ways to get through to them. It's possible. Good teachers know how to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in school to become a teacher. I have interned in a school and witnessed various teachers take away minutes from recess as a form of punishment. I asked the teacher who I was working with why they do that and she said because it not only works, but also because there is nothing else they can do. It made me wonder, what can they do? Parents, if your child is constantly disturbing the class (speaking out of turn, putting down another child, not doing work, etc), what do you suggest a teacher do? Honestly, I hate taking away recess but no clue what would work

In the OP. If it worked, the teacher would not still have to to take recess away in march like she did in August. It doesn't work. Kids need to blow off steam, to get some energy out. Otherwise you'll have even more behavioral problems on your hands. You need to find out what makes those students tick, why they are misbehaving, talk to the schooo counselor, talk to parents. But please do not lull yourself into thinking that taking away recess works. Also, my son is smart enough to know it's not fair to him to behave and get recess taken away because other problem kids messed up. What kind of a lesson is that teaching my son?

It's called collective punishment.

They hope peer pressure will encourage the problem kids not to act out so everyone doesn't get punished. It's a bad system.

[Anonymous]

question for the educators here.
I am fairly involved in school so do have some leverage. Is there anything I can do about not taking recess away, without becoming "that mom"? I suspect the answer is NO, but who knows.
We are not in MoCo but I would love it to be the district wide policy. Or a school policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I am somewhat sympathetic to the PP above, I remind you that if you have to get to know each one of your students afresh every day you are doing it wrong. Supposedly you take time to learn what makes each tick when you first get them. I also don't believe that the problems you are having are all that new. Kids didn't change that dramatically in the last 10 years. Instead of taking away the only break they have, find other ways to get through to them. It's possible. Good teachers know how to do it.

Teacher PP here.

A. I didn't say that. I don't have to get to know each one of my students afresh every day.

B. Yes, I take time to learn what makes each tick when I first get them. My school has a high mobility rate. The class I started with in August is not even close to the class I have now. Often you find out what makes a student tick and what works for them and then they leave. Then you get a new student with completely different needs and it takes time to figure that out without the luxury of the "getting to know you" time at the beginning of the year. I still have about 14 of the 25 students I started with in August. I have gained and lost many others since then.

Care to elaborate on your statement about other ways to get through to them that stops the behavior? I'm talking about the significant behavior--not just the chatty kids or the ones who daydream instead of doing their work. One kid told me recently that he'd stop yelling in the classroom if I buy him a PS3. He was serious.

And again, for the record, I don't take away recess in case that wasn't clear in my first post.

[Anonymous]

Teacher PP, you must be teaching at a NY inner city school- at least it looks so much like an article I read on it. High poverty school with high turnover rate and high homelessness rate...
I just wanted to say how much respect I have for you for trying to do some impossible things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher PP, you must be teaching at a NY inner city school- at least it looks so much like an article I read on it. High poverty school with high turnover rate and high homelessness rate...
I just wanted to say how much respect I have for you for trying to do some impossible things.

Actually I work in MCPS. But thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just a request to all teachers to stop using recess as a bargaining tool. My child's teacher apparently punishes the whole class when some of them misbehave. They are misbehaving BECAUSE they are cooped up all day with no physical activity!!! Taking away recess is lazy teaching. Find other strategies to deal with behavioral problems in the classroom. Let 7 year olds get some fresh air for Pete's sake! Rant over.

Totally agree. What's worse, a counselor who comes to the class to talk about kindness uses the time they have for recess. Hypocrisy!

[Anonymous]

I would actually not mind if taking recess away really did "work." But it only works as temporarily as any other punishment for most of the kids, which is why a teacher who uses taking away recess as punishment in September is usually still taking away some kids' recesses in October, and March, and May. So it works about as well as a dunce cap or a ruler.

My point of view is that kids have ALREADY had their recess taken away, having done nothing at all to deserve it. They're already in the midst of a punishment they didn't even earn, suffering from much less free time and outdoor time than many of their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had growing up. Are their any teachers who, rather than punishing the bad, give extra recess points for chunks of good behavior? That would seem logical to me-- if we can get this done quickly and efficiently, we can have extra recess.

[Anonymous]

DCPS Wellness Policy https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/DCPS%20Local%20Wellness%20Policy%202014%20FINAL.pdf

"Mandatory physical activity (e.g., running laps, pushups) or the withholding of physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education) will not be used as punishment;"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS Wellness Policy https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/DCPS%20Local%20Wellness%20Policy%202014%20FINAL.pdf

"Mandatory physical activity (e.g., running laps, pushups) or the withholding of physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education) will not be used as punishment;"

OP here. DCPS teachers either don't know or don't care because that's were my child is.

[Anonymous]

My DCPS is not allowed to do this. I thought it was a city wide policy but maybe not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would actually not mind if taking recess away really did "work." But it only works as temporarily as any other punishment for most of the kids, which is why a teacher who uses taking away recess as punishment in September is usually still taking away some kids' recesses in October, and March, and May. So it works about as well as a dunce cap or a ruler.

My point of view is that kids have ALREADY had their recess taken away, having done nothing at all to deserve it. They're already in the midst of a punishment they didn't even earn, suffering from much less free time and outdoor time than many of their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had growing up. Are their any teachers who, rather than punishing the bad, give extra recess points for chunks of good behavior? That would seem logical to me-- if we can get this done quickly and efficiently, we can have extra recess.

Yes, there are lots of teachers who give extra recess as an incentive. You might see something that looks like this on the board: ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ , and the class earns a letter at a time and when they earn all the letters in the word "recess" they get extra recess. It's a strategy that is used often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid hates recess. He'd be thrilled.

Why?