Reply to Middle School Recess coming to FCPS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Middle school teacher of 27 years.

We have it currently; it's attached to an existing class (so, in a class schedule, it extends a period length 15 minutes). Right now, we end the formal class period at the regular time, and then kids have 15 minutes to do nothing in particular, but they have to stay in their classroom, or have a pass to go to the bathroom or the library. Each classroom has 1 pass for those things, so students can go 1 at a time. Teachers have games in their classroom, and although we are an "away for the day" school, that policy is superceded by teacher discretion; teacher can allow phone use in their classrooms.

The thing I wonder about when MS recess goes full implementation is similar to what some PPs have brought up: when the students are allowed "to roam", a) what does that mean, and b) where do they go? Middle schools definitely don't have the outdoor infrastructure to support recess, and the PE department has classes they have to supervise (often very full classes). I guess the choices will be 1) stay in the classroom, 2) go outside, 3) roam the hallways, 4) go to the library (the library has a max capacity for space & supervision requirements).

Additionally I wonder, as at least 1 other PP commented, is 15 minutes even enough, say, if they are going to go outside? I'd imagine that this recess will be in the morning (well, maybe it'll be attached to lunch?), so will it be cold enough that kids don't want to go outside? Or will the field still be wet? And how long will it take for kids to get outside, and then to get back inside? I'm not saying we shouldn't do it, but I wonder if the powers-that-be who came up with this idea (county leadership, school board, parents) really understand what it will look like in practice. [/quote]

I would like to see it attached to lunch personally. Then kids can choose to just have a longer lunch and not be rushed. [/quote]

Yep, or like me and my MS friends did, eat lunch as (reasonably) quickly as possible and then go play basketball or some other playground game for ~20+ mins before the bell rings for class.[/quote]

The 15 minute break is attached to lunch at our MS and we are moving it next year. Students cannot just choose to have a longer lunch because of supervision issues. Kids are coming in for the next lunch as the other lunch is exiting. Having break before/after lunch created too much movement in the building and kids were getting “lost” (skipping or just otherwise oblivious that there group was going back inside). Letting large swaths of middle schoolers outside sounds great in theory, but in practice, there are a lot of moving parts. I agree that outside time is great for everyone, but it is not as easy as it may seem to those that don’t deal w/ 1,000 + 12/13/14 year olds every day. [/quote]

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