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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Missing one recess can keep 70% of the class from acting disruptively during learning. Having a regular consequence of missing recess can keep an additional 20% in line.  This leaves 10% of the class for the teachers to work closely with the students and parents to find alternative s solutions.

A classroom that is allowed to use this consequence judiciously has a teacher who calls out sick less, fewer candy bribes, less screen time, and a lower likelihood of a teacher quitting and being replaced by a new teacher.

The problem with the policy is that it unilaterally takes away one of the only tools teachers have to help their students develop self discipline and, stemming from that, self esteem.

I have seen teachers disciplined for not allowing a kid to attend *extra* recess which the child was not entitled to to begin with.

The county has no problem taking away outdoor recess for rain/snow/snowed earlier in the week/rained yesterday and it's still wet/etc. Surely it would be worth the possibility of no recess occasionally if it meant that kids would behave and learn inside the classroom. Or that your young kid would learn consequences prior to middle school and beyond before the stakes get higher.

I hope that MCPS will learn that throwing something away because "people don't like it" doesn't work. It didn't work with phonics and it doesn't work with this.

-veteran teacher who has seen both sides of this policy and the intended and unintended consequences

[/quote]

I agree with you and the good teachers put those kids to work during their missed recess.  Cleaning floors, whiteboards, dusting, etc....  They don't just sit around.

Parents are the problem.  Constantly making excuses for their lack of discipline at home turning into a train wreck for the teacher.  So many parents worry about ABC's and 123's and not how to teach a kid to put on their clothes, tie shoes, zipper a jacket, wipe their behind, sit criss cross and listen to a book.  Keep their hands to themselves, focus on a skill for 20min (yes this takes PRACTICE at home!!)  [/quote]

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