Reply to Assigned seats for elementary school lunch?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our principal recently decided to require teachers to develop assigned seating plans for lunch.  The tables alternate boy/girl and it appears that children have been deliberately separated from their friends.  Two grades have already been assigned and I'm wondering if the rest of the grades will follow.  The kids were told that they are being too loud, and that is why they have gone to an assigned seating arrangement.  Is this how lunch is done at other FCPS elementary schools--especially for the older children?  [/quote]

Is this at Colvin Run, by any chance?  My DC goes there and the fourth grade (not sure about the other grades) has recently been seated as you described.  But only the Gen Ed classes, not AAP, so that adds a whole additional layer of absurdity and unfairness.  Why persist in punishing entire classes for the disruption of a few?  My child has been miserable at lunch, unable to sit with friends and just relax for a short time.  DH and I are ready to confront the administation over this.  [/quote]

You definitely should confront the administration.  I feel like calling them myself and I'm not at Colvin Run.  Many restaurants are very loud, I don't see why the cafeteria can't be loud.  After a morning of learning, kids deserve a break to talk and laugh.  At Forestville, they dim the lights and then someone tells them they are being loud and need to quiet down, and this seems to happen every time I've volunteered in the cafeteria, but I'm okay with this strategy.  
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[b]I guess I just don't understand why. Why does lunch need to be quiet? Who is it hurting if they're loud? [/b][/quote]

It doesn't need to be quiet, but they do need to be able to hear me.  There have been days they are so loud they didn't even hear the bell ring to end lunch.[/quote]

I'm the former lunch helper that posted above. When I was working, the problem when it got to loud was that I couldn't hear a student speaking to me. I'd usually shut the lights out or ask a student to go shut them out for me, then I could tell the students to keep the noise level down. It did get loud, but I'm with the others who believe kids need to be allowed to talk and take a break during lunch. As long as they are behaving and being respectful, they should be allowed to talk. [/quote]

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