What to do Wednesday: Recess Reform

Dear Lesson Plan Toolbox,

I am writing to inquire about one of my students. She is a first grader, that I know genuinely wants to make good choices, but often things don't work out that way. When she gets frustrated she will begin to tear up what she's working on and throw it all over. She has the tendency to call out during class which gets other students upset, plus that's not how we behave. I feel like I spend all day playing defense in the hopes of avoiding conflict with this student.

Perhaps you can offer some help on how I can more effectively discipline or provide a consequence for the behavior. My usual sequence is to offer a warning first and then take away recess if another incident occurs. She loves recess so I felt like if I took this away, then for sure I would see a change in behavior because she wouldn't want to miss it. Her parents even encouraged me to do so by saying that if she can't behave in school she certainly shouldn't get recess time. Well, taking recess away doesn't seem to be working, but now I don't want to go against the parents' wishes. Please help!

Recess Reform

Dear Recess Reform,

It sounds like you have a wonderful first grader on your hands that love you dearly! I can tell that you love her because you know what you are doing isn't quite working and you are seeking help and guidance. That is H-U-G-E!  So let's see how we can we help.

First, let me start by saying that I know when we get back into our teaching grooves it can be difficult to remember that we are all still going through a pandemic. Not just us as educators with all that we have to do, but our students too! I know at our school we are doing our best to keep students with their specific pods throughout the day which means no switching classes, limited recess, and lunch in the classroom. This can be challenging for anyone, let alone our youngest of learners that are used to moving and wiggling. Try to offer as many movement breaks as you can.  The curriculum will come, but for everyone's sanity if we can safely get our students moving throughout the day then go for it!

As for taking away recess, this is always a great debate in education. Students love recess so when they don't conform to our classroom behaviors then we take it away. Your experience is like many others I have encountered in which the parents are telling you to take recess away. However, you are already aware that this isn't working for this student. In my experience I haven't found that it works for too many students. I would briefly meet with students to conference about their behavior and express that if it continues I would need to call home. This way I was addressing the matter at hand, but still giving that student time to run off some energy which they so desperately need...especially this year. The students we tend take recess away from, are usually the ones that need it the most. Majority of the time, this worked and I felt like this a solid compromise.

One final thought I had about your situation is that instead of just jumping from a warning to an entire losing recess or time off of recess, what if you tried a three strikes system. You can take three sticky notes (possibly different colors) and when the student exhibits an inappropriate behavior, you remove a sticky note explaining why. After all three have been taken away, then I would conference with the student during part of the recess and make a phone call depending on the situation.

I hope this helps to provide some guidance with your student. She is lucky to have you as a teacher with your care and concern for what is best for the child. If you need more ideas, please send a message on Instagram (@lessonplantoolbox) and we are happy to give you more assistance.

 
Teach~Relax~Repeat

Lesson Plan Toolbox