Heidi: This is episode 192 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're tackling some of the most common recess problems
with advice for solving them from our teacher approved
community.
Heidi: Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can use in your classroom right away. Emily,
what is our prompt this week?
Emily: Try ending your day with a one good thing share. So
before dismissal, ask students to think of one good thing that
happened during the day, like something they learned something
kind a classmate did, even something that made them laugh.
Give students 30 to 60 seconds to think of something, and then
let a few students share out loud, or let everyone share with
a partner. Or they can write their good thing on a sticky
note for a quick class display.
Heidi: That is such a sweet way to end the day on a positive
note, and it helps students and you notice the good even when
the day maybe felt a little wild. Plus, it gives your
classroom community a little boost of connection before
everyone heads out the door.
Emily: And if you like this idea or anything else we share on the
podcast, would you please take a second and give us a five star
rating and review on Apple podcasts.
All right, let's talk about recess. So in theory, recess is
this wonderful time where everyone gets a break. Kids get
to run around, and teachers get to take a deep breath. But let's
be honest, recess often comes with its own set of challenges.
And judging by what we heard when we asked all of you in our
community how recess was going, you are all feeling the same
way.
Heidi: Oh, my goodness, the stories we heard, everything
from students arguing over tag rules. Oh, the eternal struggle.
You know, soccer games are ending in tears, and, of course,
the classic, the full on meltdown about who was out in
Gaga ball. I swear whoever invented Gaga ball had no idea
of the emotional turmoil that they were unleashing on
elementary schools everywhere.
Emily: I remember when my son's school got Gaga ball and they
were all so excited about it, and how frequently he would come
home and mention, Oh, we didn't get to do the Gaga pit today
because everybody was fighting. Yeah, it is like the hunger
games out there sometimes. And don't even get me started on
coming back inside afterwards. Nothing says ready to learn like
25 red faced, sweaty kids who are either crying or tattling or
both.
Heidi: Oh, the memories. Yeah. Randa told us that even though
she doesn't have recess duty, she still deals with all of the
drama. Because, of course, it carries back into her classroom
and she's left sorting through the mess. Stacy mentioned that
her students return from recess telling her all of the problems
instead of telling the duty teacher. You know, it's like
they just save up all their complaints just for us. We're so
lucky, aren't we?
Emily: So lucky. Special delivery! Yeah, we have been
there. So today we're going to focus on four of the biggest
recess challenges that you are dealing with, and we'll walk
through some simple strategies that can help make recess less
stressful.
Heidi: Because, of course, we could all use fewer playground
dramas in our lives. So let's start with what might be the
most common challenge, recess drama that does not stay at
recess. This is the worst. You are all ready to roll into your
math block after recess, and then in comes the line of kids,
where someone's crying and someone is angry and three more
are demanding to tell you their side of the story before you can
even pass out the base stand blocks.
Emily: Yeah, and Miranda put it perfectly when she said the
drama that happens at recess rarely gets handled at recess.
It carries back to my classroom, and I'm left to sort through the
mess.
Heidi: And she's not alone. Laura mentioned that conflicts
continue into the classroom, and Jill shared about having two
very sensitive girls who were constantly saying that the other
hurt her feelings.
Emily: Oh yes, I guarantee that you have had this sensitive duo
in your class. Bless their hearts, they could be best
friends on Monday, and they're sworn enemies by Tuesday lunch,
and somehow, as the teacher, you're expected to play
Relationship Coach while you're getting the rest of your class
to work, it is too much to ask of a teacher.
Heidi: It really is. But one thing that can really help is
having a calm down space in your classroom just for these
moments, nothing fancy, you know, a stool in the corner with
a journal or some scrap paper. It gives kids a second to
collect themselves before jumping back into learning.
Sometimes just writing or drawing what happens helps get
the emotion out in a productive way.
Emily: You can also teach your students a go to script for
solving small conflicts on their own, something like, I felt
blank when blank and I need blank. And Carmen mentioned that
she teaches her students how to use I messages, saying things
like, I don't like it when you blank, please blank. Now this is
not magically going to stop every disagreement, but it does
give them a tool, a way to name what's wrong and ask for a
solution without needing an adult to intervene every single
time. In fact, we would really like to teach them to solve
these sort of disagreements without needing an adult.
Heidi: And if your students are constantly getting into he said
she said squabbles over who was out, who tagged who, who wasn't
playing fair, Sara has this great solution for you. She
mentioned that when they have students arguing about whether
they're out or not during handball, they have them do rock
paper scissors to decide. She said this simple solution really
helps reduce conflicts or recess.
Emily: Yeah, I have to say rock paper scissors is the unsung
hero of classroom conflict management, especially if you
teach the kids that it's a one and done, you don't get to do
best two out of three, or whatever, it is rock paper
scissors, move on.
Heidi: Yeah. They will drag this out. Whoever got out will be
like, Oh, best three out of five. They'll be in there the
whole day.
Emily: So you got to make it one and done, and then it works for
like choosing line leaders in a pinch, settling disputes, even
deciding who goes first in the game. It's much faster than
flipping a coin and way less dramatic than a full on
courtroom trial about whether Jackson was actually tagged or
if Emma just almost tagged him.
Heidi: Oh my gosh, the precision with which kids will debate the
physics of tagging. My finger was one millimeter away from a
shirt, but I felt the fabric move, so technically, I tagged
him. With my second graders. I actually ended up just setting
the rule, and I taught this from the first of the school year. If
someone says they tagged you, they tagged you, even if you
didn't feel it, pointing out to kids that the rule can help them
when they are it as much as it might cost them when they're the
ones being chased, can do wonders for just helping
everyone get along.
Emily: Oh, yes, that is brilliant, and I hope I never
have to moderate another tag dispute in my life.
Heidi: Yeah, no joke, I think tag ruins a lot of days at
school.
Problem number two is really at the heart of so many recess
issues. Students simply don't know how to play together
without fighting. Elizabeth told us her fourth graders argue
about the made up rules to games they play at recess, sometimes
to the point of physical altercations. She's had to ban
several games already this year, and Jackie mentioned that the
Gaga pit is particularly problematic at her school.
Students struggle to get along and follow rules.
Emily: Ah, that Gaga pit strikes again. Yeah, those should come
with a warning label like may cause extreme emotional
reactions and friendship breakdowns.
Heidi: They'll probably sell fewer of them.
Emily: But seriously, this is probably the most common issue
that teachers mentioned, not just about Gaga, but about
everything. Cece shared that student led organized games get
too rough. They're often resorting to physical fights.
The students involved get restricted from playing, but
then when the restriction is over, they're back to their old
ways before long, it's like playground amnesia or something.
Heidi: Soccer and basketball seem to have the most problems,
based on what we heard from you. And Carrie specifically
mentioned boys getting too physical and competitive. And I
have definitely witnessed soccer games that start with a friendly
passing and end with someone declaring that they're never
playing with these kids ever again as they stomp off the
field.
Emily: Yeah, it can be like World Cup level dramatics on an
elementary school soccer field, like the falling to the ground,
the clutching of possibly not even touched limbs. Yeah,
they've got Oscar worthy performances out there.
Heidi: So what's the solution, right? One approach that we have
seen work remarkably well is to actually teach recess games at
the beginning of the year and throughout the year when needed.
I know your stomach dropped when I said that, one more thing to
teach, who has time. But Carmen shared that this has been the
best year in terms of recess behavior in a long time, because
at the beginning of the year, her team rotated through each
class, teaching them recess games and rules.
Emily: Yes, and we have shared this idea before, teaching the
games explicitly makes such a difference. When everyone
understands the rules, there is just so much less to argue
about. And it might sound like a lot of extra work up front, but
it really pays off throughout the year when you consider how
much less time you have to spend breaking up these recess fights.
It's It's like spending 20 minutes teaching kids how to
properly clean up the art center versus spending the entire year
finding dried glue and marker caps everywhere. You know that
investment of time is really worth in the long run.
Heidi: For those schools with Gaga pits or other specialized
play areas that tend to cause problems, Jacqueline mentioned
that they do a serious tutorial for kids at the beginning of the
year and refreshers throughout the year when things get out of
hand. They also have a recess supervisor stationed near the
Gaga pit to referee and address issues before they escalate.
Students know that if they argue too much with the referee, they
lose Gaga pit privileges for the day or even the week. That would
be crushing.
Emily: Oh man, the Gaga pit police. I love it. You know,
it's serious when you need a dedicated supervisor for like,
one little, small octagon of the playground. But what I love
about that approach is that it's proactive rather than reactive.
You're not waiting for problems to happen and then deal with
them. You're setting up expectations right from the
start.
Heidi: Angela shared a great tip for handling competitive sports
play. She watches over kickball and touch football and makes her
presence known in a positive way by cheering and making calls.
When she sees students getting hyped up, she pulls them over
for what she calls an adrenaline talk and helps them breathe to
learn to control it.
Emily: I love that. And sometimes for students who
really struggle with social skills, a little extra support
can make a big difference. Jacqueline mentioned that they
had friendship clubs for some students to work through issues
and learn management skills at recess a few times a week.
Heidi: Yeah, I definitely had classes where that was a
necessary part of our daily life, and friendship club sounds
way better than you need to keep playing nicely group. Marketing
is everything with kids.
Emily: So problem number three is something that will surprise
no one who works at an elementary school, the students
are claiming they're bored. Valerie mentioned they have a
huge yard, but according to the students, there's nothing to do,
which leads to poor choices and behavior problems. Vicki shared
that when she has gone out with her students, they don't seem to
know how to run and play and they just want to stand around
or stand next to her.
Heidi: Ah, the classic, there's nothing to do while standing in
the middle of a giant playground with balls and slides ans
basketball hoops everywhere. And then when they do find something
to do, it's something wildly inappropriate, like trying to
see if rocks can fly over school building.
Emily: Yeah, exactly. Or they're using the classroom scissors
that they snuck out to dig a massive hole at the edge of the
field for reasons, I guess. These days, it's true that kids
are really used to being entertained, and so sometimes
they genuinely don't know what to do with unstructured time.
Heidi: And as Angela pointed out, many kids may not have
experience creating their own fun. She suggested teaching a
few games and making sure that there are basic supplies
available, like kickballs, sidewalk chalk and jump ropes.
Emily: Melanie recommended teaching basic group games like
duck, duck, goose or red light, green light. She also had a
great idea about sending a notice to parents asking for
help gathering some simple equipment that you can add to
the playground.
Heidi: That's such a smart idea. Spring is the perfect time to
ask for donations of sidewalk chalk, jump ropes and balls. As
Melanie pointed out, lots of families have leftovers from
Easter baskets this time of year.
Emily: And another approach to handling equipment, because some
of you mentioned that's a pain point in your classroom, is to
create a recess equipment checkout system so that things
actually make it back inside. Your students can be responsible
for checking out and returning items, which adds another layer
of structure to recess time, and usually kids are more likely to
take care of their equipment when they know it will be
obvious if they come back in with a knotted jump rope.
Heidi: Now, problem four is a big one, inconsistent rule
enforcement between the adults that are on duty. Kim mentioned
this specifically. She teaches sixth grade, and said their
afternoon recess runs smoothly because all three teachers are
on duty every day so that the rules stay consistent. But lunch
recess is problematic because the adults on duty don't stay
consistent with the rules they've established.
Emily: Oh, and that causes so much confusion. Plus, kids are
surprisingly good at figuring out which adults allow what
Heidi: Oh, they're on to you from the jump, they know.
behaviors.
Emily: I swear, they have like a secret spreadsheet that they all
are like contributors on, so that they know exactly how to
work the system.
Heidi: They are strategic little masterminds when they want to
be, but you know, not when it comes to math.
Emily: So true.
Heidi: This is, unfortunately, one recess issue that is very
common, especially when you have different staff members,
teachers, aides, administrators, all taking turns on recess duty.
It's confusing for students when the rules seem to change
depending on who happens to be watching them, and it can be
frustrating for teachers who establish clear expectations in
their classroom, only to have them undermined by other adults
during recess.
Emily: And I'm going to be honest, this problem
specifically is a tricky one to solve. Now the ideal solution
here would be to create a simple, visible set of
playground expectations that all staff agree to enforce. You
could post these rules on the playground and review them
regularly with both students and staff. You would also want to
establish the consequences for breaking rules and how to handle
common scenarios like equipment disputes or injuries.
Heidi: But what makes this so tricky is that it involves
getting all of the other teachers and staff on board,
which, as you know, is no small feat. I would recommend talking
to your team first and seeing how they feel about things.
Maybe you could just start with getting everyone who has recess
at the same time as your class on board, or you can always go
to your admin and express your concerns and suggestions.
Emily: If the admin does decide to adopt school wide recess
rules, regular check ins as a staff about recess expectations
is super helpful. Maybe once a month at staff meeting, take
five minutes to discuss what's working and what needs
adjustment. I know another thing for the staff meeting agenda,
but it's better than having the same playground problems all
year long.
Heidi: Another approach is to assign specific zones for duty
teachers to monitor so everyone knows the responsibility area.
This helps ensure the whole playground is covered and rules
are consistently enforced. It's like creating a perimeter
defense against playground chaos.
Emily: And Towanda shared a great point, if you have several
reports about your students in your absence, consider showing
up to help correct the issue sometimes. It shows both your
students and the duty teachers that you're invested in making
recess successful. Plus it gives you a chance to see firsthand
what's going on, instead of trying to piece it together from
25 different kid perspectives.
Heidi: Well, we don't know any magic solutions to solve recess
problems once and for all, unfortunately, but you can help
improve these four common recess behavior issues by applying the
ideas that we shared today. So make a plan for students to work
through recess drama when they return to class. Give your
students opportunities to practice working together and
handling conflict. Teach Kids how to stay busy at recess and
make a plan for rule enforcement. You know, to the
best of your ability, at least.
Emily: Now for our teacher approved tip, where we share an
actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is try a
three day recess reset. That's fun to say. Choose one game
that's causing the most issues and reteach expectations for
three days in a row. Freeze Tag seems to be a huge source of
drama on many playgrounds, so let's use that as our example.
Heidi: Here's how to make this work. On day one, gather your
students before recess and spend just five minutes reviewing the
rules of freeze tag, or another game that's causing headaches.
Be super specific, not just play fair, but exactly what that
means in this seemingly simple game.
Emily: Right. And the key is to make it visual. So for freeze
tag, we're actually going to go outside and mark clear
boundaries for the game, and we're going to demonstrate
exactly what counts as being tagged. Is it any touch or does
it have to be a two finger tag? What position do you freeze in,
like a statue or crouch down? How long do you have to stay
frozen before someone can unfreeze you? You got to get
into the nitty gritty.
Heidi: The biggest freeze tag arguments that we've seen come
from kids claiming they weren't really tagged, or arguments
about boundaries. So day one is all about getting everyone
crystal clear on the details.
Emily: Then on day two, have a couple of students demonstrate
the right way to play. But here's the important part, they
also get to demonstrate the wrong way and how to handle it.
So show what happens when someone claims they weren't
tagged and model how to respectfully accept being frozen
without a 15 minute debate.
Heidi: Why do the children make this so hard? Role playing is
gold in these situations. You could have them act out
scenarios like what to do when you think someone is unfreezing
people too quickly, and how to handle it when the same person
is it for too long.
Emily: You can make it fun by having your most dramatic
students play the what not to do parts. They usually ham it up
pretty good, which makes the lesson memorable.
Heidi: And then on day three, you observe the game in action
and give specific positive feedback after recess. I noticed
Sophia froze right away when she was tagged without arguing. That
kept the game moving for everyone. Public recognition can
go a real long way.
Emily: The beauty of this three day reset is that you can repeat
it anytime things start sliding, maybe after a long weekend or
when a new student joins the class. And once you've gone
through the process a few times, students start to internalize
the expectations and even teach each other.
Heidi: That is the best part. And while the reset is about one
specific activity, you'll notice the positive effects spill over
into other recess activities too. Those conflict resolution
skills are transferable. So this might feel like it's taking you
lots of time, but it's really saving you time.
Emily: So give the three day recess reset a try, small
investment that pays huge dividends for your classroom
culture and your own sanity.
Heidi: To wrap up the show, we are showing what we're giving
extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to lemon crisp Kit Kats.
Heidi: I forgot about those.
Emily: I know I tried them last year and fell in love, so I was
super excited to see. I'm back again this year, but I do
believe they are seasonal, so if you want to try it, you better
jump on it. And not all stores even have them. I have kind of
found them a little tricky to find so, but it's worth it. The
hunt for the lemon crisp Kit Kat.
Heidi: They're an excellent spring treat. You might need to
stock up and throw some in your freezer.
Emily: Mm hmm. What are you giving extra credit to Heidi?
Heidi: My extra credit goes to Mucinex Instasoothe sore throat
drops. That's a mouthful, literally and figuratively, I
guess. These are like cough drops, but for sore throats, I
give them a 10 out of 10. If you get spring allergies that come
with that burning, aching throat that is so miserable, grab some
of these today, I promise you will be so happy. But even if
you don't get allergy sore throats, I'm gonna say, grab
some of these anyway and just tuck them into the back of your
desk. A couple of weeks ago, Emily and I talked about five
simple things you can do in April to prep for back to
school. Well, think about grabbing a bag of these throat
drops as your sixth suggestion. When back to school rolls
around, you will be so grateful to have these on hand those
first few days back you know how it is when your throat is so
sore from talking non stop for six hours. We're all about the
little wins here.
Emily: I love it. And that's it for today's episode. Give some
of these ideas a try to handle your most difficult recess
challenges, and don't be afraid to try a three day recess reset.
Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
Bye, for now.
Emily: Bye.