Do Students Need Recess
... the education of the young people of the school district. These people have donated their time and services to provide learning environments for the students. When the board members are in session, they are the spokesmen for the people of the community, and the community is bound to accept their decisions whether they agree or not. However, when these members are not in session, they have no more authority than other patrons of the community. This fine line of authority must exist if a school system is to function in a professional atmosphere. The Board of Education appoints the Superintendent of schools as the executive secretary. All employees of the school system are to follow the chain of command up through the Superintendent of Schools before matters are brought before the Board. Writer’s Role The writer’s role at the school is the Elementary and Junior High School Principal. This will be his first year in administration. The school is concerned not only with the accumulation of knowledge and the development of skills on the part of its students, but are concerned also with the development of attitudes, ideals and understandings that are commensurate with a moral and a democratic society. Some of the duties the principal has in cooperation with the coaches or sponsors shall arrange and schedule all interscholastic contests and employ needed officials and judges. He shall make arrangements for activities away for home. The principal is in charge of all activity regulations where he shall see that all activities or extra curricular groups adhere to the rules and regulations of the Oklahoma High School Activities Association and Texhoma School. He shall schedule all activities in his school and provide for their supervision. He may delegate authority here deemed necessary. All school activities shall have prior approval of the principal. All activities shall be checked with the master calendar in the High School principal’s office. The high school principal shall be the chief executive in the absence of the Superintendent. If both of the administrative officers are absent the elementary principal shall become the executive chief officer in charge of all activities. He is responsible for the discipline in his school and maintaining good school attitudes and citizenship within the student body. He has the authority to temporarily suspend students in compliance with school rules and law. Teacher evaluation is one of the very important jobs of the principal. All certified staff members shall be evaluated using a written and standardized evaluation instrument developed by the board of education. The completed evaluation shall be retained on file of the person being evaluated. The evaluation instrument is a confidential document and shall be protected accordingly. Probationary teachers shall be evaluated at least twice each year. One evaluation shall occur on or before November 14, and another on or before February 9, each year. Career teachers shall be evaluated once year, unless circumstances require additional evaluations. Evaluations of teachers shall be made by the appropriate certified principal, or other designated certified administrative person. The evaluation shall be reviewed by the staff member and the evaluator. Either or both may attach written and signed comments to he evaluation instrument with in two weeks of the evaluation provided that no additional statements or comments shall be attached without the teacher’s knowledge. The teacher’s signature on the evaluation instrument shall serve only to reflect the teacher’s acknowledgment that an evaluation was conducted. A copy of the completed evaluation instrument will be provided to the teacher. Before becoming principal he has ten years of experience as the Agriculture Science teacher. The writer has lived in the community for the past twenty years; he has coached T-ball and little league baseball and therefore knows most all of the students in the school district. The writer is responsible for the initial planning of the research. The writer will develop a survey for the elementary and junior high teachers concerning recess or lack of recess. The writer will use the survey results to help address the behavior problems. The writer will personally interview the junior high teachers and principal in gathering data to help in the research of the behavior problems. The writer will compile the results of the survey. The writer will distribute these results to all the junior high teachers and principal. The writer will review the results and put together a plan of auction in addressing the behavior problems in the junior high. Chapter 2 Problem Description The grade school teachers have concerns about the behavior problem they are having with the students on the days that students are not allowed recess. Students in the 5th & 6th grade are allowed 20 minutes after lunch for outside recess. In the fall most of the boys play tag football, while the girls play wall ball or basketball. The students my also play other games such as kickball or set and read or just plain relax for the whole 20 minutes. Students are showing behavior problems when they are not allowed adequate recess time, resulting in behavior problems in the classroom, silent lunches form being too loud in the lunch room and students who can not be still in the classroom causing problems for everyone in the classroom. Teachers are faced with too many fidgety fifth and sixth graders have decided last fall to buck a global trend not to cut recess. Recess is different from PE, notes one of the elementary teachers. The kids need unstructured time where they can make up their own rules. Many schools in the United States have cancelled the open the door and run recess, labeling it extraneous to the serious business of learning. In doing so, they have begun to mirror their counterparts in countries known for high-powered education. From Germany to Russia to Japan, students' days are heavy on academics and short on free time. Even in France, where morning recess was once common, the practice may lose out to more class time. Some educators argue that play is central to learning. But most schools send a different message. When you're on school grounds, the focus is academics. Play may have educational value, but it's not our responsibility. Pressure from international competition lies at the heart of educators and shifts there attitude on recess and free playtime at school. It all began with the 'Nation at Risk' report in 1983, says Charles Doyle, assistant dean of the School of Education at Chicago's DePaul University. This federal call to action, highlighting American schoolchildren's poor standing internationally, led to a push for standardized testing. With more emphasis on tests, schools required more time in the school day for test preparation. Recess time was the first thing to go, he says. Beyond that, Doyle adds, many schools, especially private academies, have found themselves under pressure from parents to expand instructional time to increase the children's chances of going to the first-rate colleges. There are also the more basic issues such as safety. Many understaffed urban schools, concerned with neighborhood violence, have eliminated free time on the playgrounds altogether. Some schools such as Maclay Primary Center in Pacoima, Calif., find that well-organized and well-supervised recesses are a good compromise. Students are assigned to different stations on the playground, where they are expected to choose from activities such as kickball, hopscotch, and tetherball. The purpose is to learn an activity and learn the rules, explains Principal Giovanna Foschetti. Recess is not a time to run around on free time. However, the few experts who actually have studied the issue of recess as an educational tool strongly disagree with either eliminating or structuring recess. Anthony Pellegrini, of the University of Georgia in Athens, says that children, especially elementary school students, need a break from instruction to interact with their peers. This is true across the species, he points out. Tasks are learned better when there are breaks. He points out that organized physical education won't do it, either. His research has shown that one of the key values of recess is for children to find things out on their own, without too much direction. There's an added bonus for teachers, according to Ms. Murphy, the second-grade teacher. When I go out with them, she says, I get a whole different sense of the children that helps me when I go back to the classroom. Problem Documentation Teachers disagree on whether school recess should be permitted. Opponents argue that recess is unsafe for children, providing opportunities for risky behavior and fights, and should be replaced by supervised physical education programs. Proponents counter that children need spontaneous, unstructured play to learn social interaction, reduce stress and improve self-esteem. Children need unstructured, spontaneous movement. As a child, I remember climbing trees and playing kick-the-can. Today, our children go home to television, computer games, and a sedentary lifestyle. But play, says Pete Egoscue, an exercise physiologist and author of Pain Free, is crucial to children's physical development. From a musculoskeletal standpoint, Egoscue writes, the years between birth and the early twenties are important for building a solid foundation that ensures muscles and joints will operate properly for the rest of life. Concludes Egoscue: This happens only one way: unstructured, spontaneous movement. Children need play to boost academic achievement. Research is unequivocal on this point: Kids who move are healthier, happier, and likely to be better learners than their sedentary peers. Schools that insist children sit still for most of the day denies the connections between movement and learning, notes Jean Houston, a pioneer in human development theory. It's simple: Physical activity "juices up the brain, providing more oxygen, which makes it easier for kids to be increasingly attentive and retain more information. Children need recess and--not instead of--a quality, daily physical education program. A quality physical education program strives to educate students in psychomotor skills fitness, hand-eye coordination, and movement; cognitive skills--movement theory, principles, and strategies; and affective skills cooperation, respect, tolerance, and sportsmanship. In a good physical education class constant learning occurs. The playing floor and field are perfect places for kids to observe, interpret, summarize, classify, hypothesize, and evaluate. Children need play to maintain mental health and grow socially. Recess can help students relieve stress, reduce anxiety and depression, and improve self-esteem. On the social side, recess provides a chance for children to get to know one another and make and keep friends. It also allows them to work in groups, disagree without fighting, and make decisions for themselves. Children need play to become good citizens. To participate in a democracy, children need to learn how to get along with others in an unstructured area. Recess provides the arena. Children need daily physical activity, according to the most recent Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health. Daily physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and obesity. On days without physical education classes there shouldn't be any. Recess becomes increasingly important. It may be a child's only chance for physical activity that day. Below is a survey of 1850 parents showing what they think about banning recess form school. Literature Review Children are growing up in a rapidly changing world characterized by dramatic shifts in what all children are expected to know and be able to do. Higher and tougher standards of learning for all populations of students are focusing on a narrow view of learning. Consequently, students have less time and opportunity to play than did children of previous generations. Few would disagree that the primary goal of education is student learning and that all educators, families, and policymakers bear the responsibility of making learning accessible to all children. Decades of research has documented that play has a crucial role in the optimal growth, learning, and development of children from infancy through adolescence. Yet, this need is being challenged, and so children's right to play must be defended by all adults, especially educators and parents. The time has come to advocate strongly in support of play for all children. The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) recognizes the need for children of all ages to play and affirms the essential role of play in children's lives. ACEI believes that as today's children continue to experience pressure to succeed in all areas, the necessity for play becomes even more critical. ACEI supports all adults who respect, understand, and advocate legitimizing play as an essential pathway to learning for all populations of children. When working with children, adults should use their knowledge about play to guide their practice. The 1988 ACEI position statement on play, "Play: A Necessity for All Children" (ACEI/Isenberg & Quisenberry, 1988), has been widely cited and continues to influence the thinking of educators. Unfortunately, the issues presented in 1988 remain unresolved today. The fundamental beliefs, guiding principles, and recommended practices in this position paper are similar to those in the 1988 paper, and continue to be rooted in the latest research, theory, and exemplary practice. We first discuss ACEI's beliefs about play and cite the supporting research and theory. Then, we discuss the guiding principles and practices for play experiences. Finally, we present ACEI's call to action on play. ACEI believes that play-a dynamic, active, and constructive behavior-is an essential and integral part of all children's healthy growth, development, and learning across all ages, domains, and cultures. Play is a dynamic process that develops and changes as it becomes increasingly more varied and complex. It is considered a key facilitator for lea...