How much do you expect teachers to be paying attention and noticing things on the playground at recess and stepping in if things are getting mean or out of hand? DS is in first grade and has told me a couple of slightly bothersome things that other kids were doing. I asked him if the teachers heard or saw and he keeps telling me no, they are just standing around talking to each other and don't really watch them. I'm sure they are watching to some degree, but just wondering if it's normal for them not to spread out a bit more and be a little closer to the action to be able to step in more, or is first grade when they expect kids to work most things out amongst themselves? There are probably 60-70 1st graders out there at once. Around 3/4 are new to in person school this year which means this is their first elementary school recess experience (for both them and many of us parents lol). It's the first week of school.
From everything my kid describes, no one is paying much attention at recess. They are just there if someone starts screaming or if a kid comes to them and reports a problem.
E1 had plenty of behavior reports (both positive and negative) last year from recess.. so there is some supervision at least in kindergarten. About to see how 1st goes.
Recess usually has high ratios. Obvious bad behavior (hitting, pantsing someone, etc) would be notice but general kid stuff isn't supervised to a high degree.
Post by redpenmama on Aug 26, 2021 15:50:40 GMT -5
I wouldn't expect a lot of hands-on supervision based on our experience. My daughter has told me of a few instances where teachers intervened when kids were being mean or doing something they shouldn't, but that was always prompted by a kid complaining or getting hurt. Generally, they let the kids play and round them up when recess is over.
To me it depends on their age. The smaller they are the closer they should be watched unless there’s an existing problem to keep an eye on.
DS1 just finished senior kindergarten and we had lots of feedback - positive and negative from his teachers. But the kindies also have a dedicated and fenced yard so there’s only so many places they can go and there’s usually 4 teachers or ECEs out with them at recess.
He’s going into grade 1 this year and is in the open yard. I’m admittedly a bit nervous about it, but due to covid each class has a designated are of the yard they’re allowed to use so it’ll be more of a graduated expansion of available space.
Ugh this is what I thought. I hate that he missed in person K and is now thrown into school like he had a year to get used to elementary. There's been a couple of other things too that bug me. I guess I understand that they don't have assistant teachers in first so they just can't help them as much, but I had hopes they would do a little more in the beginning given the circumstances and they don't seem to be. It's been an interesting start to the year that's for sure.
This probably partly depends on who is supervising them. In my kids school it’s recess aides - not teachers. They aren’t trained or equipped to handle many of the conflicts that arise. Basically just there for safety purposes.
To me it depends on their age. The smaller they are the closer they should be watched unless there’s an existing problem to keep an eye on.
DS1 just finished senior kindergarten and we had lots of feedback - positive and negative from his teachers. But the kindies also have a dedicated and fenced yard so there’s only so many places they can go and there’s usually 4 teachers or ECEs out with them at recess.
He’s going into grade 1 this year and is in the open yard. I’m admittedly a bit nervous about it, but due to covid each class has a designated are of the yard they’re allowed to use so it’ll be more of a graduated expansion of available space.
So many of these kids totally missed that extra kinder oversight and feedback I think, and they just have no idea how to play well together in this setting. It sounds like a complete madhouse. I'm sure it'll all work out and I can try and give him some advice from home, but it is hard when I can't actually see what's happening.
This probably partly depends on who is supervising them. In my kids school it’s recess aides - not teachers. They aren’t trained or equipped to handle many of the conflicts that arise. Basically just there for safety purposes.
He said his teacher was out there, so I'm assuming it's all the first grade teachers. Not sure if it's always them or if they switch this sometimes.
Ugh. My dd starts in person school (1st grade) next week and this is one of my fears. They are going to have so many rogue kids since they missed learning the ropes in kindergarten.
This probably partly depends on who is supervising them. In my kids school it’s recess aides - not teachers. They aren’t trained or equipped to handle many of the conflicts that arise. Basically just there for safety purposes.
Maybe in your kids school they aren't? In the school districts I was a para (aide) at we had trainings on conflict resolution 2-3x/a year. We had a pocket size reminder of the steps to take and people to escalate to if needed in our recces bags.
We can't be everywhere or see everything though. In before times there would be 4-5 adults supervising 100+ kids at a time as they freely played on toys, blacktop and ran around in the field. We each got a zone/area to supervise more closely. Very rarely did we hang out & chat unless it pertained to information on specific kids/a schedule change that we all needed to know.
IME: Recess paras get to know the kids who routinely cause problems and do their best to supervise them more closely, however it's the first week of school after a cluster of a last year.
And maybe the districts I worked for just operated differently than most. *shrug*
This probably partly depends on who is supervising them. In my kids school it’s recess aides - not teachers. They aren’t trained or equipped to handle many of the conflicts that arise. Basically just there for safety purposes.
Maybe in your kids school they aren't? In the school districts I was a para (aide) at we had trainings on conflict resolution 2-3x/a year. We had a pocket size reminder of the steps to take and people to escalate to if needed in our recces bags.
We can't be everywhere or see everything though. In before times there would be 4-5 adults supervising 100+ kids at a time as they freely played on toys, blacktop and ran around in the field. We each got a zone/area to supervise more closely. Very rarely did we hang out & chat unless it pertained to information on specific kids/a schedule change that we all needed to know.
IME: Recess paras get to know the kids who routinely cause problems and do their best to supervise them more closely, however it's the first week of school after a cluster of a last year.
And maybe the districts I worked for just operated differently than most. *shrug*
I agree and don’t think it was just your districts. In the districts I’ve worked in as a teacher and administrator, any recess/lunchroom aides are trained and given feedback along with retraining as necessary. Unless you know for a fact there’s no training at your school, I wouldn’t generalize like that. And if that is true, perhaps that’s something that should be brought to administration as a suggestion for the school development plan to improve student safety and social-emotional learning.
I watch but I rarely intercede unless something is dangerous. Kids need space and time to learn to work out conflicts. Obviously, we don’t tolerate bullying but we do allow kids to try to solve problems first and ask for help if they need it before jumping in.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
This probably partly depends on who is supervising them. In my kids school it’s recess aides - not teachers. They aren’t trained or equipped to handle many of the conflicts that arise. Basically just there for safety purposes.
Maybe in your kids school they aren't? In the school districts I was a para (aide) at we had trainings on conflict resolution 2-3x/a year. We had a pocket size reminder of the steps to take and people to escalate to if needed in our recces bags.
We can't be everywhere or see everything though. In before times there would be 4-5 adults supervising 100+ kids at a time as they freely played on toys, blacktop and ran around in the field. We each got a zone/area to supervise more closely. Very rarely did we hang out & chat unless it pertained to information on specific kids/a schedule change that we all needed to know.
IME: Recess paras get to know the kids who routinely cause problems and do their best to supervise them more closely, however it's the first week of school after a cluster of a last year.
And maybe the districts I worked for just operated differently than most. *shrug*
Yeah it's the standing around and chatting that bugs me the most. I realize a few teachers can't possibly see and hear everything, but our playground is a similar setup and it sounds like they could be doing a better job spreading out and monitoring, especially the first week of school with a bunch of very young kids who have mostly never done this. Right now I don't plan to complain and I also realize my source is a 6 year old so not necessarily the most reliable, but I do believe he is telling me what he thinks the truth is.
It depends on what types of things your child is reporting? In my experience, they are not going to get involved in verbal squabbles, but will intervene with more physical issues if they see it.
My son did have a recurring problem with the same kids teasing him and generally being super rude a couple of times per week for several weeks. I emailed the teacher to ask her to keep an eye on it, and she addressed it and the problem stopped. So, if it is a specific recurring problem, don't be afraid to reach out. But also don't expect recess to be any sort of social skills training. It is really just a bit of unstructured free time.
Unfortunately I think that’s pretty common. When you have huge groups of kids it’s really hard to catch everything that happens. If I’m talking to a group of kids about their behavior and a kid behind me hits someone, I’m not going to see it.
I was a playground supervisor at my kids school for a few years and the biggest problem we had was either not enough supervisors or supervisors standing around talking to each other.
Some of us did the best we could, some of us just stood on the playground doing nothing.
This probably partly depends on who is supervising them. In my kids school it’s recess aides - not teachers. They aren’t trained or equipped to handle many of the conflicts that arise. Basically just there for safety purposes.
Post by steamboat185 on Aug 27, 2021 10:14:03 GMT -5
I don’t expect the teachers to do much. The teachers will help if kids go talk to them or if someone is hurt otherwise it’s a free for all. The first week of school is a bit rough as the kids try to figure out who goes where, but hopefully it will settle down once they have the social structure figured out a bit.
Post by sandandsea on Aug 27, 2021 10:22:15 GMT -5
I expect the kids, even kindergartners, to learn to work out recess issues. Our school does a lot of classroom time teaching about being a good friend, anti bullying, recess rules, etc so they enable the kids to figure things out at recess and go to a teacher if needed to help resolve the issue. The teachers are there for reported problems or injuries but aren’t helicoptering.
My hackles are raised by all the people making assumptions that recess paras are uneducated and can't handle conflict resolution. In WA state (where I am) as a para you have official training and tests you need to complete and/or have an AA/BA. In addition to that there are trainings 2-3x/year. Recess paras often are also aides in kinder classes, resource rooms, SpEd classrooms, the library and/or work in the reading program, supervise in the lunch room and are crossing guards before & after school.
My hackles are raised by all the people making assumptions that recess paras are uneducated and can't handle conflict resolution. In WA state (where I am) as a para you have official training and tests you need to complete and/or have an AA/BA. In addition to that there are trainings 2-3x/year. Recess paras often are also aides in kinder classes, resource rooms, SpEd classrooms, the library and/or work in the reading program, supervise in the lunch room and are crossing guards before & after school.
I know! It’s not like we flag down random people on the street to be recess monitor for a day.
They are school staff. There’s nothing special a teaching certificate does for monitoring recess. I don’t recall a single college course in recess, lunch, or bus duty.
I’m also not sure what major conflict resolution and deescalation happens at other schools’ recesses. 99% of the recess problems I have can be solved with a <2 minute conversation. The rest are usually trying to get a kid back inside from recess, not directly impacting peers.
Maybe in your kids school they aren't? In the school districts I was a para (aide) at we had trainings on conflict resolution 2-3x/a year. We had a pocket size reminder of the steps to take and people to escalate to if needed in our recces bags.
We can't be everywhere or see everything though. In before times there would be 4-5 adults supervising 100+ kids at a time as they freely played on toys, blacktop and ran around in the field. We each got a zone/area to supervise more closely. Very rarely did we hang out & chat unless it pertained to information on specific kids/a schedule change that we all needed to know.
IME: Recess paras get to know the kids who routinely cause problems and do their best to supervise them more closely, however it's the first week of school after a cluster of a last year.
And maybe the districts I worked for just operated differently than most. *shrug*
Yeah it's the standing around and chatting that bugs me the most. I realize a few teachers can't possibly see and hear everything, but our playground is a similar setup and it sounds like they could be doing a better job spreading out and monitoring, especially the first week of school with a bunch of very young kids who have mostly never done this. Right now I don't plan to complain and I also realize my source is a 6 year old so not necessarily the most reliable, but I do believe he is telling me what he thinks the truth is.
I think you need to adjust your expectations here. Public school is a big change from preschool. There are a lot more kids and teachers need to spend their time on bigger things than monitoring specific things being said or cutting in line or whatever. For the most part kids will learn to address these things themselves and honestly that’s a big part of school in the early years. You can role play with at home and give him ideas about how to speak up.
Over the years DD has gotten the teachers involved a few times. Once in 2nd grade when two boys were punching each other, once when she fell and was bleeding, and I think another time when a kid was crying. All times they were happy to step in and help. Friend squabbles are NOT addressed. They really encourage the kids to work that out themselves.
Private or public, recess in my experience as the mom of a now 5th grade boy is totally a Lord of the Flies situation. No matter how many teachers there are or how much they try to pay attention, shit is going to go down.
ETA: and most of the time it works itself out. If someone is being bullied or there is blood, DS knew to get a teacher.
From what I’ve seen/heard they don’t really patrol at our school. They stay in a fixed area where they can see the full playground but I know they can’t monitor every interaction.
Dd comes home with a lot of playground complaints, lol. I’ve been coaching her on when to get a teacher vs. when to walk away vs. how to tell a friend they are hurting her feelings. Drawing on someone’s chalk art or cutting in line for the swings is mean, but probably something that can be dealt with among themselves. But DD had a friend physically scratching her and drawing blood when DD didn’t play the game she wanted and I emailed her teacher and role played what to do if it happened again. I don’t expect them to necessarily see that type of stuff, but I expect them to intervene once they are aware of it.
Also in my experience, dd had no more playground oversight in K then in 1st grade. Most kids here do some type of preschool setting, so maybe it’s just not needed?