Recess Plan

I had this situation arise this week where a boy in my class went home and burst out crying because he doesn't have any friends to play with at recess. It has turned into a big thing for him and it came out to his parents and me that this issue is causing anxiety for him and making him not enjoy school. I was thinking of different things I could do, such as, putting a nice friend's desk next to him, modeling assertiveness with him, ex. Then I remembered talking about recess at the Responsive Classroom training this summer. My facilitator had brought up this same exact point that as teachers we think it is a fun time and just send them outside; however, this can be a really stressful time for some kids who don't have anyone to play with. I remembered her telling us to have the students make a plan for recess of who they were going to play with and what they were going to do before they went outside. This activity ensures that everyone has someone to play with when they get outside. On Friday, I had my class all sit down and make a plan before we went outside. The students loved it! They were excited to have the time to look at all of the students and pick new friends to play with and think of an activity to play. One girl mentioned that it is hard when they get outside because there are so many kids it is hard to find people to play with and things to do. I am going to remember to take a few minutes to do this activity before recess more often.