I posted about this on another thread and one parent commented that she loved the idea and would take it to her difficult child's teacher. It occurred to me that many of our difficult children could really benefit by this, and so could the teachers.
Here is what I posted:
Our state legislature decided about 3 years ago that every child MUST have recess. NO child can be kept inside and denied recess. They linked this to the growing weight problems our kids have. Temperatures were even set for when it is too cold or too hot to have recess outside. Inside recess is required to be in the gym or other space where kids can be active.
Now our teachers give kids "quiet walks" or "noisy walks" or "walk and talk". Quiet walks mean walking the perimeter and not talking. Noisy walks are walking the perimeter and yelling or shouting all the anger/pent up vocal energy/whatever out. It works very well for students who cannot stop talking in class. Of course the child is not forced to scream or yell after their voice gets tired, no screaming until the voice is gone, but they do have to be louder than an indoor voice.
Walk and talk is done before school every day. It is optional at that time, but strongly recommended. Kids who are on early buses or who are dropped off early walk the perimeter of the playground and chat.
Walk and talk recess is for kids who chronically chat with each other during class. They must spend recess walking together and chatting it all out.
These are strategies that our teachers say IMPROVE the behavior in the classroom. Kids are not as restless, do not have so much energy built up so they can pay attention in class. Chronic chatters work most of it out and do NOT get to chat with other kids than they chat with, so these social butterflies try hard to not get this. They want to talk with everyone, not just the 1 or 2 people they chat with during class.
I just cut and pasted the above from the other thread.
i think that most of our kids could benefit from this in one way or another, even the pcs.
The one thing that has to be worked out with the people who supervise recess was the "noisy" walk. A couple of the adults thought that it meant the child had to yell for the entire walk. Any of us who ever went to a concert knows how hard this can be on your voice. It can even be physically painful if you keep it up. The principal worked with them to understand that the child has to spend a few minutes being as loud as possible. After that first 2-5 minutes (timed) the child can be silent. If the child chooses to speak/mutter/etc... they are directed to do so in an outside voice. ALL kids are well aware what an inside voice and an outside voice are as these are frequently used terms at our school.
The purpose of walking is to give them the separation from freely chosen activities while still letting them work off energy. Often other kids will join the walk or even walk alone if they are bored or whatever. So it isn't punitive, but it is not meant to be really punitive. (I hope that makes sense.)
anyway, if you want to share this, feel free.
Here is what I posted:
Our state legislature decided about 3 years ago that every child MUST have recess. NO child can be kept inside and denied recess. They linked this to the growing weight problems our kids have. Temperatures were even set for when it is too cold or too hot to have recess outside. Inside recess is required to be in the gym or other space where kids can be active.
Now our teachers give kids "quiet walks" or "noisy walks" or "walk and talk". Quiet walks mean walking the perimeter and not talking. Noisy walks are walking the perimeter and yelling or shouting all the anger/pent up vocal energy/whatever out. It works very well for students who cannot stop talking in class. Of course the child is not forced to scream or yell after their voice gets tired, no screaming until the voice is gone, but they do have to be louder than an indoor voice.
Walk and talk is done before school every day. It is optional at that time, but strongly recommended. Kids who are on early buses or who are dropped off early walk the perimeter of the playground and chat.
Walk and talk recess is for kids who chronically chat with each other during class. They must spend recess walking together and chatting it all out.
These are strategies that our teachers say IMPROVE the behavior in the classroom. Kids are not as restless, do not have so much energy built up so they can pay attention in class. Chronic chatters work most of it out and do NOT get to chat with other kids than they chat with, so these social butterflies try hard to not get this. They want to talk with everyone, not just the 1 or 2 people they chat with during class.
I just cut and pasted the above from the other thread.
i think that most of our kids could benefit from this in one way or another, even the pcs.
The one thing that has to be worked out with the people who supervise recess was the "noisy" walk. A couple of the adults thought that it meant the child had to yell for the entire walk. Any of us who ever went to a concert knows how hard this can be on your voice. It can even be physically painful if you keep it up. The principal worked with them to understand that the child has to spend a few minutes being as loud as possible. After that first 2-5 minutes (timed) the child can be silent. If the child chooses to speak/mutter/etc... they are directed to do so in an outside voice. ALL kids are well aware what an inside voice and an outside voice are as these are frequently used terms at our school.
The purpose of walking is to give them the separation from freely chosen activities while still letting them work off energy. Often other kids will join the walk or even walk alone if they are bored or whatever. So it isn't punitive, but it is not meant to be really punitive. (I hope that makes sense.)
anyway, if you want to share this, feel free.
