Solving the "Play" Problem - Brewster, NY, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post - A Professional Networking Community for Educators
THE HIGHLIGHTS.....
- Provide time to be one with the world. Too much education takes place indoors. For students who aren’t involved in outdoor sports, their only outdoor time in a given day may be running from the front door to catch the bus. That isn’t good, and it doesn’t provide time for students to truly “see” a different world then they are used to. Contrary to what some might believe, any class can be held outdoors. That doesn’t mean the focus of a lesson needs to be on studying the world outside, but a Shakespearean reading on school grounds, a study of bus idling procedures, and/or a playing field area calculation all provide students with the chance to observe more than a classroom.
- Promote percolation. Instead of letting the class end with a bell (or the transition to lunch or recess), build in five or ten minutes for students to reflect. For many students, reflection doesn’t just happen, and strategies (such as creating a “Questions I have. . .” chart, or an “If it were up to me. . .” learning progression statement) should be incorporated to help students begin to become more active thinkers. By making thinking time a necessary part of your work with students, you’ll encourage them to reflect regularly and often.
- Push for unstructured “play.” The teacher I was working with earlier this week told me about a recent time that he was taking a bunch of students outside for recess. Unfortunately for students, the playground balls that were usually available for recess could not be used. Students stood around for a minute or so, and then asked to return inside. Very few seemed to even realize that there was much more to do outside than play an organized game of football or soccer. In some respects, many of our students today need to be “forced” to play in an unstructured-environment, if for no other reason than to learn what it means to just be a “kid.”
