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District’s Recess Coach Aims to Make the Most of Play
January 16, 2018 - Teaching kids how to play seems like a pretty awesome job description, and while that’s certainly oversimplified, HSD’s Recess Coach Jeremy Carter has the pleasure of doing just that.
This year, twenty-one elementary schools pooled their resources to hire Jeremy, who spends his time working with staff and students on how to get the most out of recess time.
“Recess is about much more than just sending students outside in fifteen or thirty minute chunks and making sure they are supervised and safe,” Jeremy notes. “Recess provides approximately forty-two percent of the physical activity an elementary student engages in each day. The more active students are, the more successful and ready to learn they are - it truly impacts the culture of the school.”
Jeremy’s work focuses on three main areas: 1) collaborating with principals to understand their school’s culture and their goals for his involvement; 2) working with staff to develop tools and skills for creating a positive recess experience; and 3) interacting directly with students to introduce games and activities.
“It’s not about creating a rigid and scripted recess,” explains Jeremy. “We are not saying to adults or kids: ‘you need to do this or that.’ We want to encourage a growth mindset around recess and help create a framework for success in which there is predictability, accountability, and options for students that are engaging, fun, and accessible to all.”
Jeremy encourages staff to create a map of the playground and to develop lesson plans that suggest a variety of activities for students. There may be some games and activities that take place every day, but there may also be a game of the month or week, and there may be days that are designated for special rules to be infused into popular games. There may also be other options, like scavenger hunts, that aim to involve students who may not feel like engaging in more organized activities that day.
Recognizing and appreciating some of students’ natural inclinations toward certain types of play, like “tag,” and assisting them in establishing rules and norms, is both affirming and helps them develop their social-emotional and problem-solving skills.
“Kids are naturally competitive,” says Jeremy, “so helping them develop the tools and skills to resolve disagreements themselves or understand that it’s ok to lose sometimes and that they can try again tomorrow, keeps those things from spilling into the classroom and interrupting learning time.”
It’s important for staff to model the behaviors they want students to demonstrate and to integrate themselves into the recess experience. A smooth transition from the school building to the playground is the first step. Jeremy suggests some sort of quick activity with students, like mindful breathing, cheers, or encouraging self-talk, like: “I will have a great time at recess today!”, then a rundown of available activities and perhaps the introduction of a new game. For the balance of recess time, staff should be building rapport with students - giving high-fives and compliments for positive behavior. If there is a student who is misbehaving or struggling in one activity, Jeremy suggests redirecting them to a different activity rather than removing them from all options, whenever possible.
Jeremy also suggests having students share the rules of any new games they create with the staff so that if disagreements arise, they have a point of reference and can encourage students’ own accountability and problem-solving. This helps shift the role of staff from “playground police” to one of facilitator and coach.
Recess should conclude with a cool-down activity in which students acknowledge and prepare for the transition back to the classroom, perhaps showing their “recess muscles” by raising their arms and flexing, and then putting them away by returning their arms to their sides.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Jeremy grew up in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended Oregon State University where he joined the U.S. Army Reserves. Upon graduation, in addition to serving in the Reserves, he served in AmeriCorps and was paired with the Centennial School District for a year. He then took a job as program coordinator for Playworks, a non-profit organization that helps schools provide structured, safe, and healthy playtime for students during recess. In that role, Jeremy worked with the David Douglas school district to create similar systems and structures to the ones he is currently collaborating with our schools on implementing. Along the way, he also earned his Master’s degree in public administration.
“I really enjoy working with kids and helping them develop their skills,” Jeremy says. “It’s fun to visit a school and have kids shout out: ‘Hey! You’re the band aid tag-guy!’ If I can bring some happiness to a student’s day while also making a positive difference in their life, it’s all worth it.”
Jeremy is currently partnering with our high schools to create internship opportunities for students as “culture coaches,” in which they would spend time at one or more elementary schools out on the playground, assisting staff, running games, and building relationships.