If you've
done recess duty, you know the playground is not all fun and
games! Wouldn't you love a simple, straightforward teaching tool that
steers students away from trouble and into recess success? The Playground
Pass does just that! Built on sound behavior principles, it's a system
that classroom teachers and playground monitors can use together
to help kids make positive choices during free play.
Included: Links to the reproducible Playground Pass system and other free
resources!
"During
my first few years at Fleming School (Manitoba, Canada), I found that my students generally
managed their behaviors reasonably well inside the school building," said
Rick Oakden, an elementary special education teacher. "It was outside at recess that their behavioral problems usually
occurred. Too often, they would get detentions for events that happened
during these more loosely supervised times of the school day.
"I wanted my students to be engaged in real play activities," Oakden
told Education World, "not just walking and talking on the playground.
They needed to select a pro-social activity on their own to replace their
inappropriate behaviors."
From the Education World Archives
Education World has provided extensive coverage of the "bullying"
issue as it affects your classroom and your school. Following
is a sampling of the stories we've published:
Taking the Bully By the Horns Taking the Bully
by the Horns, written by Kathy Noll and Jay Carter, teaches
kids how to spot a bully, how to recognize bully "games" --
and how not to play.
Using his 18 years of experience in behavior management as a foundation, Oakden
developed the
Playground Pass system, a short-term behavior program that helps students
practice positive playground experiences. Field-tested and refined by Oakden
over the past four years, the Playground Pass system is an effective tool
that helps students make better choices during less-structured school times.
The reproducible system offers a template and easy-to-follow instructions
on program implementation.
TAUNTING AND TEASING
"Let's say a teacher has received numerous complaints about the same
two students," said Oakden. "The students are following other kids, bugging
them, name-calling, then running away. The students have not responded
to discussions with the teacher. The Playground Pass system requires them
to replace their inappropriate behaviors with the pro-social activity
they have selected and written on the pass or experience the consequence
of losing some recess time."
Students who use Playground Pass are responsible for picking up their
passes, filling them out, and handing them to the recess monitor. They
are then required to participate in their selected activities for the
entire recess. At the end of a successful recess period, the recess monitor
signs the passes. Students are responsible for returning the passes to
their classroom teachers.
Plenty of positive reinforcement is built right into the Playground
Pass system. "On each successful recess outing," Oakden explained, "the
students engage in some enjoyable activity with peers and at least two
positive exchanges with adults -- the teacher on duty and the classroom
teacher."
As an added benefit, the Playground Pass system allows other students
to observe teachers and staff helping students manage challenging behaviors
in a caring and positive way.
The system also provides for a safer, better-monitored recess environment.
Playground supervisors and classroom teachers support one another while
helping students experience recess success.
"At first, most students see it as a negative restriction on their activities,"
Oakden told Education World. "Once they understand the Playground Pass
rules and that I mean to see it through, they treat it seriously and try
to cooperate."
CLIQUES AND CONFLICT
"In the situations in which we've used it, it's always been successful,"
Elaine Pilloud told Education World. Pilloud is one of Oakden's colleagues
at Fleming School.
"Rick and I used the Playground Pass with a group of pre-teen girls
who periodically set up 'sides' and squared off against one another,"
Pilloud recalled. "They gossiped, and there was lots of 'If you play with
her, you're not my friend.' The Playground Pass was helpful because the
students didn't have the opportunity to sit around and chitchat. They
had to be accountable for their time.
"We generally don't need to use it for very long," Pilloud explained.
"Four or five days seems ample. Now that I think of it, these girls haven't
shown a need for the system in quite a while. I guess that demonstrates
its effectiveness!"
"I have had about 500 hits per month on the
Free Resources page on my Web site," Oakden told Education World.
"The Playground Passes have been on that page for about two years. I have
received thank-yous for sharing the Playground Passes and positive comments
from teachers who want to try the system with their class."
ONLINE RESOURCES FOR BASIC SCHOOL BEHAVIOR
MANAGEMENT
Dr. Mac's Amazing Behavior Management Advice Site
This site was created by a former teacher of students with behavior disorders and learning disabilities who is now a professor of special education at Hunter College of the City University of New York. The site provides an advice bulletin board, tips on managing student behavior and handling aggression, and an extensive "how-to" list of behavioral techniques.
The Behavior Home Page
The Kentucky Department of Education and the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky are collaborating on this Web page on student behavior. School personnel, parents, and other professionals gain access to information, share effective practices, and receive ongoing consultation and technical assistance concerning the full range of behavior problems and challenges displayed by children and youth in school and community settings.
If you've
done recess duty, you know the playground is not all fun and
games! Wouldn't you love a simple, straightforward teaching tool that
steers students away from trouble and into recess success? The Playground
Pass does just that! Built on sound behavior principles, it's a system
that classroom teachers and playground monitors can use together
to help kids make positive choices during free play.
Included: Links to the reproducible Playground Pass system and other free
resources!
"During
my first few years at Fleming School (Manitoba, Canada), I found that my students generally
managed their behaviors reasonably well inside the school building," said
Rick Oakden, an elementary special education teacher. "It was outside at recess that their behavioral problems usually
occurred. Too often, they would get detentions for events that happened
during these more loosely supervised times of the school day.