Recess drama got you down? In this episode, we’re sharing four teacher-approved fixes to common playground problems, so you can stop dreading recess duty and start feeling confident about this part of the school day. From teaching games to empowering student problem-solving, these simple strategies will help bring structure and peace to your playground!

Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/recess-problems-for-teachers/

Resources:

• Join the Teacher Approved Club!
• Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
• Shop our teacher-approved resources.
• Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
• Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!

Related Episodes to Enjoy:

• Episode 175, 10 Easy Ways to Prevent Behavior Problems Before They Start
• Episode 151, Teacher Work Smarter Tip: Plan for Inside Recess Now
• Episode 110, Our Favorite Indoor Recess Ideas
• Episode 92, Teacher Approved Tips: Teaching Recess Games and How to Save Time

Mentioned in this episode:

Try the Teacher Approved Club free for 10 days and get one perfectly timed, research-backed strategy each month—plus support from Heidi and Emily to help you actually use it when it matters most. Start your free trial at https://secondstorywindow.net/trial

Get dressed without the stress! Visit https://fashionfixmn.com/secondstorywindow for a special offer featuring a personalized body shape analysis, style quiz, and free closet clean out workbook just for teachers.

This is episode 192 of Teacher Approved.

You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping

educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm

Heidi.

And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story

Window, where we give research based and teacher approved

strategies that make teaching less stressful and more

effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from

each episode at secondstorywindow.net.

We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to

the show.

Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's

episode, we're tackling some of the most common recess problems

with advice for solving them from our teacher approved

community.

Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick

win that you can use in your classroom right away. Emily,

what is our prompt this week?

Try ending your day with a one good thing share. So

before dismissal, ask students to think of one good thing that

happened during the day, like something they learned something

kind a classmate did, even something that made them laugh.

Give students 30 to 60 seconds to think of something, and then

let a few students share out loud, or let everyone share with

a partner. Or they can write their good thing on a sticky

note for a quick class display.

That is such a sweet way to end the day on a positive

note, and it helps students and you notice the good even when

the day maybe felt a little wild. Plus, it gives your

classroom community a little boost of connection before

everyone heads out the door.

And if you like this idea or anything else we share on the

podcast, would you please take a second and give us a five star

rating and review on Apple podcasts.

All right, let's talk about recess. So in theory, recess is

this wonderful time where everyone gets a break. Kids get

to run around, and teachers get to take a deep breath. But let's

be honest, recess often comes with its own set of challenges.

And judging by what we heard when we asked all of you in our

community how recess was going, you are all feeling the same

way.

Oh, my goodness, the stories we heard, everything

from students arguing over tag rules. Oh, the eternal struggle.

You know, soccer games are ending in tears, and, of course,

the classic, the full on meltdown about who was out in

Gaga ball. I swear whoever invented Gaga ball had no idea

of the emotional turmoil that they were unleashing on

elementary schools everywhere.

I remember when my son's school got Gaga ball and they

were all so excited about it, and how frequently he would come

home and mention, Oh, we didn't get to do the Gaga pit today

because everybody was fighting. Yeah, it is like the hunger

games out there sometimes. And don't even get me started on

coming back inside afterwards. Nothing says ready to learn like

25 red faced, sweaty kids who are either crying or tattling or

both.

Oh, the memories. Yeah. Randa told us that even though

she doesn't have recess duty, she still deals with all of the

drama. Because, of course, it carries back into her classroom

and she's left sorting through the mess. Stacy mentioned that

her students return from recess telling her all of the problems

instead of telling the duty teacher. You know, it's like

they just save up all their complaints just for us. We're so

lucky, aren't we?

So lucky. Special delivery! Yeah, we have been

there. So today we're going to focus on four of the biggest

recess challenges that you are dealing with, and we'll walk

through some simple strategies that can help make recess less

stressful.

Because, of course, we could all use fewer playground

dramas in our lives. So let's start with what might be the

most common challenge, recess drama that does not stay at

recess. This is the worst. You are all ready to roll into your

math block after recess, and then in comes the line of kids,

where someone's crying and someone is angry and three more

are demanding to tell you their side of the story before you can

even pass out the base stand blocks.

Yeah, and Miranda put it perfectly when she said the

drama that happens at recess rarely gets handled at recess.

It carries back to my classroom, and I'm left to sort through the

mess.

And she's not alone. Laura mentioned that conflicts

continue into the classroom, and Jill shared about having two

very sensitive girls who were constantly saying that the other

hurt her feelings.

Oh yes, I guarantee that you have had this sensitive duo

in your class. Bless their hearts, they could be best

friends on Monday, and they're sworn enemies by Tuesday lunch,

and somehow, as the teacher, you're expected to play

Relationship Coach while you're getting the rest of your class

to work, it is too much to ask of a teacher.

It really is. But one thing that can really help is

having a calm down space in your classroom just for these

moments, nothing fancy, you know, a stool in the corner with

a journal or some scrap paper. It gives kids a second to

collect themselves before jumping back into learning.

Sometimes just writing or drawing what happens helps get

the emotion out in a productive way.

You can also teach your students a go to script for

solving small conflicts on their own, something like, I felt

blank when blank and I need blank. And Carmen mentioned that

she teaches her students how to use I messages, saying things

like, I don't like it when you blank, please blank. Now this is

not magically going to stop every disagreement, but it does

give them a tool, a way to name what's wrong and ask for a

solution without needing an adult to intervene every single

time. In fact, we would really like to teach them to solve

these sort of disagreements without needing an adult.

And if your students are constantly getting into he said

she said squabbles over who was out, who tagged who, who wasn't

playing fair, Sara has this great solution for you. She

mentioned that when they have students arguing about whether

they're out or not during handball, they have them do rock

paper scissors to decide. She said this simple solution really

helps reduce conflicts or recess.

Yeah, I have to say rock paper scissors is the unsung

hero of classroom conflict management, especially if you

teach the kids that it's a one and done, you don't get to do

best two out of three, or whatever, it is rock paper

scissors, move on.

Yeah. They will drag this out. Whoever got out will be

like, Oh, best three out of five. They'll be in there the

whole day.

So you got to make it one and done, and then it works for

like choosing line leaders in a pinch, settling disputes, even

deciding who goes first in the game. It's much faster than

flipping a coin and way less dramatic than a full on

courtroom trial about whether Jackson was actually tagged or

if Emma just almost tagged him.

Oh my gosh, the precision with which kids will debate the

physics of tagging. My finger was one millimeter away from a

shirt, but I felt the fabric move, so technically, I tagged

him. With my second graders. I actually ended up just setting

the rule, and I taught this from the first of the school year. If

someone says they tagged you, they tagged you, even if you

didn't feel it, pointing out to kids that the rule can help them

when they are it as much as it might cost them when they're the

ones being chased, can do wonders for just helping

everyone get along.

Oh, yes, that is brilliant, and I hope I never

have to moderate another tag dispute in my life.

Yeah, no joke, I think tag ruins a lot of days at

school.

Problem number two is really at the heart of so many recess

issues. Students simply don't know how to play together

without fighting. Elizabeth told us her fourth graders argue

about the made up rules to games they play at recess, sometimes

to the point of physical altercations. She's had to ban

several games already this year, and Jackie mentioned that the

Gaga pit is particularly problematic at her school.

Students struggle to get along and follow rules.

Ah, that Gaga pit strikes again. Yeah, those should come

with a warning label like may cause extreme emotional

reactions and friendship breakdowns.

They'll probably sell fewer of them.

But seriously, this is probably the most common issue

that teachers mentioned, not just about Gaga, but about

everything. Cece shared that student led organized games get

too rough. They're often resorting to physical fights.

The students involved get restricted from playing, but

then when the restriction is over, they're back to their old

ways before long, it's like playground amnesia or something.

Soccer and basketball seem to have the most problems,

based on what we heard from you. And Carrie specifically

mentioned boys getting too physical and competitive. And I

have definitely witnessed soccer games that start with a friendly

passing and end with someone declaring that they're never

playing with these kids ever again as they stomp off the

field.

Yeah, it can be like World Cup level dramatics on an

elementary school soccer field, like the falling to the ground,

the clutching of possibly not even touched limbs. Yeah,

they've got Oscar worthy performances out there.

So what's the solution, right? One approach that we have

seen work remarkably well is to actually teach recess games at

the beginning of the year and throughout the year when needed.

I know your stomach dropped when I said that, one more thing to

teach, who has time. But Carmen shared that this has been the

best year in terms of recess behavior in a long time, because

at the beginning of the year, her team rotated through each

class, teaching them recess games and rules.

Yes, and we have shared this idea before, teaching the

games explicitly makes such a difference. When everyone

understands the rules, there is just so much less to argue

about. And it might sound like a lot of extra work up front, but

it really pays off throughout the year when you consider how

much less time you have to spend breaking up these recess fights.

It's It's like spending 20 minutes teaching kids how to

properly clean up the art center versus spending the entire year

finding dried glue and marker caps everywhere. You know that

investment of time is really worth in the long run.

For those schools with Gaga pits or other specialized

play areas that tend to cause problems, Jacqueline mentioned

that they do a serious tutorial for kids at the beginning of the

year and refreshers throughout the year when things get out of

hand. They also have a recess supervisor stationed near the

Gaga pit to referee and address issues before they escalate.

Students know that if they argue too much with the referee, they

lose Gaga pit privileges for the day or even the week. That would

be crushing.

Oh man, the Gaga pit police. I love it. You know,

it's serious when you need a dedicated supervisor for like,

one little, small octagon of the playground. But what I love

about that approach is that it's proactive rather than reactive.

You're not waiting for problems to happen and then deal with

them. You're setting up expectations right from the

start.

Angela shared a great tip for handling competitive sports

play. She watches over kickball and touch football and makes her

presence known in a positive way by cheering and making calls.

When she sees students getting hyped up, she pulls them over

for what she calls an adrenaline talk and helps them breathe to

learn to control it.

I love that. And sometimes for students who

really struggle with social skills, a little extra support

can make a big difference. Jacqueline mentioned that they

had friendship clubs for some students to work through issues

and learn management skills at recess a few times a week.

Yeah, I definitely had classes where that was a

necessary part of our daily life, and friendship club sounds

way better than you need to keep playing nicely group. Marketing

is everything with kids.

So problem number three is something that will surprise

no one who works at an elementary school, the students

are claiming they're bored. Valerie mentioned they have a

huge yard, but according to the students, there's nothing to do,

which leads to poor choices and behavior problems. Vicki shared

that when she has gone out with her students, they don't seem to

know how to run and play and they just want to stand around

or stand next to her.

Ah, the classic, there's nothing to do while standing in

the middle of a giant playground with balls and slides ans

basketball hoops everywhere. And then when they do find something

to do, it's something wildly inappropriate, like trying to

see if rocks can fly over school building.

Yeah, exactly. Or they're using the classroom scissors

that they snuck out to dig a massive hole at the edge of the

field for reasons, I guess. These days, it's true that kids

are really used to being entertained, and so sometimes

they genuinely don't know what to do with unstructured time.

And as Angela pointed out, many kids may not have

experience creating their own fun. She suggested teaching a

few games and making sure that there are basic supplies

available, like kickballs, sidewalk chalk and jump ropes.

Melanie recommended teaching basic group games like

duck, duck, goose or red light, green light. She also had a

great idea about sending a notice to parents asking for

help gathering some simple equipment that you can add to

the playground.

That's such a smart idea. Spring is the perfect time to

ask for donations of sidewalk chalk, jump ropes and balls. As

Melanie pointed out, lots of families have leftovers from

Easter baskets this time of year.

And another approach to handling equipment, because some

of you mentioned that's a pain point in your classroom, is to

create a recess equipment checkout system so that things

actually make it back inside. Your students can be responsible

for checking out and returning items, which adds another layer

of structure to recess time, and usually kids are more likely to

take care of their equipment when they know it will be

obvious if they come back in with a knotted jump rope.

Now, problem four is a big one, inconsistent rule

enforcement between the adults that are on duty. Kim mentioned

this specifically. She teaches sixth grade, and said their

afternoon recess runs smoothly because all three teachers are

on duty every day so that the rules stay consistent. But lunch

recess is problematic because the adults on duty don't stay

consistent with the rules they've established.

Oh, and that causes so much confusion. Plus, kids are

surprisingly good at figuring out which adults allow what

Oh, they're on to you from the jump, they know.

behaviors.

I swear, they have like a secret spreadsheet that they all

are like contributors on, so that they know exactly how to

work the system.

They are strategic little masterminds when they want to

be, but you know, not when it comes to math.

So true.

This is, unfortunately, one recess issue that is very

common, especially when you have different staff members,

teachers, aides, administrators, all taking turns on recess duty.

It's confusing for students when the rules seem to change

depending on who happens to be watching them, and it can be

frustrating for teachers who establish clear expectations in

their classroom, only to have them undermined by other adults

during recess.

And I'm going to be honest, this problem

specifically is a tricky one to solve. Now the ideal solution

here would be to create a simple, visible set of

playground expectations that all staff agree to enforce. You

could post these rules on the playground and review them

regularly with both students and staff. You would also want to

establish the consequences for breaking rules and how to handle

common scenarios like equipment disputes or injuries.

But what makes this so tricky is that it involves

getting all of the other teachers and staff on board,

which, as you know, is no small feat. I would recommend talking

to your team first and seeing how they feel about things.

Maybe you could just start with getting everyone who has recess

at the same time as your class on board, or you can always go

to your admin and express your concerns and suggestions.

If the admin does decide to adopt school wide recess

rules, regular check ins as a staff about recess expectations

is super helpful. Maybe once a month at staff meeting, take

five minutes to discuss what's working and what needs

adjustment. I know another thing for the staff meeting agenda,

but it's better than having the same playground problems all

year long.

Another approach is to assign specific zones for duty

teachers to monitor so everyone knows the responsibility area.

This helps ensure the whole playground is covered and rules

are consistently enforced. It's like creating a perimeter

defense against playground chaos.

And Towanda shared a great point, if you have several

reports about your students in your absence, consider showing

up to help correct the issue sometimes. It shows both your

students and the duty teachers that you're invested in making

recess successful. Plus it gives you a chance to see firsthand

what's going on, instead of trying to piece it together from

25 different kid perspectives.

Well, we don't know any magic solutions to solve recess

problems once and for all, unfortunately, but you can help

improve these four common recess behavior issues by applying the

ideas that we shared today. So make a plan for students to work

through recess drama when they return to class. Give your

students opportunities to practice working together and

handling conflict. Teach Kids how to stay busy at recess and

make a plan for rule enforcement. You know, to the

best of your ability, at least.

Now for our teacher approved tip, where we share an

actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and

simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is try a

three day recess reset. That's fun to say. Choose one game

that's causing the most issues and reteach expectations for

three days in a row. Freeze Tag seems to be a huge source of

drama on many playgrounds, so let's use that as our example.

Here's how to make this work. On day one, gather your

students before recess and spend just five minutes reviewing the

rules of freeze tag, or another game that's causing headaches.

Be super specific, not just play fair, but exactly what that

means in this seemingly simple game.

Right. And the key is to make it visual. So for freeze

tag, we're actually going to go outside and mark clear

boundaries for the game, and we're going to demonstrate

exactly what counts as being tagged. Is it any touch or does

it have to be a two finger tag? What position do you freeze in,

like a statue or crouch down? How long do you have to stay

frozen before someone can unfreeze you? You got to get

into the nitty gritty.

The biggest freeze tag arguments that we've seen come

from kids claiming they weren't really tagged, or arguments

about boundaries. So day one is all about getting everyone

crystal clear on the details.

Then on day two, have a couple of students demonstrate

the right way to play. But here's the important part, they

also get to demonstrate the wrong way and how to handle it.

So show what happens when someone claims they weren't

tagged and model how to respectfully accept being frozen

without a 15 minute debate.

Why do the children make this so hard? Role playing is

gold in these situations. You could have them act out

scenarios like what to do when you think someone is unfreezing

people too quickly, and how to handle it when the same person

is it for too long.

You can make it fun by having your most dramatic

students play the what not to do parts. They usually ham it up

pretty good, which makes the lesson memorable.

And then on day three, you observe the game in action

and give specific positive feedback after recess. I noticed

Sophia froze right away when she was tagged without arguing. That

kept the game moving for everyone. Public recognition can

go a real long way.

The beauty of this three day reset is that you can repeat

it anytime things start sliding, maybe after a long weekend or

when a new student joins the class. And once you've gone

through the process a few times, students start to internalize

the expectations and even teach each other.

That is the best part. And while the reset is about one

specific activity, you'll notice the positive effects spill over

into other recess activities too. Those conflict resolution

skills are transferable. So this might feel like it's taking you

lots of time, but it's really saving you time.

So give the three day recess reset a try, small

investment that pays huge dividends for your classroom

culture and your own sanity.

To wrap up the show, we are showing what we're giving

extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra

credit?

I'm giving extra credit to lemon crisp Kit Kats.

I forgot about those.

I know I tried them last year and fell in love, so I was

super excited to see. I'm back again this year, but I do

believe they are seasonal, so if you want to try it, you better

jump on it. And not all stores even have them. I have kind of

found them a little tricky to find so, but it's worth it. The

hunt for the lemon crisp Kit Kat.

They're an excellent spring treat. You might need to

stock up and throw some in your freezer.

Mm hmm. What are you giving extra credit to Heidi?

My extra credit goes to Mucinex Instasoothe sore throat

drops. That's a mouthful, literally and figuratively, I

guess. These are like cough drops, but for sore throats, I

give them a 10 out of 10. If you get spring allergies that come

with that burning, aching throat that is so miserable, grab some

of these today, I promise you will be so happy. But even if

you don't get allergy sore throats, I'm gonna say, grab

some of these anyway and just tuck them into the back of your

desk. A couple of weeks ago, Emily and I talked about five

simple things you can do in April to prep for back to

school. Well, think about grabbing a bag of these throat

drops as your sixth suggestion. When back to school rolls

around, you will be so grateful to have these on hand those

first few days back you know how it is when your throat is so

sore from talking non stop for six hours. We're all about the

little wins here.

I love it. And that's it for today's episode. Give some

of these ideas a try to handle your most difficult recess

challenges, and don't be afraid to try a three day recess reset.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm

Heidi.

And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow

or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an

episode.

You can connect with us and other teachers in the

Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.

Bye, for now.

Bye.