Not-very-shameless self promotion

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by David Safier
Since this bit of self promotion is also much-deserved promotion of regular BfA reader and commenter Steve Gall, I do it without even a twinge of shame.

After I wrote a short post about Steve Gall and his quest for recess a few weeks ago, I got together with Steve and Mariana, learned more about him and the work he's done and made it the subject of this week's column in The Explorer.

Steve, meanwhile, wrote an op ed the Star published today, with, not surprisingly, a whole lot of overlap.

I say, more power to Steve for all the publicity. I hope he gets all kinds of inquiries and requests from interested educators. He's on the right side of the angels on this one. Only fools think you can improve elementary school children's academic learning by chaining them to their desks a few extra minutes instead of letting them use up some of their natural physical energy on the playground. Unfortunately, there are too many fools out there, as well as scared teachers who have become so obsessed with standardized tests and No Child Left Behind, they've left their common sense behind.

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7 thoughts on “Not-very-shameless self promotion”

  1. Thank you for your kind comments. This is what I’m advocating: The classroom teacher implements the organized recess program as a facilitator part of the daily curriculum. You don’t need to hire additional staff. I’m going to several elementary schools in TUSD to talk to the teachers about this. I understand your desire to keep local control but can you think of a better way to get the kids moving without spending more money?

    http://www.peacefulplaygrounds.com/recess-is-on-the-upswing.htm

  3. Hi Steve,

    Those are not our figures, they come from the Center on Education Policy. You can find the report, their findings, and their methodology here…

    Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era

    Do you have better figures showing a significant elimination of recess for schools in AZ?

    Additionally, I was arguing Mr. Safier’s implication that testing and NLCB has significantly impacted recess and PE and by proxy caused childhood obesity. It hasn’t.

    You argue the point by misdirection. Nobody anywhere claims that childhood obesity is not a problem. You are 100% correct and you are correct that physical activity improves learning. Our argument is for local control and against unfunded mandates. Mandating recess and forcing schools to have organized activities (requiring an aide, teacher, or PE teacher) violates both.

    Thanks and keep up the great work you are doing for your district.

    CCUSD Watch
    http://ccusdwatch.com

  4. Thank you AZ88 for the support. As for CCUSD Watch your figures are obsolete and out of touch. Many schools ONLY have recess after lunch. This is not organized and not supervised by the classroom teacher. They go out and run around, some even stand around. I want organized recess facilitated by the teacher. If we can’t get a PE teacher, this is the best substitute. Look at all the facts, child obesity is growing as well as juvenile diabetes. Even now children have a serious lack of Vitamin D because of too little outside physical exercise. How can you say this problem doesn’t exist?
    This is a no brainer without political implications. One of the ways to reverse this disturbing trend is to mandate 30 minutes/day organized recess! Some schools will not do it without a mandate! Other states have mandated this already.

  5. The state mandates the number of minutes kids receive instruction during the day and what subjects must be covered, so there is no such thing as complete local control of education. (see the current 4 hour English Language instruction mandated by the state in spite of what research says about ELL instruction). And research shows that kids do better when they have regular phusical activity. BTW: many schools have cut out formal recess. Kids may get some time after lunch, but far too many just hang out with friends, chatting etc. Steve’s goal is to bring a more formal recess BACK to schools, ie play games. These type of activities are important in building social skills in kids.

  6. Mr. Safier,

    Seems like a straw man. Do you know of any pubic district schools that have completely eliminated recess for elementary school children or what percentage of Arizona schools have cut recess time?

    A CEP report in 2007 laid to rest the recess elimination ‘crisis’ by showing that, “Only 5% of the districts surveyed have decreased recess time for elementary students since 2001-02. Recess was the least common time cut, followed by phys ed.”

    http://www.eduwonk.com/2007/07/its-about-time-3.html

    Additionally, why take away local control? Maybe a school needs to use that recess time in a week for school rally or an assembly. Aren’t schools already overburdened with federal and state mandates, many unfunded? Do they need more mandates to solve a problem that likely doesn’t exist?

    There are bigger fish to fry when it comes to education in Arizona, many of which you do touch upon. Keep up the excellent work.

    CCUSD Watch
    http://ccusdwatch.com

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