October 8, 2010
Last week I was watching students at recess, one of my favorite things to do. I had just finished up a small-group lesson with two second grade boys. The lesson didn't go nearly as well has I had hoped it would, so I went outside to clear my head in the clean air of the Pacific Northwest. As I wandered around the playground, students who were participating in various recess activities diverted my attention.
One small girl was at the low horizontal bar. She crawled up on the bar, grasped it firmly, slid backwards until her knees caught her, then swung herself into a backward flip, landing on her feet. She immediately returned to the bar to do it again and again, getting a bit faster and smoother with each additional success.
To her left was an older boy all by himself, facing the brick wall, right hand clenched around a white baseball. He was bending over, left hand on left knee and staring at the brick wall as if facing Babe Ruth in the final game of the World Series. Then he'd stand up and go into the wind-up of his pitch. As he drew his arm back and lifted his leg, he froze, stopping to look down over his raised leg, analyze it's position and without even doing the follow-through of the pitch, would go back to the beginning, making small adjustments to the height and position of his leg.
Around the corner from the pitcher was a girl working diligently to jump rope for perhaps the first time. She tried rotating the rope over her head in a smooth circle and jumped to clear it, only to get tangled up instead. Over and over she tried, adjusting her timing just a bit, finally clearing it and squealing with delight.
Heading back into school, I couldn't help but admire the tenacity I'd just witnessed. That short time at recess became a stalwart reminder of the necessity to make children partners in their academic goal setting and choice over when and what materials they will use to practice. If we build the sense of urgency and provide the necessary tools, our students will be motivated to practice and perfect the skills that will serve them well as life-long learners. How do I know? Because, I'd just seen it played out before me. When children partake in something they are invested in, they are relentless in their motivation and efforts to perfect it.
Who knew I would learn such a valuable lesson at recess?