In the face of practical problems such as limited space and safety concerns, what aspects can schools find breakthroughs? In the interview, a number of teachers said that they hope to extend the recess time when conditions permit; in the case of limited school space, they can borrow the open space of the surrounding community; even if the children cannot go out for activities for ten minutes between classes, they must ensure that the children can run and move in enough venues during lunch breaks and large recesses to ensure physical exercise time.
From the policy level, while the Ministry of Education has issued relevant notices on many occasions emphasizing the importance of recess activities, local governments have also successively introduced relevant policies requiring schools to encourage students to "move" in ten minutes between classes.
Taking Beijing as an example, on May 26, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening Extracurricular Physical Exercise in Primary and Secondary School Campuses", which mentioned that it is necessary to make good use of the ten minutes between classes to encourage students to "come out" to outdoor activities, relax and relieve fatigue. "For schools where the venue is indeed limited, the distance between the classroom and the playground is far away, and it is not guaranteed that every student will participate in sports activities in the playground, it is necessary to make full use of suitable spaces such as indoors and corridors, and enrich the content of extracurricular sports activities through sports games and indoor exercises, enhance the fun of sports activities, and ensure that all students are 'moving'."
The reporter learned that at present, many schools have returned the happy ten minutes of class to children under the existing conditions by making full use of indoor space and innovating activity forms.
Wuhan Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School
Slides, swings... Play new tricks in ten minutes between classes
Slides, hopscotch, and tire rolling let students "move" between classes
Why did you want to build a slide on campus to connect the school building to the "Happy Island"? According to Wang Qing, counselor of the brigade of Wuhan Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School (Wuchang Experimental Primary School Optics Valley Branch) (hereinafter referred to as "Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School"), in 2018, Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School officially enrolled students, and as the number of students slowly increased, some students with higher floors did not have enough space for student activities. After considering the venue and the number of students, the school built this slide in the corridor in 2019, "so that the students on the second floor can enjoy the right to rejoice between classes, and also let the children fully release their nature in the campus and alleviate the fatigue of class." Wang Qing said.
In 2019, Wuhan Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School built a slide connecting the teaching building and the "Happy Island" in the school, so that students can "play" between classes. Courtesy of the school
In addition to the slides, the school has also set up a number of activities for students to "sprinkle joy" in the ten minutes between classes.
For some students on the upper floors, the school has placed a reading room and a ping-pong table in the corner of the corridor, where students can read and play table tennis on their own. Hopscotch stickers are also pasted outside the hallways of each class, so students can "jump" between classes. At the same time, there are a variety of projects for students to choose from, such as flying chess, Go, Huarong Road, and building blocks.
For students on the lower floors, the school encourages children to "run away" in small playgrounds and large playgrounds. The small playground is connected to the corridor on the first floor of the teaching building, and plastic rubber mats are placed on it, and students can play in the small runway or hopscotch on the playground. The large playground, which is only 100 meters away from the school building, has more sports equipment for students to choose from. Play soccer, basketball, hula hoops, roll tires, and students have fun on the playground between classes.
"At the beginning, some sports equipment was lost due to improper use; some children were relatively young and did not put back the place where the equipment was stored after borrowing." Wang Qing recalled the small problems that occurred when the school first implemented physical education recesses, but this did not prevent the school from allowing students to use sports equipment in an independent and orderly manner, "Later, the physical education teacher used the physical education class and the class teacher used the time of the morning meeting to educate the children, and now the children have developed the habit of returning the equipment." ”
Wang Qing said, "A primary school must be laughing continuously" is one of the concepts of Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School, "We have been implementing a 'lively and orderly' ten-minute recess since the establishment of the school, which is the tradition of our school." With the increase of students, we have also been trying to find ways to ensure that children are happy between classes and that children can enjoy their bodies and minds during class breaks. ”
"Zero drag", teachers on duty, and multiple measures to ensure ten minutes between classes
In addition to a wealth of activities and games, the "lively and orderly" ten minutes of recess is also inseparable from the school's guarantee.
Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School strictly implements the "zero drag" system, and guarantees ten minutes between classes from the time. On the one hand, the school emphasizes the importance of the "zero towing" system to teachers every year through teachers' conferences, administrative meetings, and education and teaching management meetings, and includes this system in the school's ten-minute implementation plan between classes. In addition, in order to urge teachers to comply with the "zero drag" system, the school curriculum department has a random inspection of teachers on duty to ensure that teachers do not drag the church; on the other hand, the school encourages student cadres to participate in the school's education and teaching management, and once the teachers drag the church, the student cadres will remind the teachers.
"The starting point of the teacher's dragging the church is good," but Wang Qing believes that the teaching task completed by the teacher in the dragging time is not obvious, "the student has concentrated on the 40-minute class, and at this time, the student's energy and concentration cannot keep up." At this time, the role of ten minutes between classes is particularly important. Wang Qing mentioned that the school guarantees that children's ten minutes between classes not only promote their physical and mental development, effectively reduce the rate of myopia, but also in order to improve the students' concentration and efficiency in the next class, so the school requires teachers to return ten minutes between classes to their children and leave them to the children to arrange.
However, the independent arrangement of students between classes also requires teacher supervision and duty to ensure the safety of students.
Wang Qing introduced that in terms of student safety, the school implements the teacher duty system during recess time, and the "haunting" venues of students in the toilet, playground, corridor, "happy island" and other students' recess are equipped with on-duty teachers, such as teachers on duty at the door of the bathroom, who will supervise and remind children to pay attention to the water stains on the ground, if students are found to play with water, teachers will stop it in time; there are also teachers on duty at the entrance of the slide to ensure that students are on duty in an orderly slide.
Once a student is accidentally or injured during play, the on-duty teacher will take the student to the school's health care room for treatment by a health care doctor as soon as possible.
In addition, in Wang Qing's view, the school's "lively and orderly" ten minutes between classes also needs the support and understanding of parents.
In this regard, Optics Valley No. 11 Primary School will introduce the 10-minute activities of the school between classes and the safety and security measures made by the school to the parents at the new student assembly, and obtain the understanding and support of parents. At the same time, in daily teaching, the school also conducts safety education for students. "If the preliminary work is in place, when there is an unexpected situation in the follow-up, the process we handle is more able to obtain the understanding of parents." Wang Qing said.
In her opinion, the exploration of ten minutes between classes should not be wasted by choking, "after all, a child's childhood is very precious."
Beijing No. 2 Experimental Primary School
Give the children the freedom to spend ten minutes between classes
"Whether the children drink water, go to the toilet, or are willing to relax, chat, play table games in the class, or are willing to go downstairs to kick and play ball, teachers should not be restricted, we give the right to free choice to the students..." Talking about the function of ten minutes between classes, Fan Wei, director of moral education at Beijing Second Experimental Primary School (hereinafter referred to as "Experimental Second Elementary School"), believes that ten minutes between classes should not be defined and the purpose of ten minutes should not be stipulated.
Create enough space to keep your child safe
At 10:30 a.m. on June 11, the reporter saw in the experimental second primary school that on the lawn under the teaching building, children of different grades spontaneously formed groups, jumping rope, kicking shuttlecocks, tossing table tennis, playing clapping games, etc. "Xiao Xiao Wu leaves send cold sounds, and the autumn wind on the river moves guests..." A classmate who jumped rope inadvertently recited an ancient poem, which attracted other children to recite it aloud together.
Students of Beijing No. 2 Experimental Primary School playing table tennis between classes Beijing News reporter Qi Wang
At the same time, in the teaching building, students get together to play origami, Go, chess, nine consecutive rings, etc. Fan Wei told reporters that every class, downstairs lawn and stadium, there will be a lot of students free activities, third grade and below students try to teach the lawn activities downstairs; fourth grade and above students, can use the class ten minutes to go to the stadium. In addition, the school has set up a "sun room" in the teaching building for students to relax.
Zhao Dan, the chief class teacher of the second primary school of the experiment, said that during a normal recess, some students will want to go out to do activities, some will want to play games in the classroom, and there will be a small number of students who want to write homework and do practice problems in the classroom. Therefore, the ten minutes between classes should not set standard answers, but leave it to the students to make their own decisions.
Fan Wei believes that these ten minutes belong to the children, and what the school has to do is to create enough space to provide conditions for the children to freely dispose of the ten minutes between classes under the premise of ensuring the safety of the children.
Teachers actively guide and let children play "wisdom"
Yu Guang, senior class teacher of the second primary school of the experiment, introduced that in order to let the children grasp the concept of time and cultivate good habits, the class teacher took the children to learn "one change of books, two drinks of water, three tables and chairs, and four conveniences" when the children first entered school, these things will not take a long time to do, and the school encourages the children to be free to dispose of the rest of the time. "Children have at least 6 recesses a day, so they are free to arrange 10 minutes of recess, which is also training them to better control their time."
Children in the lower grades of the second grade will participate in outdoor activities such as throwing sandbags, kicking shuttlecocks, tossing table tennis, jumping rope, etc.; children in the upper grades can freely go to the playground, play basketball, run, etc. The school set up a "preparatory bell" at the eighth minute of recess to remind students that the recess is coming to an end and that they can prepare to return to the classroom. The school is also equipped with puzzle games such as backgammon, checkers, nine rings, origami and so on for each class.
In order to ensure the quality of ten minutes between classes, the second primary school of the experiment clearly stipulates that all teachers are not allowed to drag the classroom; students who use the recess to go to art, music classrooms, stadiums and other places must queue up to take the designated route to avoid collisions with other class students; teachers on duty during recess must wear armbands to work, take responsibility to people, and stop students' bad behavior in time. For students in sedentary classrooms, teachers encourage them to be active between classes in a variety of ways.
In Fan Wei's view, "worrying about children in danger" is not the reason to circle children in the classroom, and the school has prepared various plans for students to have unexpected situations in recess activities.
Chen Changrong, senior class teacher of experimental second primary school, said that for the sake of children's safety, teachers will teach children how to play. For example, tell children what to pay attention to when playing basketball, how to deal with friction between classmates, or teach students some puzzle games. "This kind of 'smart' play also reflects the teacher's concern for the healthy growth of children."
The First Division University is attached to the Xiaoliuming Campus
Between classes, children are allowed to play in music
The Liuming Campus of the Affiliated Primary School of Capital Normal University is precisely in the case of a relatively small venue, making full use of suitable space to enrich the children's ten minutes of recess.
The reporter learned that the area of the First Division's Xiaoliuming Campus is limited, and the teaching building is designed as a patio. Students at the lower levels can still go out ten minutes between classes to jump on the bands and kick the shuttlecocks, while students in the upper floors have fewer opportunities to go out.
In order to enrich the students' ten minutes between classes, the school opened the "One Song Between Classes" activity in the fall semester of 2018. Music teacher Yang Shan told reporters that the school has placed a piano in the patio, and music teachers will take turns playing the piano every day. When students hear the sound of the piano and encounter familiar songs, they will spontaneously follow suit. It may start out with just one or two students, but slowly more and more students are joining. Over time, "a song between classes" became a school tradition.
The "song between classes" in the Liuming Campus of the Affiliated Primary School of Capital Normal University has become a tradition. Courtesy of the school
"On the high green mountain, the grass flowers bloom, pick a flower to give to my little girl..." On the eve of Mother's Day in 2021, the music teachers of the First Division's Xiaoliuming Campus used music lessons to teach the children to sing "Xuancao Flower". Between classes, a music teacher played the accompaniment of the song on the piano in the patio, attracting about 150 students from grades 1 to 6 to sing together, and the scene was very spectacular.
Recently, the theme of the school's "A Song Between Classes" is a red song. The children have learned a lot of red songs in music class, and whenever between classes, songs such as "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party" and "Flashing Red Star" will be accompanied by a pleasant piano sound, which will resound throughout the teaching building of the Xiaoliuming Campus of the First Normal University.
"Whether or not the children join and which children want to join, we have not made regulations, these are the spontaneous behavior of the children." Yang Shan also agrees with the importance of teachers to guide the ten minutes between classes, she said, as long as teachers create good conditions and set up some activities that children like, they are not afraid of children's boredom between classes, or try dangerous sports. The school's piano is also often open to students between classes, where students who can play the piano can enjoy the "piano fighting" and attract other students to watch.
The reporter learned that recently, some classes in the Xiaoliuming Campus of the First Division University also opened activities such as "class vitality exercise" between classes to let students move between classes. "As long as there is a heart, the children's recess will be wonderful." Yang Shan said.
Beijing News reporter Wu Pingping Qi Wang proofread Jia Ning