We know all students benefit from daily recess. Why do so few receive it?
Kyrell was a student I could always count on to ask me the same question every day. “Can we have class outside today?” And I almost always had the same response. “No, not today.” He was an energetic, goofy kid who always moved a lot during class. That worked well in 7th-grade science, as every day, we had a lab or some kind of hands-on activity. But in other classes, it often got him into trouble.
The worst part for him is that there was a playground just outside my classroom window. We were in a K-8 building, but only the K-5 students got to go outside and play for daily recess. Once students made the jump from 5th to 6th grade, they were in classrooms all day. That playground was a daily frustration, taunting him…