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A little common courtesy and social development goes a long way for elementary students in Richardson ISD. Imagine seven year olds from all ethnicities, economic and social backgrounds greeting each other warmly, working cooperatively on tasks, and expressing real gratitude to each other along with other kind words.
This is how a new anti-bullying program called RTime works, and RISD is the first district in the United States to implement the program, which has been used in England since 2002 with impressive results. RTime was introduced at three pilot campuses in RISD during the first week of classes, Bukhair, Mohawk and Springridge Elementary Schools.
Using just 15 minutes of class time each week, RTime seeks to teach social behavior and skills to students from Kindergarten through 6th-grade. The lessons learned are then reinforced by teachers and administrators throughout the week.
“This is the most impressive anti-bullying program I’ve ever seen, said RISD Director of Student Assistance Programs Jill Darling. “Starting from their first day at school, students learn to see their peers as people, get a chance to work one on one with them, learn about them, and form the foundation for friendship. The lessons learned through RTime are consistently reinforced throughout the year, at every level, to the point that a culture of mutual respect and understanding pervades the campus. It’s extraordinary.”
During RTime, students are randomly paired, and work with a different partner for each lesson. Eventually, every student works with one other, allowing them to meet and work with other students they might otherwise never have a chance to. The children introduce themselves to their partners with positive greetings, and then work together on an age-appropriate activity. The next step involves the children coming together as a group to share their experiences and provide feedback to each other and their teacher. Finally, the children thank their partners and end their time together by saying something positive about their partner that they learned during the experience.
This past spring, Ms. Darling was able to see the program in action in England, and knew it was something that could greatly benefit RISD. “I saw entire campuses that had been transformed by RTime into places where every student respected themselves and others, which allowed the focus to be on learning and achievement, not social pressures.”
A week before the start of school, Darling led a day-long training session for the more than 130 teachers and administrators at the three campuses, and the program was met with instant enthusiasm and discussions of how to adapt the components into various situations and activities.
“One of the exciting aspects of RTime is it has no academic bias, so it’s accessible to students of all ages and abilities,” said Springridge principal Charis Hunt. “It is already having an impact at our campus.”
Research in England has shown that Rtime has had a positive impact on greater student contentment in school, that students clearly perceive that their school is against bullying, and that kids are increasingly willing to talk about it among themselves and their teachers.
RISD is already seeing RTime yield positive results, and is tentatively planning to expand the program to additional campuses next year.
While RTime is an acronym for Relationships To Improve Education, some RISD students already have a different name for their weekly sessions: “Our Time.”
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