I dream of a smaller class and it is not because I want to work less,
have fewer papers to grade or less report cards to fill out. It is
because I want to be the teacher that EVERY child in my class needs. I
want to have the time to really help them reach their potential, to talk
to them, to help them when they fall behind. As it is now, in the
primary grades we just keep pushing them along until they finally drop
out in high school. I truly believe that those children who do not
succeed could have , given a small class and the time of a teacher when
no one else in their lives has ever had time for them.
Kelly McCalla
1997 SC TOY
This year my class sizes are between 28 and 33....I know in my heart
that if I had 18 - 20 students in each of my classes, I'd have 90% fewer
behavior problems, more time to teach instead of police, more time with
my own family (less work to bring home and grade after the 10 o'clock
news), lessons with more depth and breadth, more field trips (you can't
take a team of 150 students just anywhere!), and the almighty SAT scores
would soar! Stress would be relieved in the office because I'd have time
to nip all but the most egregious behaviors. The advisors could actually
advise and counsel instead of being the "top cop". The students
who
insisted on temporary placement in the In School Suspension room would
be able to get help with their out-of-class work. I'd feel more
enthusiasm --- why, it'd almost be like getting a raise in pay!
I have a "lemming theory of classroom behaviors". It goes like
this: The
more students one crowds into a classroom and attempts to teach, the
sooner they "head for the cliff" and exhibit undesirable behaviors.
All
too often their peers follow suit and a once harmonious classroom
becomes discordant.
Eileen Snook
1996 AZ Ambassador of Excellence for Education
I am almost relieved at night to sit down with stacks of essays,
personal reflections, literary responses, double-entry journals (that's
what I have in my bookbag at the moment) because I have TIME to really
read what they have written. I try to write personal notes back that
will show them that I understand what they have written, how they have
improved, etc., but my personal time is stretched to the max!
Kathy Schwalbe
1998 SC Honor Roll Teacher
(With large class sizes,) (w)ould I have the time to sit at each
(student's) desk and individually work through the use of the TI-82
calculator with them? Would they get the exposure to linear equations I
am giving them if they had to sit in a class size of 35? Would I have
discovered that Nikki is awesome at conceptual understanding if she was
buried in the large group and that Chrissie could learn the full
functionality of graphing linear equations, even though she can not
multiply? This is because I have the luxury to learn about my students.
I commend the President for recommending smaller classes. If we are
expecting to increase the math ability of our students and prepare them
for the next century then we need to spend time in small classes
developing problem solving expertise in our students. We can do that
when we have small classes, appropriate materials and access to
technology. Those things blended with mastery of basic skills will
enable us to meet that goal.
marianne cavanaugh
27 bull hill road
marlborough. ct.
(What do we) consider best, in terms of teaching style,
for...children(?) "Professorial," large class sizes, in which
the
teacher lectures as "expert" for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, while students
sit
and take notes as passive, non-participatory "learners," and are
known
to their teachers only as social security numbers, or small class sizes,
in which the teacher can focus on individual students, diagnosing and
prescribing for their specific needs, facilitating their learning,
communicating with their parents as partners in that learning,
challenging kids to do research, goading them to seek out and formulate
their own perspectives, and defend their hypotheses?
....(U)nder which of these two formats...would (we) prefer to learn, if
(we) were challenged to demonstrate, under high-stakes conditions, (our)
ability to learn and perform in (our) job(s)?
Don Johnson
1994 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
My personal "bandwagon" is more than class size, but total teacher
class
load. One year, I taught 191 students a day. That was unusually high.
Normally I taught between 180 and 190 eighth graders, spread out over
six periods. Imagine evaluating 180 science project proposals (or
essays, or research papers) and getting them back to the kids in a quick
turn-around. I allowed myself 15 minutes to pick up each proposal, read
it to determine if it was procedurally sound and correctly designed (a
rare find, indeed!), make written suggestions on the paper, grade it
according to a rubric, and record the grade in my grade book. 180 x 15
minutes 3D 45 hours! That's how long it took me to do meaningful
assessment of individual student work.
High class loads discourage good teaching and especially good
assessment. Since well-designed, quality assessments help to drive the
instructional program, high class loads lead to less effective
instruction.
Anne Jolly
1994 Alabama TOY
I want to add as a full inclusion teacher and teaching a very diverse
population, as we all do now, that small class size is ESSENTIAL if we
are to even begin to meet the individual needs of each of our students
in all of the areas already expressed. If we truly value each child then
we must legislate small class sizes such as 18. In my building of 500
students as of Jan. 15 we have had 357 in and outs, which means in most
of our classrooms 1/2 or more of our class has changed since the
beginning of the year. I have 27 third graders and with the high
transient numbers I am continually challenged to rebuild community,
welcome each child, assess their strengths and weaknesses, etc. all with
26 other extremely needy students. So when I was listening to the State
of the Union Address I jumped off the couch and starting dancing and
screaming when I heard the class size mandate proposed!!! Every teacher
that I have discussed it with has said it would drastically and
positively impact the outcomes and successes in their classrooms.
Julie Ashworth
93 SD TOY
When teaching several English classes of 35 to 38 high school 11th and
12th graders who had failed the state graduation exam for the second
time, I felt I was drowning. In this inner-city, Alabama school, we were
literally jammed into the classroom and frustration levels mounted --
both mine and the students' -- with having so many in one classroom.
I wondered just how many of the students would have been in remedial
classes if they had been in smaller classes originally-- throughout
their learning years.The issue of reducing student-teacher ratios is
especially important in urban areas when considering the performance gap
between urban and nonurban students.
Emily H. Vickery
(Colorado)
If teachers continue to work with students as "they" meaning the
whole
class, class size makes little difference. Even the teachers who rattle
through a list of their students' names accompanied with a list of each
one's strong points or deficits don't necessarily teach to the
individual. I believe that if we get through all the logistic and budget
challenges of small classes we need to be sure that teaching changes
appropriately also. This means a good look at not only learning style
and individual strengths and needs but how to manage a day so there is
individual time available for each student on a regular basis, how to
continually diagnose and assess students so that their needs are always
foremost in our minds. It means knowing how to make best use of a
teachable moment and how to recognize when you don't really have one. It
means knowing what the act of reading actually entails and knowing what
that next step of proximal development should be. It means knowing the
pig picture in mathematics so that you can see where each step in
development sets a basis for the next. It means being a writer and
understanding the writer's process, enjoying literature and knowing how
to help others do the same. It means knowing the conditions for learning
and being sure that they are able to be developed in every classroom in
the school, not having some classrooms deprived so that small numbers
can be in others. In short it means very careful planning for the whole
school and its space and personnel to enable an average K-3 size of 18
and is means regular, teacher growth and in-service in a positive
setting. More than the numbers have to change to make class size
different.
Donna Swindal
MN Honor Teacher 1993
Why is it so hard to believe that simple reduction of student numbers
enables teachers to pay attention to the more creative aspects of
teaching? I have seen many excellent teachers become discouraged by the
overwhelming feeling of facing classes of 35 - 40 students each period.
This is not to their discredit; we have failed to give them the support
they need and a workable environment. I don't know of many professions
that would tolerate such conditions...do you?
Caroline W. McCullen,
Instructional Technologist Technology & Learning
1996 National Teacher of the Year
I believe that many of the wonderful instructional strategies,
individualized teaching methods and research-driven teaching reforms
that come to us die a tragic but quick death in the face of the harsh
reality of too many students and too little time. Not only the kids lose
out--so do the teachers. There is a powerful toll on a teacher's psyche
when presented with a new technique or strategy that cannot be
implemented because there are far too many students to make it
work--that's an area that's not been much talked about.
Tom Howe
Wisconsin
I may be the only person in the listserv group who can state
unequivocally that a class of 65 is infinitely better than 93. You'd
think that once you go over 50 or so, who cares, but even in
large-group, crowd-control type instruction, the feeling of teamwork is
lost beyond about 70 players. There is no discussing, no listening, no
sharing, less personal involvement as numbers grow.
And that's always, always the key---personal involvement. Fewer kids
means there are fewer clusters in the corner gossiping. You can actually
get 60 kids to care about one another enough to set aside personal
issues for the sake of making beautiful music.
Nancy Flanagan, Michigan TOY
Instrumental Music
With all of the problems recruiting good teachers and retaining good
teachers, who will fill the spaces in the classrooms when and if class
size is reduced?
Kelly McCalla
97 SC TOY
Are there enough good teachers to be put in to the classrooms? In our
system, the next question would be where would the extra teachers teach,
since we are already having classrooms in closets. No, I am not kidding.
Having taught 6 classes with 3 over 40 and 3 over 30, I also know the
feeling I had trying to correct papers. I would be half-way through and
wonder when it would ever end! Large class sizes can make good teachers
feel overworked and burned out.
Roberta Abaday
Guam
Somehow we have to keep reinforcing our teacher message that what must
come first in schools is knowing kids. I think back to the 150 kids that
I saw daily and I feel very sad when I realize that kids walked in and
out of my classroom sometimes never having me look them in the eye and
ask them "How are you?" because I was just too busy. At the end
of the
day when I looked at my class lists, I saw the names of kids I couldn't
remember seeing or talking with that day. The next day I would be back
there trying again to notice and speak to everyone...but sometimes it
just didn't work. We must keep getting the message out there that if we
want kids to learn, we have to know them...really know them.
Mary Beth Blegen
Teacher In Residence
1996 NTOY
There are those "gifted", "born" teachers but most are
taught to teach.
What happens tochildren inclasses until the teacher has been
trained and teaching a few years? There really is a difference between a
trained teacher and an untrained teacher. One more time, we are saying
anyone can walk into the classroom and teach. The solution seems so
simple....just one year of lag time to allow the new cadre of teachers
to get a year of course work or internship under their belts.....then
extend the class size reduction to third grade. (or better yet, fifth) I
also agree that smaller class size is equally important in the upper
grades. I went from 30 to 22 students over winter vacation due to
natural attrition in a highly transient area. At 22, I have NO attention
problems. Same class, same teacher, overnight change. With all the
problems of losing kids to gangs and drugs and dropping out, I'd say
that's pretty important. As for the lower grades, I see one of the
biggest benefits is the ability to properly diagnostically assess
students on an ongoing basis to modify teaching to individual needs.
Since many of my fifth graders also read at a second and third grade
level (They just transitioned to English) they desperately need this
one-on-one diagnostic ongoing assessment as well.
Rhoda Coleman
95 CA TOY 96
Milken NEA
I have 27 fifth graders, 11 of which are LD and 1 MHall
mainstreamed for science and social studies.In science and social
studies, I am by myself, trying to make sure I work with allgroups,
but most of the 12 who come in cannot read directions for labs or
whatever.My students work a lot in groups to complete "challenges"
and even design and implement the investigations to solve them.I make
sure my special students are spread out among the groups and the other
students help them a lot.I don't always make it around to everyone
and this leaves me feeling like I'm not quite sure where everyone is at.
If I had fewer students, (regular or LD, I don't care,) I could give
more individual attention to ALL my students as they are ALL special.
But instead, I just try to do the best I canI find myself doing much
less individualization and having to think a lot harder about where
everyone is at. I hope that if we ever do get smaller
classes,EVERYONE gets smaller classes and the trainingto work
efficiently with them.
Laurie Vent
96 Christa McAuliffe
95 PAESMT
Upper Sandusky, OH
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