This blog is intended for use only for those students in EDM 510.
Hello all! I hope that you aren't so sick of seeing this picture yet! I want to discuss the issue of large class sizes in the public schools. I am an 8th grade physical science teacher with an average class size of 39 students. There is barely any room for me to walk in a clear path throughout my classroom without toppling over book bags, feet, chairs, and students! The school district lost teaching units this year, thus losing a science teacher. That left us with larger classes and not enough resources. We have the district coming down hard on us, insisting that we have groups and stations within our everyday instruction. For those who are not familiar with stations, it causes for lots of movement in the classroom among the students. My issue is not with the groups and stations themselves! I love the ideas and reinforcements of the activities, however, my class sizes are too large to allow for these activities. I find myself struggling to give the students the individual attention that each student deserves because of too large classes. What are your thoughts and ideas? I have gone to the principal and voiced my concern, but she insists that there is nothing that can be done to reduce class size. I feel that it is not fair to the students or the teachers to work under said conditions.
