Monday, March 07, 2011

Class sizes going up

All over.

Some (including Gates) don't see a problem if the teachers are good.

I say, 43 students x 5 classes= 215 essays to grade, if I assign only one.
Paper grading robots, where are you??!?!?

14 comments:

Cecily said...

In reading the Gates article I felt, like usual when reading articles about attempts to reform our educational systems, a little more than cynical. For instance he states "we have to identify great teachers, find out what makes them so effective and transfer those skills to others" implying that it is not known what makes them great. In my opinion it is obvious. The best teachers are those who are not only intelligent and qualified but are passionate about the subject they are teaching, teaching itself, and helping students be successful. This is not something that you can simply 'transfer to others'.

CRISTALM said...

It is crazy how a student is expected to do everything with a classroom as much as 43 students. The idea of Budget cut backs are getting overwhelming and in all the wrong places!

Blckchickennigga said...

Wow this sucks for future teachers...... I'm hoping to become a teacher myself. I can see the issue in grading huge amounts of essays but could you imagine elementary classes with 43 kids. That would just be crazy.

morgan said...

Budget cuts are having a huge impact on students; not a positive one. As class sizes continue to grow students will have a more difficult time learning the material because the teacher will have to focus on many more students. This is ridiculous.

Unknown said...

This article makes me feel really lucky to be in the position I am in, where I am able to enjoy being in classes with no more than 25 students. I really honestly believe that it does help because of the amount of, not only one on one time with your teacher, but also the connection that is so much easier to make with your fellow peers that can often times be just as helpful. If you are in a class with 43 other students then how are you supposed to get to know them well enough to feel free to ask questions and get help?

Natali said...

If you are in a classroom with 43 other students that you do not know very well and you have a question about math, what do you do then? If it seems like almost everyone in the class has questions, when will your questions get answered? you can't ask the teacher because he has questions from many other students and you can't ask another student, if they're not willing (or able) to help you.

Unknown said...

I love the idea of rewarding great teachers; however, I hate the idea of bigger class sizes. Most people learn better with more individual attention so I am not convinced this is a good idea.

Unknown said...

As a student, sometimes it is hard for me to learn material when there are 25-30 students. I couldn't imagine having more than that. This is crazy!

Diana.Blizzard said...

Geez, I can't imagine being in a classroom with more than 25 students. That sounds terrible. I'd feel bad for the teachers as well, with all the papers they'd have to correct. I think it'd be interesting to find out how such a large classroom size will affect the students' learning and grades.

Gaganjit Khinda said...

I think its a really bad idea to have more than thirty students in the classroom. Its really hard for me sometimes to learn with thirty, imagine more fifty students... I seriously don't think its a good idea.

Carmen E Johnson said...

When a classroom is too large it could make the success rate for some individuals lead to failure. You will have those that can handle the class size due them having good habits like taking notes or having a parent or sibling that can help the student at home. When a classroom is to large and the teacher does not have enough time to give attention to all of them.........this leads to a high rate of failure no matter how good the teacher is.

Swayze said...

When I read an article like this it makes me angry. I know budget cuts are necessary in this economic recession..but in my opinion if money was managed better not as many cuts would be necessary and students and teachers would not be "taken advantage of" by increasing class size. It is hard enough for one teacher to give the necessary attention to students now.

Chandler said...

It is sad to see that teachers are having to teach so many students in one class. The reason I say that it is sad is because students are going to be over looked and will have the possibility to slip through the cracks. And while teachers are attending to other students. The teacher wont even notice because the teacher will have to juggle 42/43 students in the classroom.

D_ana said...

This would be horrible! I had a difficult time asking for help with only 20 peers, imagine how it would be having that doubled! I loved how small my high school was, because I could always have one-on-one time with my teachers. And it's true maybe giving teachers a raise wouldn't be such a bad idea. I'm sure they would be much happier to teach, and more students would be motivated to learn!