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But it's been proven time and again that children don't learn from a Sage on the Stage, but rather from a Guide on the Side. The one who is doing the talking is the one doing the learning, so lecturing has limited use in a public k-12 school. For some, auditory processing is a primary learning style, but I would say that applies to very few of today's children.
I'm a school librarian, not a classroom teacher, in a Title 1 school (low income students and lots of English Language Learners). Title 1 kids are loud, it's a cultural thing. So the more you have the noisyer it gets. Often I have a cluster of listeners at my feet trying to hear the story and a ring of students at the back of the room just chatting and carrying on. I will always prefer smaller classes. We are grateful when 1-3 students are absent per class.
I only teach in 45 minute increments, but I can say in a room where you have to circulate around and monitor what kids are doing, and take time to help those who are struggling, there are only so many students you can interact with during a lesson. So my bottom line is: Smaller class sizes are better.
Luckily I don't have to give grades, so if a student spends the entire class typing things into Google Translate and struggles to understand the assignment, I don't have to fail them for not being able to complete the activity. If they can complete 2-3 items on a list of 15, I consider that a win because I'm hoping they have gained some understanding of the content.
People who are pushing larger classes are not promoting wise educational practices. They are pushing lower taxes.
When I was in school all my classes had 25-30 kids in them, but this was in a different country and teachers carried an aura of authority that intimidated. It's not like they were beating kids (that disappeared a few years into my schooling), but of those 25-30 kids almost all knew there would be a price to pay at home if the teacher talked to their parents about them causing trouble at school. That gave teachers leverage and even young kids understand leverage.
In truth I'm almost certain that if you gave the lowest paid teachers with minimal equipment a group of kids with parents that watched over their education and believed in at least some level of discipline the outcome would be massively better than millions of dollars of equipment and world-leading educational experts teaching a group of kids whose parents don't care, don't raise the kids with any values and don't provide any sort of structure.
It all starts at home, and it more often than not ends there, too.
They ONLY people responsible for disruptive disrespectful children are the parents (guardians) who raise them…. not Teachers, not Principals, nor Administrators. If parents can’t get their kids to act with respect so that teachers can teach and students can learn, they should leave their disruptive little “children” at home.
Class size, regardless of how big or small, must have order to function.
Wow, that’s a wild take. I’m glad you fix them all up when they leave your class though.
Do you just make stuff up when the actual facts don’t coincide with whatever your agenda is? Why don’t you quote me where I have claimed in any way what your accusing me of.
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Way to deflect the blame for your poor teaching to someone else.
And something else you’ve just made up out of whole cloth.
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That’s also considering that you are teaching the top students coming out of high school.
Ah, something else you’ve just made up. Most university students aren’t the top students coming out of high school.
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Imagine if you had to teach a regular freshman high school class.
When I was in school all my classes had 25-30 kids in them, but this was in a different country and teachers carried an aura of authority that intimidated. It's not like they were beating kids (that disappeared a few years into my schooling), but of those 25-30 kids almost all knew there would be a price to pay at home if the teacher talked to their parents about them causing trouble at school. That gave teachers leverage and even young kids understand leverage.
In truth I'm almost certain that if you gave the lowest paid teachers with minimal equipment a group of kids with parents that watched over their education and believed in at least some level of discipline the outcome would be massively better than millions of dollars of equipment and world-leading educational experts teaching a group of kids whose parents don't care, don't raise the kids with any values and don't provide any sort of structure.
It all starts at home, and it more often than not ends there, too.
I'm from Utah and when I went to school (decades and decades ago) class sizes were always greater than thirty. I observed the disadvantages of this first hand. Mrs. G wanted more time to go over things like elementary Algebra with her sixth graders, but she just didn't have time to help all the kids who were struggling with the concepts. My sister would spend weekends grading papers she couldn't finish during the week because there were too many students and too many papers. In those days, learning disabilities got swept under the rug because teachers didn't have time to deal with those students. Social promotion largely exists because teachers realized the system kept them from giving the time that was really needed to individual students and that is why those students were not learning.
Discipline had little to do with at the schools I attended. Most kids behaved those who didn't were either sent to the principal or their parents were informed and the behavior stopped.
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