Tell me what you really think.
While I *strongly* agree with you on class sizes...
I don't have *any* classes smaller than 28. Last year, my smallest class was 38. (I'm in a new school this year.) I've ALWAYS learned all my kids names within the first two weeks of classes - and I'm *horrible* with names. All of them, not just the troublemakers. Now mind you, I often don't have last names down until the end of the first trimester... but I've the first name down of each kid, AND can identify them outside the classroom too, by the end of the 2nd week.
Any *decent* teacher should be able to do that. (Assuming, of course, the kid bothers to show up at some point in the first two weeks. If not, you're off the hook for another week or two 
Rambling, maybe a little, but incoherent? Absolutely not. And you are so right, about many things.
I have 29-34, depending on the size of day. I do know their names and needs, but there is no way to MEET those needs with that many kids in the class, especially with all the "inclusion" that is going on. I often think I may need to pull and homeschool my own child one day, something I didn't used to believe in, either. And your chick analogy states in a few quick sentences every single thing that is wrong with education these days, both from the educators and the parents standpoint.
I meant time of day, not size of day. Oops.
I had 43 kids in a class designed for Master's degree students, and it was an insanity. (Really, I felt completely ineffective; I'm sure they felt the same way about me.) I can't imagine a class with 30 7-year-olds.
WF
Not incoherent in the least! You are right and I love it when you get fired up about some injustice in the world!
Right on Sister!
My DS is only 15 months old and I can already envision him becoming one of the 'troublemakers' in class, purely because he'll be bored out of his mind, in classes designed to teach the basics to the kids whose parents couldn't be bothered, just so they can pass the standardised tests.
I was looking at the reports of primary schools in the area we want to move to, and for one school it said (in more words than mine) "don't send your child here if they have above average intelligence, this school will fail them". At the moment I'm thinking that I'll have to either homeschool (not a big thing here in the UK yet) or pay somehow to send him to a private school.
Bless you, Mama. Because of your "rants", I realized that my children deserve better than they were getting at our public school. They now attend a private Catholic school that uses E.D Hirsch's Core Knowledge curriculum and keeps class sizes at 20 kids. They come home with the shining eyes you mention and excitement that bubbles over. They know things that are worth knowing. I love that my third grader can tell me the phase of the moon. I love that she volunteers this information while we drive at night as she gazes appreciatively at the moon. Her mind is awake and inquisitive, thanks to a steady diet of quality material and high standards. I love that my pre-K girls know the difference between a spider and an insect and that they treat their very occasional homework with reverence and diligence because their teacher emphasizes its importance. I love that all three girls sit together while the oldest reads stories from a book of Norse mythology that she stumbled upon in the library, and that "My Little Pony" books (insipid, horrid things, IMHO) don't have any appeal for them. I love that our school enhances and complements what I'm trying to do at home, and I breathe a delighted sigh of gratitude when I think of all the work and effort their teachers spend tickling their intellects and teaching them to love learning.
I am deeply, profoundly grateful for the ability to pay for this truly wonderful education...I'd eat ramen noodles every day for the rest of my life in order to guarantee it (with number five on the way, this may be more than an idle boast). My girls are getting an education that every child should and COULD have if we could wrest schools from the grip of groups who view them as vehicles for teaching social agendas and as resources for families struggling with one hardship or another.
So I love you for these posts, Mama. They awakened in me a passion for good education and instructed me in my job as the person responsible for giving it to my children. Every year, our family will make a donation to the school that is intended to fund scholarships for kids who otherwise couldn't attend, but you are fueling my desire to do more. I hope you will devote some future posts to ways in which we might address education reform. I want to be part of the solution.
Every child deserves the education that suits him/her, but you're right, in the masses, students and people get lost. Even I, as a teacher, feel lost sometimes about what I'm supposed to do to get across my curriculum to so many students. Many of them are uninterested, absent, or otherwise impaired. It's depressing to still care, but not see that it's making much of a difference. I am happy that my younger daughter is a senior at my high school and has mainly old school teachers who do what works, instead of what educational bureaucracies tell them to do. She is expected to read, memorize, do assignments, and discuss.
I agree. Thank you for posting this. I have so much to say in response that I have overwhelmed myself at the moment and can't manage to put any of it in readable form.
Hear! Hear! Or is it "Here"? Oh well. Another good post. Too bad the powers that rule don't read teacher blogs, they might learn something about reality.
Then again, maybe our powers that rule don't really want an educated, THINKING electorate?
Have a Super NEW YEAR, Mamacita.
Not incoherent AT ALL. I grew up in the 60s, going to Catholic school. The "normal" class size was fifty... 25 girls and 25 boys. My 2nd grade class had sixty five kids in it. Can you imagine?? One day I'll write a blog post about that, and how I desperately tried to get sent home every day.
Still, even though class sizes have gotten smaller (relatively) they still do not do justice to our children.
I have two kids who are decidedly not "cookie cutter" kids, and it's been difficult in the public school system. Thankfully (odd to say), my son qualifies for an IEP and has been in something called the "Bright/Fragile" program since 5th grade, which is a 4-1 ratio (12 kids, 3 teachers). It has been great for him, and this year he has mainstreamed successfully.
Had he not had the opportunity to be schooled that way, he would probably have excelled academically, but not socially or emotionally.
Thank you for caring.
And thank you, too, for your kind words about his essay. You are certainly free to share it with your class and anyone else who may benefit.
Happy New Year!
No you were absolutely correct. My "inclusion" class-- with another adult alleged to be a teacher in the room, but I haven't seen this person get up off the chair so I am not certain-- had 28 teens in it at the start.
Of these (some overlap here), 8 had serious behavior issues, half had accomodations, one was a foreign exchange student, another three SHOULD have received services but strangely didn't, and the other kids? Their parent should have gotten them out of there given the accomodations I had to make to meet the terms of the IEPs in the room.
I'll tell you-- my own children will never sit in one of those rooms.
Do you suppose that this factor also gives rise to an ever-growing number of private schools?
Dear Mamacita...Just want to wish you a VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR, my dear...MAY 2008 BE THE BEST YEAR EVER FOR YOU AND FOR ALL THOSE THAT YOU LOVE AND CARE ABOUT!
Thankfully, my kids are in a Magnet school where the class size is "limited" to 25 kids. That's a little on the high side for my taste, but they do seem to be getting smarter.
Or at least, smarter mouths.
I'm glad my girls are out of the system. I hate the fact the lowest 25% get all the services and all the money, and rest of the kids get nothing. We are short changing our best and our brightest.
THANK YOU for your comments. My daughter sits in a class of 28 kids, reading her book under her desk, totally disengaged and the teacher doesn't care. Why? She is bright and well behaved and, as the principal told me, they could put her in a cardboard box all year and she would still pass the standardized tests.
The teachers tend to deal with the students who are disruptive and/or behind and ignore the bright kids
It seems like no one in power cares what is best for the child anymore. They only care what is best for the administration, or the school district, or the government, or the money. Maybe we need to go back to where we taught what the student needs.
Commenting by HaloScan
