Overcrowding In The Classroom

This blog will address how overcrowding of schools, and a lack of teachers are removing from the individual experience that was previously provided by the education system. Overcrowding has become a serious issue, not only in Canada but also throughout the world, but it has seen little effort toward being addressed. Just recently Charlottetown rural attempted to have a meeting regarding the issue, with very little administrators and parents in attendance. Here is the link to the article. 

I’ve personally witnessed a huge increase in classroom size in Red Deer in the last few years. When I had attended middle school, the largest classroom was of about 30 students. Now that my younger sisters are in school, their average classroom size ranged from 30-35 students. I believe this is due to a lack of preparation for the possibility of a growing population in the city. In addition to this, the lack of teachers being hired creates for a large discrepancy between the amount of teachers, and the amount of students. The larger the classroom, the more that the teacher is forced to apply teaching for the masses, as opposed as teaching for the individual student.

This also creates a delay in receiving feedback from the teacher on these worksheets because of the larger classroom size. It removes the essential one on one time that was so beneficial for myself and other students. Not only does it remove from the academic growth, but also the classes are more rambunctious because the teachers may have a harder time keeping the attention of such large classrooms. Not to mention, that in order to keep the class in order, the teacher has to be stricter. This creates animosity between the students and teacher and further creates the division within the classroom.

 In an article by Julia G Thompson she spotlights a possible solution “even if you are not easily intimidated, confronting a large group of students who have been crammed into a classroom designed for a much smaller group can be more than a little discouraging. Unless you immediately assume a strong leadership role, you will be so outnumbered by your students that they will be in charge of the class, not you.” I have experienced this discipline first hand during my early years of middle school, and dreaded attending that teacher’s class.

My sisters have told me of how often they get away with communicating with their peers because the teacher is distracted reprimanding other students across the classroom for disruptiveness. It is a game of cat and mouse in some classrooms where the student to teacher ratio is huge.  This creates an issue because the early years of a student’s academic career are when they need the most guidance, and attention. But instead they are getting worksheets without much significance on their academic growth. There is only so much progress that can be achieved from worksheets.This quote from the article shows that "a study of overcrowded schools in New York City found that students in such schools scored significantly lower on both mathematics and reading exams than did similar students... In addition, when asked, students and teachers in overcrowded schools agreed that overcrowding negatively affected both classroom activities and instructional techniques." It is vital for students to get that feedback from a teacher during a one on one session, at least occasionally. But for teachers in overcrowded classrooms, it is incredibly difficult to have one on one time with 30+ students during a school day. Not only is this detrimental for the students, but some teachers are also becoming overwhelmed.

This allows an already stressful job to become more exhausting because of the increased classroom size. To add to this stress, having students who are attempting to learn but cannot hear the teacher over the other students is a frustrating situation for both students and teacher. More students also means that what can also occur are students being left out of activities, where supplies and equipment is limited. This provides a huge hindrance on the students who are being denied the opportunity to enrich their education with these materials. Alberta is taking steps forward by opening up the budget for education, and thus allowing for more classrooms to be built. This, coupled with more teachers being hired, will result in better student to teacher ratio’s, which will allow for a better learning environment.

In addition to these steps, I believe administrators should look farther into the future when preparing for school growth in order to prevent the overcrowding. Teachers should also be provided with a teaching aide when they are faced with a classroom of 30 or more students, in order to lessen the load on the educators. Another solution to help teachers during times of large classrooms is to put in place a seating arrangement where it puts the students in an order that is more likely to allow for a quieter learning environment. In order for education to move forward, I believe we should attempt to hire more teachers and create smaller classrooms, as opposed to putting more students under the care of one teacher in order to save money.

Here is a short video of a mothers experience with over crowding in her daughters class, and how she is not impressed with their learning environment. 

How Individualized Learning Saved Me

Martin Luther King Jr. once said about education that “the function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education.”  This rings true to me on many different levels. I am a strong advocate for an individualized approach to education due to my past experiences with educators who applied this concept. I personally reaped the benefits of having an individualized approach when I entered the second grade. My educator, Mrs. Hann, gave me one on one education in order to help me out of the rut that I was in, due to my living conditions at the time. She helped to shape the type of teacher and person I want to be. Without her attention and help, I likely would have suffered and fell behind during my early years of education. In this essay, I will detail how Mrs. Hann helped me by creating an individualized approach to the curriculum, helping me not only academically, but as well as personally.

During the early years of my education, I was moved around a lot, and thus attended seven different schools by the time I was in second grade. Due to this, when I entered second grade, I was quite behind my peers academically, and struggled to get caught up. It proved to stifle my growth personally as well, as there was always a blatant difference between what I understood, and what my peers spoke about when discussing schoolwork. Being out of school for that first year, created a significant obstacle to overcome. My teacher at the time, Mrs. Hann, managed to spot this deficiency, and took to help me overcome it. With Mrs. Hann’s help, I managed to slowly get caught up academically. Instead of assigning general work for me to improve, she would target certain areas that I suffered on, followed by work that I knew I was well at. This method worked for me because it gave me a chance to improve my flaws, as well as to demonstrate where I shined. This link provides some perspective on how academic success also impacts teachers.  Looking back, a quote by Robert M. Hutchkins really exemplifies what this did for me. He said “the object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” Mrs. Hann did just that for me, she allowed me to see progress in myself, and see how easy and motivating it was to learn. In addition to helping me academically, she also provided a place for my to feel safe. It allowed me to trust her and view her as a friend, which was much needed at the time. This in turn led to me becoming more open in the classroom as well. It helped me to grow socially and become more integrated into the classroom. I went from being a shy and awkward student, to someone who actively participated in class, and looked forward to school.

Mrs. Hann’s individualized approach was successful due to the fact that she not only addressed my issues, but also provided me with an opportunity to build upon my strengths, which in turn created a schedule of work that was rewarding and allowed me to personally see myself working over my obstacles. Mrs. Hann is the teacher I strive to become. Even though I had an individual experience with her, she also did the same with my peers. I witnessed her apply different approaches for different students. Our class was not only thriving academically, but we were also a close group of students that flourished socially as well. I believe that this was all due to Mrs. Hann’s approach to the curriculum. She created an environment where we all succeeded and had a place where we felt we belonged. Many of us witnessed the benefits of having one on one time with Mrs. Hann. I personally looked forward to it, because of the reward and praise that was associated with succeeding in our class both as a person and as a student. I hope that I can create an environment for my students where they don’t feel judged for their problems, and are motivated to grow and see the results.

It is due to my personal experiences with my second grade teacher that I am such a strong advocate for an individualized approach. I grew more as a student with her approach than I have in any other grade following hers. I have also been subject to the mass teaching style that is evident throughout middle school. That style of teaching left me in a place where I was no longer looking forward to school. This was due to the way my education worked at the time. In order for me to get good grades, all I had to do was regurgitate the information on a test, and I was successful. It was no longer challenging me academically, and I did not feel rewarded for my work. Albert Einstein said it best “the only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” I felt hindered by the style of teaching and learning that was mandated at the time. My work and education were no longer unique for me, and instead was simply churned out in order to make it through the repetitive teachings that made up middle school. When we were given more free reign of our education in high school is when I was able to bring back the method of learning that was taught to my in my early years. I succeeded during high school almost entirely due to this.

An individualized approach provides many benefits, which are centered on the learning style that works best for each student. By applying an individualized approach to the curriculum, the teacher not only addresses the underlying issues behind a student’s academic troubles, but also creates an atmosphere in which the student is more likely to develop a positive bond between student and teacher. Here is a link that shows a teacher positively influencing her class. This allows students more motivation to progress and look forward to their education. I believe that adopting this style of teaching will allow me to succeed as a teacher and help to pay forward the good habits that Mrs. Hann instilled in me.

Create Positive Learning in the Classroom!

Positive Learning

In a classroom there is many things that an educator can do to help the student progress. The environment in which the students are surrounded has a huge impact on their learning. Along with help from the teacher, students must also contribute to positive learning with their good attitude and willingness to learn. Another huge contribution students can do to further better their learning environment is through feedback. By giving feedback they remove the guessing game on the educators part and help to create a mutually beneficial setup for both the educator and student. This blog portrays as a short tid bit of information. I will post a few small links to which help install positive learning, and how to introduce positive learning in the classroom.

In article one it shows what an educator can do to create a positive learning experience in the class.

http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/8704-10-ways-to-create-positive-learning-experiences

            This second article has really good information about the “PERMA model- (five elements of wellbeing” 

P – Positive Emotions: Feeling positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, interest, hope.

E – Engagement: Being fully absorbed in activities that use your skills yet challenge you.

R – Relationships: Having positive relationships.

M – Meaning: Belonging to and serving something you believe is bigger than yourself.

A – Accomplishment: Pursuing success, winning achievement and mastery.

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/what-is-positive-education/

The key to having a positive environment in the classroom is RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS. As a teacher if you can make friends with the students, and learn more about them (how they learn), than you can create a more individualized teaching style for each student. If you understand your students, and they feel comfortable with you, the overall experience in the class will be more beneficial for the teacher and students. It will allow both academic growth for the student, as well as a place where the student can feel safe to show their true colours.