Small Classrooms :: Education Teaching Essays

Small Classrooms One of the things that many teachers at Grace Dunn Middle School complain about is the large number of students they have in each class. Likewise, I face this situation in my classes; and since the start of observation there have been a few more additions, thereby making one class twenty-five in total. There are disadvantages for teachers and students in large classes; yet schools, especially in urban districts, still allow them. Although not all large class sizes signify poor academic and social performance, classes with students that are at-risk or classified cannot provide them with proper education and attention. However, in small classrooms, teachers have better management and use more interactive teaching approaches; and students perform academically higher and exhibit positive social skills. Thus, smaller class sizes with less than fifteen students provide a healthier learning environment than those with twenty or more. There are three major factors in smaller classes that allow teachers to better help students. Because of the reduction in class size, classroom management is easier and less time consuming. Smaller classes ensure that students have less of an opportunity to misbehave because teachers can monitor them more closely. Thus, teachers do not have to focus their class time on classroom management but rather on studentsf learning. Since student misbehavior is less problematic, smaller classes yield more time for teachers to develop their learning activities and concentrate on their teaching strategies (Handley 2). On the other hand, with larger classes, teachers spend less direct interaction with students and also tolerate more noises in their classes (Finn 22). For example, in my class of twenty-five, the task of handing out and collecting papers wastes time that can be used for instruction. Thus, classes often fall behind schedule because of these minor tasks that are time consuming . In addition, there are more direct interaction between the teacher and students. There is less competition between students for the teacherfs attention when there are fewer students in the class because with fewer students, the teacher can provide more attention for each student (Finn 18). Thus, teachers can create more student-oriented learning activities. For example, class discussions are more effective in smaller classrooms because students are more engaging and more likely to volunteer (Meier 109, Finn 18). In addition, individual students ask more questions because they are familiar with each other, and it also gives each student more time to speak (Handley 2).