tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post2628392205553414079..comments2023-04-24T23:09:57.655-04:00Comments on All Things Education: Teaching Quality Series, Part IV: Class Size & The Fallacy of Trickle-down TeachingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-13310360712710698012011-03-28T19:24:28.380-04:002011-03-28T19:24:28.380-04:00It always amazes me when someone says class size d...It always amazes me when someone says class size does not matter. Let's see, a smaller class size means I get to do more one-on-one with my students; I can grade and return papers much more quickly; that it is harder for small problems to go unseen and incubate into bigger problems... the list goes on. No it is not a panacea but I can tell you right now I would much prefer 16 students to 24 or 28, just so I could give more time to each individual student. Another great post, btw, Rachel.AVParodihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04875792642302052800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-73703282449695279712011-03-28T16:53:29.891-04:002011-03-28T16:53:29.891-04:00My notion of teaching writing to high school stude...My notion of teaching writing to high school students is basically to convince them that someone is reading what they’re writing. I might pick on run-on sentences, or assertions-with-no-proof, or repeating the same thought, but what I’m basically trying to inculcate is self-reflection, self-awareness, self-criticism. Someone’s gonna read this sentence you’ve just written. Is it the best one you can write? When I’m focused, I can go through 25 essays in two hours. Every student feels I’ve read, considered, commented on their essay. They’ll revise it, or even if they don’t (they don’t have to, but they get a higher grade if they do) they know I’m paying attention to their words. <br /><br />I view this process as having a conversation in print. I try to harness the urge we all have to tell what hurt us, what we’re mad at, who we admire, what the gummit ought to do. Sometimes the talk gets deep. It’s all interesting to me. I can be sympathetic, or argumentative, or share something from my life, or urging them to stick up for themselves. I try to be where they’re not. Never denigrating of their efforts, even if their words fall short. Reading their writing emerges as psychological or philosophical engagement. <br /><br />I promise them I never show the essay to anyone without their permission. This is a private conversation, I tell them. This gives them freedom to try out what-they’ve-never-said-to-anyone. They get to take that first step in externalizing what had only been internal language. That’s a crucial first step in learning to write.<br /><br />I’m giving my students lots of practice. They write thirty 500-word essays, one a week. At the end of the course, having written their Riener-thirty, they’re not afraid of writing, of revising, of killing their children, as they say in writing workshops. <br /><br />It’s just training. It works with horses. I’ve been reading over 100 essays a week for 15 years. I’ve got it in me for another 15, en shallah. It’s a good job.Joe Riener -- AP English teachernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-27911051655263861292011-03-28T13:44:21.799-04:002011-03-28T13:44:21.799-04:00Thanks, Leonie & RE for reading & commenti...Thanks, Leonie & RE for reading & commenting. I'm going to see if I can get Joe to comment either here or through me. Either way, one of us will respond in more depth soon.<br /><br />Thanks, appleadayproject. What a compliment! I'll head over to your site once I post this comment.Rachel Levyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06844728669493681943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-87102946492232449462011-03-28T11:16:27.382-04:002011-03-28T11:16:27.382-04:00P:S Your writing is super smart and I love it! I k...P:S Your writing is super smart and I love it! I keep a blog about education too. I used to be semi-enthusiastic about Obama's education ideas but now not so much. <br />I'd love to get the opinion of other educators. Stop by and comment sometime if you can. Your opinion is appreciated!<br /><br />www.appleadayproject.wordpress.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-12948391458870868182011-03-28T11:13:15.524-04:002011-03-28T11:13:15.524-04:00A more effective teacher with 40 students will bur...A more effective teacher with 40 students will burn out faster than a less effective teacher with 20 students.<br /><br />I'd like to see Bill Gates or Obama teach for a day. Seriously, where is either person's education credential?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-14513096025757240032011-03-27T22:00:42.396-04:002011-03-27T22:00:42.396-04:00Good post! However I agree with the commenter abo...Good post! However I agree with the commenter above; I doubt any teacher, no matter how talented, can do an excellent job with three classes of 40 students. Providing "targeted, individual feedback on writing" for 120 students is near impossible, if he is giving out regular assignments. Think about it. If he takes only 10 minutes writing comments, and five minutes giving oral feedback per student, that's 120 * 15 minutes; or 30 hours per week. Teaching students to write well, even advanced students, is one of the most labor intensive jobs; that's why Freshman writing classes at Harvard are limited to no more than ten students per class.Leonie Haimsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317355552298136811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836584065506164163.post-73738338777987494732011-03-27T21:04:10.990-04:002011-03-27T21:04:10.990-04:00Kaya Henderson is a tool. I think we can safely sa...Kaya Henderson is a tool. I think we can safely say that. Like me, she's a bureaucrat - in a way - we're all tools. But putting a great teacher in front of 30 or 40 students in a classroom serving the kind of population that DC does is pretty moronic. It can be effective in different environments, but DC students demands smaller class sizes for a quality education.<br /><br />So many variables go into teaching and learning. Every environment is different. Kaya can talk all she wants, but I'd love to see her teach 40 9th graders in one classroom in SE to write quality essays.james boutinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09625944306253098621noreply@blogger.com