At the time of this blog’s writing, you may notice teachers being concerned about large class sizes.
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With the evergrowing population of our society, more and more students are coming into public schools and it can sometimes be too much for teachers to handle. Now, I understand that sometimes having a large class of over 30 students is nothing new for some teachers. But as a former special education student, I can often share the anxiety and frustration some teachers have. Take it from me, if we could have small class sizes all the time, that would be perfect.
Being in a class of over 30 students is anxiety provoking and don’t even get me started on when a substitute teacher has to deal with a large class size. The fact that teachers are trying keep order over a large group of students is enough to drive up anyone’s anxiety. However, for some special education students, they cannot thrive in a large classroom environment.
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This was often the case for me when I was in elementary school and while most class sizes were between 20 and 30 students, it wasn’t until I got to Middle School in 2000 did I finally start to get smaller classroom sizes. Yes, I was pulled out for specialized therapies and to attend my IEP meetings beginning in 8th grade, but they wouldn’t last very long and I would be back into the mainstream classes.
Now keep in mind that I did manage to cope with large classroom sizes particularly when I had English Classes from Grades 10 through 12 among others. That’s to say that the same system doesn’t work for everyone. When I was in 8th grade, the only large class I was in was my science class while everyone else was between 10 and 15 students. Before that, the only large classes would come in science and social studies.
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But I think what really connected me with the teachers that taught large classes was that we both had one thing in common: smaller class sizes are more intiment and better allows for teachers and students to bond and get to know one another on a personal level. Nowadays, that is not being much considered as an option and both sides are being pushed to their limits.
The example I want to use comes from a few years ago when the Los Angeles Unified School District went on strike to get better support for students.
In the following video, my middle school mentor, Mandy Diasselliss Arentoft (who was an English Teacher at the time of the strike in 2019) explains the frustrations that both teachers and students were facing at the time. Her frustrations and that of the other teachers on the picket line is a clear reflection of what many schools are facing right now and that students (both general and special education students) are paying the consequences, large class sizes among them.
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In conclusion, we want to do whatever it takes to make the school day easier for special education and sensory friendly students and while there have been baby steps taken to combat large classroom sizes, we still have a long way to go.
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Catch you all later!!
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