Prior to reading the article, I was drawn to it based on the title itself. The title had no corresponding abstract, although I thought that the title was quite self-explanatory. Of course, it all depended on how we interpret small. The title spoke to me in the sense that almost all educators want a school or classroom that has a “small” number of students.
I personally want a smaller number of students in my classroom because I believe that every student deserves the one on one interaction with a teacher. At times, larger class sizes provide students with the opportunity to simply shuffle through classes as well as to simply try to be invisible. Smaller class sizes ensure that a learning environment is established and that every single student voice is heard.
The article is n interview with Héctor Calderón by Catherine Capellaro. He is the principal of El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in Brooklyn, New York. The school serves 160 students, 80 percent of whom are Latino.
In this interview, Calderon talks about the vision of his school. The mission revolves around teaching students to get the most out of life and in school. The smaller size enables students and teachers to get to know each other in a closer relationship than a larger school would offer. This provides the school the opportunity to cater to the cultural needs and development of students as well as to give them the opportunity to learn through community based themes that affect their lives.
Some of the themes that the school deals with are asthma, sugar, health, biodiversity, technology, and empowerment. These are themes that directly affect students. There is a sugar factory that most of the students’ relatives are employed with. A huge percentage of Latinos in the community have asthma.
It is always my goal to get to know my students first and what cultural background they are coming from. Not only does it show the students that they are a part of the community, but it is also the sure fire way to achieve student engagement in the classroom. Providing the students the opportunity to work with themes and issues that are directly related to their lives and culture will let them question and critically think of what their impact could and should be regarding the issues. It shows students that they are part of society and that their ideas matter.
Calderon states that his school works with potential and we all know that every student has the potential and it is up to us to nurture and guide them to succeed.
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I agree with you that smaller classrooms would be so much better! But since that isn't a reality these days, we can definitely help by getting to know our students and connecting with them in any way we can!
ReplyDeleteSmaller class sizes would be great, but with today's budget cuts and lay offs all we can hope for is not having 40 students or more per class. We can help though by being there for our students, being more than just a one period a day teacher, allowing the students to know that we are there for them regardless of the period or the time. We will have to get to know our students better and build trust and acceptance.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia passed a law not to have more than 20 students in a class several years ago. Because of the budget it is being recinded. The problem is it did not improve the education of those students. The smaller class did not have a positive impact. There is no question it should. Must be the settings of the schools involved.
ReplyDeleteYour are very talenetd. Your synopsis was beautifully written and explained. Thank you.
I definitely agree that smaller class sizes would be great, but I also like your point that we need to get to know every student, no matter how many students we have in our class. We should try to make the effort to get to know all of our students backgrounds and ideas at all times.
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