We went back to school after winter break last Tuesday, and I already had a gig lined up. Ms. B was going to be out for the first three weeks of the spring semester recovering from surgery.
Ms. B has two classes that are year classes, meaning the kiddos had been in the class for the first semester. Her other four classes are semester classes, meaning the kiddos would be new to her and to me. And to the classroom.
The classroom had 32 desks. I had rosters with 35 and 37 students. Uh...
Luckily, Ms. B is just at home recovering, so when I emailed her with a "what do I do?", she contacted the school's custodial staff to get more desks delivered. Which they delivered... after I had had the classes.
Well, that was only one day with inadequate desks.
(I found a folding chair and the teacher's stool for the kiddos to sit on that first day. And luckily we had a couple absences.)
There's nothing quite like walking into a class you're going to be covering for a while cold. Something was bound to go wrong.
37 students. Ugh. But on the other hand, that (and even more than 40) was common in my overcrowded New York City schools of my growing up years. Stinks if you don't have enough desks, though. Good that Ms. B was able to help.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I've been in classes with about that many students. It happens. But usually there are enough desks to accommodate them.
DeleteSounds like it worked out ok though.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to get the deck!
ReplyDeleteDesks
DeleteYeah, me too.
DeleteI hope you didn't have to stand or wander around all class time! 37 is a lot, but like Alana, my classes usually have at least 31 or 32, from elementary up. People talk about large class size now, but it's not any larger. Maybe we behaved better!
ReplyDeleteI had my own seat. They kind of reduced class sizes due to adding one extra period to the teacher's workload, but in this case, it was a matter of distribution. A couple classes are very small. So the large classes balance them out, sort of.
DeleteThat’s a lot of students but you are very adept and know how to think on your feet.
ReplyDeleteI've had bigger groups. But usually there are enough chairs for all of them.
DeleteThat's an annoying problem.
ReplyDeleteIt was.
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