This upcoming school year I may be looking at close to 30 students. Now for some of you, this may be your normal, but I have never exceeded 24/25 students. I am going into my 13th year of teaching, but I would love to hear some of you classroom management ideas along with desk arrangements. I usually do groups, which I will likely stick to because it makes it easier to differentiate and rotate through my literacy centers, but if someone else as a better idea, I am all ears! Thank you in advance!
Wow that is a really big class. I had 25 when I taught K, but my largest in 2/3 has been 24. I kept them in groups like you have done too. I'm curious to see what others might have to say. Have a great year!
Hi- I have not had fewer than 27 in third grade and when I taught 4th, never fewer than 30. I have always put my students in groups, partly because at one school we had large tables (5-6 to a table) and partially because it makes it easier for me to navigate the room, not to mention we do a LOT of pair share.
Once you get used to having a few more students, it's not that bad. In my 21 years of teaching, only the last 3 have I had an aid, and it's only for about an hour a day.
As far as classroom management, the most important thing to remember is to be consistent from day 1. I always say my kids are in "bootcamp" the first couple of months until we get that rhythm down and I know the kids and they know what to expect from me.
Hi! Yes, I always try and set the tone from the beginning as well! Sometimes I wish we had tables instead of desks, especially now that the students have chromebooks instead of textbooks. It would make life so much easier. I will likely stick to my groups and I have found a few ideas on Pinterest to help with organizing and managing the paper flow of a larger classroom size more easily and to make it more student run. Thank you all for your input.
I agree that the beginning of the year is all about routines, routines, routines (I know...I'm preaching to the choir!). In the beginning I used to ask experienced teachers if I was just being a jerk!! Sometimes I almost feel like, "If you're having fun in my classroom stop it!!" This from the teacher who is known for her humor! I start our hard and then, within about 4 weeks I can loosen up. I try to be honest with my critters and let them know when I have reached my breaking points. Sometimes I know it is because I have done a poor job of teaching a lesson, but I still need a regrouping time. I think the size doesn't matter as much as getting the routines down. I've had classes range from 18 (the dream) to 26. It didn't seem much different because I always work on routine and organization - which is a big boost to the kids as they get older@
I had a very large class- 33 third graders, and it was so loud! Even when they were just being good, doing group work or partner work the sheer numbers made it seem chaotic. I'd get remarks in the teacher's lounge about how out of control it sounded. I love discovery learning and refused to go to worksheets just to keep a quiet classroom and honestly told this to the class. So together we came up with a color coded voice chart : 4-you are answering a question across the room, 3- members of your group can hear you but no one else, 2- your partner can hear you but no one else, 1 whisper or reading to yourself and another person would have to strain to hear you, 0 silence. We practiced what it looked like, sounded like , and didn't sound like. I kept the chart hanging next to the doc cam and put it up with a pencil next to the behavior color. It took some practice. I'd have to ring the bell and make them start over. But they learned to just speak softer over time. I felt there was no upside to a large class, but dammit we were going to have a good year! We did. But it's exhausting!
Last edited by tchrfeature; 08-01-2017 at 06:13 PM..
Reason: Spelling
I had 30-31 this last year. I kept my desks in the same configuration all year because I just didn't have time to move them around at all. I had mostly groups of 6, plus a group or 2 with 4 and then a group with 8 (maybe 2 groups). I just had to get them fit in somewhere.
I agree with the noise. Even when they are quiet they can seem loud. I now number everything and each child has a number. That at least saves on set up each year. I also did more of "grade your own thing" because I couldn't grade 30 sets of too many things. I took grades off of exit slips, or just walking around while they were working.
I agree that groups are most ideal in terms of space. I'm going with rows though to cut down on chatter. This year, I have 27 (18 boys, 9 girls) so far. My cap is 29.
> 
07-02-2017, 06:26 PM
