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TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
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Essie's comments:
on Class Size
Agreed! And, besides the humanities (I teach various social studies courses, as well as Spanish), math & science teachers truly struggle with their ability to assist students with comprehension problems or labs, due to the large numbers they experience in their classes. Regardless of what we all teach, our energy certainly should be invested in the various forms of dialogue we NEED to share with our students!
posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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on Class Size
Students thrive when they are a part of a learning community and one that allows for diversity of thinking. However, once there are so many students in a class & students now feel like a number, or a sardine crammed into an already small space, it is NOT in their best interest for a true learning environment.
As a teacher, I take pride in creating a space where students feel safe to discuss topics, debate issues, and learn how to listen to one another. When I have almost 40 students in my space, inevitably, there are many times when students do not get the opportunity to speak, write, etc., as PART of the group.Small class sizes and effective teaching practices equal an incredible chance for true learning and community-building. Any administrator or "higher up" individual who does not address the correlation between the two, means that students are short-changed from a learning environment to which s/he is entitled.
posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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on As We Are: Child Free
I am a teacher, aunt, and wife. My first two roles require that I fully engage with kids ranging from 3-18 years old and my entire professional life has revolved around 11-18 year olds. I love kids: my nieces & nephews, and most of my students! There's a 'but'. But, my husband and I have really struggled with the extremely high cost (emotionally and financially) of adoption, should we choose to be involved with children as parents. As former wilderness rangers and people who work to protect the land and resources from continued decimation, we made our decision early on that we don't need to be parents in the traditional sense, so what about adoption, foster care?? So, adoption: we're scrutinized by ourselves, the adoption agency, and birth parents, yet we need to put forth a huge amount of time, energy, and money to MAYBE be chosen by a birth mother who reads about us on paper and says, "they're the ones for my child."?? We have barely started the process and feel so overwhelmed. As 30-somethings, we're the 'odd' ones in our families, who all started their own families several years ago, and most of our friends have children who are in elementary school already. Too many people on the planet, not enough resources including the most basic: true TLC for kids, make us think our initial concerns about people are true: too many folks just don't give enough thought prior to having children. And, we're the 'odd' ones for giving the massive responsibility of raising well-rounded, loved kids, a considerable amount of thought/concern?? We need some societal perspective shifts, and NOW. The planet, & hearts of those who inhabit it, can't sustain at this pace.
posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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