Larger class sizes cause teachers to consider alternative teaching methods

The teacher just stopped and, without a word, walked out of the class and closed the door behind him. Through the dark, tinted windows the class of about 45 could see him break down, crying and kicking the ground.

What happened to this MC teacher recently is likely to become much more common next year.

Budget cuts proposed for the coming year may reduce the number of classes at MC as an effect of the possible decrease in number of staff members.

“If you’re trying to do the best you can to give individual feedback to everyone, you just break down,” English teacher Karen Shimer said. “People crowd around my desk saying ‘Ms. Shimer! Ms. Shimer!’ You really feel outnumbered.”

Classes would be fewer with the proposed budget cuts, and have more students in each, which is making some teachers start to sweat.

“Three years ago I had a class of 39 in the old room (before construction),” humanities and British literature teacher Scott Currie said. “I literally couldn’t move around and it was impossible to find seats to isolate the students who were loud or hyper.”

Already practically teaching out of a corner in a class of 36, Currie might be among the teachers to suffer if layoffs occur.

With a current average class size of fewer than 36 students, MC is in relatively good shape now. But in the worst-case scenario, next year may see up to 40 in one class.

Currie is already making plans to use a microphone in his larger classes next year, and to get rid of a table in the back of his room to accommodate more desks.

Forty people in a class planned for 30-35 can be like a whole extra class’s worth of students to an already full-time teacher. It’s like another class just crammed into the other ones. The extra students for each teacher over the course of a day requires more time and energy, yet no more pay.

Almost everyone on campus shares the same negative opinion of these larger classes. Many believe they will mean less individual attention, less focus, less discipline, and more stress.

“In big classes, it can be harder to learn but there are more people to help you when you don’t want to ask the teacher,” junior Katie O’Callaghan said. “On the other hand, when it’s so crammed it’s easier to get distracted.”

Freshmen English and math classes, although the smallest, are not expected to increase. Funding for the ninth grade classes comes down from the state as its own separate chunk of money, and hopefully will not be touched next year. If it is affected, their current classes of 20 students for every one teacher on average may be increased by five.

“Freshmen need to transition into high school with that small environment,” Principal Tom McCoy said. “Getting to know a teacher or a group of students can really help with the adjustment.”

More people in one class makes it more likely for a student to fail a course and go unnoticed. A teacher would be forced to give less individual attention to everyone, and a student needing help would be less likely to ask for it.

“It is important to check up with everyone on a regular basis,” Shimer said. “Otherwise you can only tell when someone is struggling when you look at grades every couple of weeks.”

More people to a class also means more students affected by misbehaving students.

“You get to a point where one rotten apple ruins the whole tree,” Shimer said. “Every day becomes frustrating.

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