43 Teens, 1 Adult: Los Angeles Teachers Describe a Typical Day in a Crowded Classroom
We asked some of the more than 30,000 teachers who went on strike last week to tell us how they teach their largest classes.
While walking the picket line of the Los Angeles teachers’ strike last Wednesday, Linda Bieber and her friend Jessica Rhee carried signs that outlined a primary grievance of their labor union, United Teachers Los Angeles: overcrowded classrooms.
“I can TEACH 43, but I can’t REACH 43,” said the sign that Mrs. Rhee held.
Ms. Bieber and Mrs. Rhee, along with more than 30,000 other Los Angeles Unified School District teachers, went on strike last week, demanding, among other things, decreased class sizes. The strike ended Tuesday with the district agreeing to cap class sizes, as well as to other resolutions.
Middle and high school math and English classes will be capped at 39 students — as elementary school classes already are — effective immediately. By 2022, academic classes at all grade levels will be reduced by four students.
When we asked teachers to tell us what it’s like to teach their largest classes, we heard from a wide range of them, some of whom teach classes of 60 or more students.
Here is a selection of their stories, which have been condensed and edited for clarity.
‘Using their binders as desks’
Maria Arienza teaches 49 students in her largest class, Spanish, at North Hollywood High School in North Hollywood, Calif.
49 kids. 45 desks. Some students were sitting on the floor until I got extra chairs. They have nothing to write on; they’re using their binders as desks.
It’s impossible to do presentations. We never get through everyone, even in groups, and it’s impossible to give feedback effectively. I run around like crazy trying to get to everyone in class.
‘Individual assessment is impossible’
Paul Bailey teaches at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.
I teach marching band, and my largest class has 68 students. Most other CONTINUE READING: 43 Teens, 1 Adult: Los Angeles Teachers Describe a Typical Day in a Crowded Classroom - The New York Times