Small Groups

...are the best. I noted on here (I think) that I began Readers Theater practices a few weeks ago, and loved it. I figured that was a gimme: in addition to being acting, it was a group of students with an extremely high English level, meaning it was infinitely easier for me to communicate with them and vice versa.

But this week--yesterday, in fact--my theory was disproved, at least partially. Yesterday marked the first remedial class that I actually helped teach (we began the class last week, but that was just a placement test). And it was fantastic! We're teaching really basic stuff--A-H, accompanying words; several students couldn't even remember their English names--but it is so much fun.

So I think I've cracked the code: small classes. In the US, you hear about small classes as the hallmarks of a flourishing school where students can learn well, and you hear about how miserable the alternative (overcrowding) is for teachers. What you don't hear about, though, is how rewarding a small class can be for the teachers.

By my numbers, I have roughly 530 students between my two schools, each of whom I see a grand total of once a week. The individual classes range in size from 24 to 34, and those numbers never seem truly daunting individually, but when you are trying to learn students' names, for instance, 'daunting' would be a weak way to describe it. And you just can't be as effective in class without knowing names--"hey, you, in the blue shirt" is never as effective as "hey, Jerry"; when you have the ability to call individual students out, both for behavioral issues and for individual learning, class and individual respect instantly skyrockets.

I remember this from being a student, and it's only reinforced itself in my experience now as a teacher: students can't respect teachers who can't even be bothered to know their names.

So small classes are fantastic. It's great to be able to ask "What sound does 'b' make," have them all say it, and then say "Judy, what sound does 'b' make?" "Evan, what sound does 'b' make?" They learn better and pay better attention; I feel more engaged as a teacher, and so do my job better.

It's a funny fact of the education system here that the smaller schools--often those in Kaohsiung county areas--are looked down on, rather than extolled. When we learned about all the schools, we heard that ETAs would be teaching all grades and freaked, without considering the fact that each grade would have maybe 6 or 7 kids in it. In retrospect, and after seeing videos of fellow ETAs classes, it sounds perfect.

Don't get me wrong: I am absolutely in love with my schools, students, and LETs. They are fabulous, and I feel so blessed to be where I am. But, nonetheless, I'm always grateful for the smaller group interactions when I can get them.