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Crowded Conditions

© Deborah Jeter

Something occured to me recently as I reviewed the classroom activities that have taken place week after hectic week, between the two elementary schools where I work. But before I go into detail, a little background is warranted.

Due to a drop in enrollment, as families move out of my hometown looking for higher wages, the district has had to close two schools and offer incentive packages to over 100 educators to retire early.

A hiring freeze has been applied for the next few years and so the teachers that have stayed have taken up the slack for the drop in teachers.

The brunt of this weight-shifting has landed on the auxilliary teachers, or rather, the fine arts and physical education teachers.

This brings me to my thoughts of which I would like to share with readers that may be looking for insights on how to engage students in learning in what may be considered less than desirable situations.

Due to the scenario I briefly spoke to about the changes in the district, my classes have been doubled and I have been given an additional school where some of those classes are doubled as well.

Each morning, I see twelve classes, spread out over three grade levels in the space of six 25 minute periods. Since I am only at this school in the mornings, the principal decided that I should move to a portable, which is half the size of my former classroom. So now, I have double the students in half the space. I didn't balk at this arrangement because I was simply grateful to have a job after major staffing changes. However, double classes in less space has created an unforseen problem.

This problem is attention deficit oriented, but not completely due to the students affected with A.D.D. Rather, in my 25 years of experience in the classroom, I see the problem as stemming from the cramped conditions of the classes. This over-crowding leaves few options for keeping distractions to a minimum.

For instance, when one of the students sneeze, it disrupts anywhere from four to six students. If a students leans forward to tie a shoe lace, the distraction of at least two to four students is guaranteed. Shuffling of feet, the leaning of bodies to see what the teacher is doing and the adjusting of seats so heads are not in the way, creates extraneous noise and is a breeding pool for more distraction.

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