Last Lesson

Update on the class count- 28 students, a new student this week! I can't believe there are 28 students in one kindergarten classroom. When I tell people who are not involved in young classrooms this, the response is "Well there are 2 teachers, right?" This comment bothers me. I don't even think it is safe to have that many students in one room, never mind how effective lessons can go when there are 30 people inside of one room.
Class size would not be an issue if schools didn't have to respond to the 10 day count. In the beginning of the year the school had to lose a Kindergarten teacher because not all teachers had 25 students, I think 1 or 2 had 24. Since then all classrooms have grown (as expected according to teachers). I believe all classes have to get to 30 now in order to get a new teacher? Not sure on that but I think that is what I heard. My objection is how effective is it to split classes apart so late in the year or worse, have 29 five/six year old students in one class? The other kindergarten teacher should have been left in place.

I taught my last lesson this week. Saying it didn't go as planned is an understatement. My lesson was on numbers up to 20 and I was unsure how far the students understood. My teacher approved my lesson and we talked on the phone about my ideas. The students flew through the guided part of the lesson and most went through each page of my smartboard presentation with ease. I say most because there were a few who had difficulties counting to 7, but that brings on differentiated instruction, a whole new topic. After group work I knew I still had a large amount of time to work with so I improvised and used a number line in the classroom to extend the lesson. I finally decided it was time for snack and then the students were able to go outside because they couldn't ealier in the day. If this was my classroom I would feel differently about the effectiveness of the lesson for 2 reasons- 1. I would know that most of the students were able to count to 20 with ease and I would plan to work with the strugglers during math group work. and 2, and most importantly in my opinion, If the class went through a lesson quickly and I had time to go back to something during the day that was cut short (recess) I would be thrilled! I would not be disspaointed because it "didn't go as planned."

Sorry so long, but I have been struggling with this this Thursday. My teacher said I did a great job, my partner said the class was managed well and I was able to give the students a much needed recess. So, I guess I need to focus on the positive and say Good job!