kindergartener will have 30 kids in his class!

[Anonymous]

I have taught a kindergarten class of 30 kids and it is definitely not lecture style! The presence of an assistant makes a big difference in a good way IF the teacher and the assistant work well together and have a strong co-teaching dynamic and complementary styles. I have been in classrooms with assistants who have completely different takes on discipline / teaching etc and it ends up being an obstacle rather than a help.

The second factor is the physical size of the classroom. really small rooms are awful. The noise echoes and the kids are always on top of each other. A large room gives you space to spread kids out at different activities and centers and to manage the classroom more easily.

Thirty K kids is a lot - it is a lot of feet and hands and high pitched voices! It can be a bit chaotic but if the teacher is well organized, good at classroom management, and utilizes volunteers, it can flow very smoothly.

Overall a great teacher is going to do well with 20, 25 or 30 students. A bad teacher is going to struggle with 20, 25 or 30 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here, thank you pp For your thoughtful post. I will try to answer questions: not a title 1 School. the School is a charter School, starting in kindergarten. Kids will all be new as there is no pre kindergarten. Most kids will be new to the language although my son has had experience with immersion schools and the target language. It will be an all day kindergarten class. 2 kindergarten classes, one teacher will be new to..the School, one has been there a few years. Have not yet received teacher assignments. why does the Number of students with IEPs matter? Will that affect the class? Our neighborhood will also have a large K class, not 30, but it will be big and no immersion program, which is what attracted us to the charter. We got in off the lottery waitlist. Big demand For this.School. What do you think?

# of children w IEPs matter b/c there is a large spectrum of needs that the school needs to support. If you have 1 child with language delays there is 1 level of support that the teacher needs to provide. If there are 2 children with 2 different sets of needs .... if there is a child who is non-verbal etc etc.

Also there is a high level of administrative time required to support each child with an IEP. There are only so many hours in a day.

One piece of advice:
Try and look at the school beyond K.
Maybe the K set-up is not optimal - but longer term do you want the charter? If yes, figure out if there are things you can do to help the K teacher.
Can you cut things out in the evenings so he/she can do planning? Can you do the birthday bulletin board? Help sort books?
Can you help out in the classroom on a routine basis?
Is there anything that the teacher needs that will make life easier? Buy it.
Drop off tissues / paper towels / and sanitizer before they run out so it is never a thought that they need to send out a note to ask.

[Anonymous]

Why in the world would a parent send a child with language delays to an immersion language school like OP is describing? There will be kids there with IEPs like all public schools like ADHD, AS, learning disabilities, etc. but doubtful it will be kids with known language delays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world would a parent send a child with language delays to an immersion language school like OP is describing? There will be kids there with IEPs like all public schools like ADHD, AS, learning disabilities, etc. but doubtful it will be kids with known language delays.

b/c with the right interventions the delay is closed and the child thrives long term?
b/c the language of immersion is the primary language spoken at home?
b/c all children have the same rights to attend a charter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world would a parent send a child with language delays to an immersion language school like OP is describing? There will be kids there with IEPs like all public schools like ADHD, AS, learning disabilities, etc. but doubtful it will be kids with known language delays.

b/c with the right interventions the delay is closed and the child thrives long term?
b/c the language of immersion is the primary language spoken at home?
b/c all children have the same rights to attend a charter

[/]

Of course everyone has the right to attend but that does not mitigate the fact that an immersion environment may not work for some kids. Our charter has a non immersion track for kids who cannot perform up to standard for which they get a lot of flak so obviously they try to educate everyone but obviously it does not and to expect it to is completely unrealistic.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. Hard to understand the thinking process behind: have a non verbal or language delayed child. Let's send them to a language immersion school...

[Anonymous]

I do not know why having.an IEP would affect the class. dont these children receive additional help/support from specialized teachers (ot, pt)? How would having numerous kids with IEPs affect the main class teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not know why having.an IEP would affect the class. dont these children receive additional help/support from specialized teachers (ot, pt)? How would having numerous kids with IEPs affect the main class teacher?

There is a significant amount of additional paperwork that the teacher needs to complete in support of the IEP to support the goals of each child. In addition, the teacher may need to create specific protocols for each child with an IEP. Not all IEPs get special additional support such as OT/PT. For example, a child with a fine motor delays may get some time with a specialist- but may also have a IEP that says there need to be specific accomodations to support tasks such as cutting with scissors.

So whenever these activities occur, the teacher or aid needs to be aware of the class and activiites and what they are suppose to be doing for the children with IEPs in addition to the rest of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know why having.an IEP would affect the class. dont these children receive additional help/support from specialized teachers (ot, pt)? How would having numerous kids with IEPs affect the main class teacher?

There is a significant amount of additional paperwork that the teacher needs to complete in support of the IEP to support the goals of each child. In addition, the teacher may need to create specific protocols for each child with an IEP. Not all IEPs get special additional support such as OT/PT. For example, a child with a fine motor delays may get some time with a specialist- but may also have a IEP that says there need to be specific accomodations to support tasks such a

s cutting with scissors.

So whenever these activities occur, the teacher or aid needs to be aware of the class and activiites and what they are suppose to be doing for the children with IEPs in addition to the rest of the class.

Thanks for the explanation. do you think it would be a good fit for a student that has an IEP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know why having.an IEP would affect the class. dont these children receive additional help/support from specialized teachers (ot, pt)? How would having numerous kids with IEPs affect the main class teacher?

There is a significant amount of additional paperwork that the teacher needs to complete in support of the IEP to support the goals of each child. In addition, the teacher may need to create specific protocols for each child with an IEP. Not all IEPs get special additional support such as OT/PT. For example, a child with a fine motor delays may get some time with a specialist- but may also have a IEP that says there need to be specific accomodations to support tasks such as cutting with scissors.

So whenever these activities occur, the teacher or aid needs to be aware of the class and activiites and what they are suppose to be doing for the children with IEPs in addition to the rest of the class.

I'm sorry, but this post is just obnoxious. There are so many different kinds of IEPs. A large number are for everyday speech issues and don't really require ANY additional paperwork on the part of the teacher. The kids just get pulled out 1-2 times/week for speech therapy.

While I don't disagree with what you are saying, you are implying that kids with IEPs somehow decrease the level of education a child without an IEP may get. Comments like this just fuel this paranoia about ever having a child with an IEP in your classroom. It is utter nonsense.

[Anonymous]

"A large number are for everyday speech issues and don't really require ANY additional paperwork on the part of the teacher. The kids just get pulled out 1-2 times/week for speech therapy. "

Don't think you needed an IEP for a child who needed 1x speech therapy a wk and only that, speech stuff such as lisping and most articulation issues. Don't know if public schools provide 2x a wk speech therapy unless it's in a specialized program and the child is not mainstreamed.

[Anonymous]

Whenever I hear people justifying over 30 kids in a class I think back to the book/movie "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and compare how school was like her the crowded classroom verses her new wealthy uncrowded one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not know why having.an IEP would affect the class. dont these children receive additional help/support from specialized teachers (ot, pt)? How would having numerous kids with IEPs affect the main class teacher?

There is a significant amount of additional paperwork that the teacher needs to complete in support of the IEP to support the goals of each child. In addition, the teacher may need to create specific protocols for each child with an IEP. Not all IEPs get special additional support such as OT/PT. For example, a child with a fine motor delays may get some time with a specialist- but may also have a IEP that says there need to be specific accomodations to support tasks such as cutting with scissors.

So whenever these activities occur, the teacher or aid needs to be aware of the class and activiites and what they are suppose to be doing for the children with IEPs in addition to the rest of the class.

I'm sorry, but this post is just obnoxious. There are so many different kinds of IEPs. A large number are for everyday speech issues and don't really require ANY additional paperwork on the part of the teacher. The kids just get pulled out 1-2 times/week for speech therapy.

While I don't disagree with what you are saying, you are implying that kids with IEPs somehow decrease the level of education a child without an IEP may get. Comments like this just fuel this paranoia about ever having a child with an IEP in your classroom. It is utter nonsense.

You clearly do not know how a child qualifies for an IEP (or 504), how a plan is created and the administrative requirements associated with these.

[Anonymous]

Ah, Singapore, a model of raising good citizens. In a K class of 30, when 5 spit their gum on the floor you can just chain them to the radiator and then you'll be down to 25. Piece of cake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah, Singapore, a model of raising good citizens. In a K class of 30, when 5 spit their gum on the floor you can just chain them to the radiator and then you'll be down to 25. Piece of cake.

LOL!