I teach at a K-5 school, and truly feel sorry for our Gr.
4 and 5 teachers. They are sitting at 26, 27 kids in a
class, and I'm sure this is low compared to other
schools. It is ridiculous that a cap has only been
implemented in primary grades, and I think that instead of
ploughing ahead with full day Kindergarten when there
aren't the resources for it (many schools in my board have
absolutely no space to put double the number of Kinders),
the ministry needs to look at reducing junior and
intermediate class sizes. It really is not a fair system.

On 11/06/09, . wrote:
> i'm not sure how much of the curriculum is centred
> around them as young
> teens?...hpe maybe, but the rest of the
> curriculum?...the focus outside of curriculum is career
> planning - i love the elementary setting, but we have
> no cap on numbers - it wouldn't matter if we got to 40
> kids in a room mid year, there is nothing that would be
> done - generally, the "new" kids that join
> mid year come with an iep too (6 so far and another is
> joining in grade 7 in january - that brings it to 37
> with 9 ieps) - i was in the office as tic one day and
> the supply that came in (retired teacher) could not
> believe the class size and number of special needs
> students that were in my class - she thought we had
> played around with it as we knew a supply teacher was
> coming in...the only changes that were made during
> class reorganization was getting a grade three class
> down to 19 from 22...i don't even get a recess break
> anymore - there are always students in my room to catch
> up/receive extra support - i'm just venting but marking
> a test or assignment can take a whole day...oh well -
> enough of my complaining
>
> On 11/06/09, MM wrote:
>> I know there is a big problem with those middle
>> years. And I hear friends with horror stories about
>> the 7 and 8 schools being pressure cookers of
>> hormonal adolescants, etc. I agree that they would
>> benefit from specialized teachers, rotation, and a
>> curriculum that is less centred on them as young
>> teens (a phase in life that passes). I can't help but
>> believe that if more was organized and expected of
>> them in the middle years, they'd be achieving more
>> and have less time to run amok. Why do North
>> Americans spend so many resources and so much energy
>> on pandering to the crazy state of early teens. It's
>> a phase that passes. Many of these kids need more to
>> do, not more content that has them navel gazing and
>> obsessing on themselves so much.
>>
>> On 11/06/09, Deedee wrote:
>>> I don't agree. I've taught too many 8's who don't
>>> care about making an effort because they know
>>> they'll pass anyway in elementary. They need the
>>> credit system.
>>>
>>> When you've taught pregnant grade 8's, you realize
>>> pretty fast they need to be in high schools where
>>> they'll get the proper counseling. They also need
>>> to be in schools with principals who are used to
>>> dealing with adolescents.
>>>
>>> The way 7's and 8's have been placed in high school
>>> is usually in a separate wing. Thus they don't
>>> mingle with the older kids in the same way. I also
>>> think they benefit from 1) specialist teachers, 2)
>>> teachers with more time to spend with them under
>>> the semestered plan, 3) lower class size ratios as
>>> OSSTF would never put up with some of the class
>>> size that ETFO allows, 4) better access to better
>>> equipment such as computer labs with enough
>>> computers and actual science labs.
>>>
>>> It's also not realistic to expect 1 elementary
>>> teacher to teach everything at a grade 8 level
>>> well.
>>>
>>> Deedee
>>>
>>>
>>> On 11/05/09, MM wrote:
>>>> The eights are too young as you'll get that 5
>>>> year spread again (and in Toronto it's more than
>>>> that as tons of kids do extra semesters and
>>>> years). One of the biggest problems I had with
>>>> the old OAC year in recent years was the fact
>>>> that we had 13 year olds in huge high schools
>>>> with kids 18 and older (don't kid yourself there
>>>> are still enough kids over 19 there too). In some
>>>> communities this was a bad mix for the
>>>> youngsters. An average 4 year spread in ages is
>>>> healthier and allows for a better mixing, without
>>>> undue influences on teens who are, in many ways,
>>>> children.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 11/04/09, jb wrote:
>>>>> Just wondering out loud here: with full day
>>>>> kindergarten, space in the elementary schools
>>>>> is going to be an issue. Maybe it would be a
>>>>> good time to move the 7's and 8's into the high
>>>>> schools.

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