Reflections on Summer School

What a pleasure it was to teach Sanquan, James, Eduardo and Gerald this summer! I'm reminded what education researchers have been saying for years...smaller classes have a huge impact on student learning. Having taught classes upwards of 30 to 31 students, I was amazed at what my students were able to accomplish this summer in a small setting.

For starters, there were was no drama in the classroom. There were fewer students to perform for or to get into altercations with. Suddenly the most interesting thing in the room was the work at hand. Sanquan's dream is to become a comedian. He's a natural performer and has a great sense of humor. In a small class I was able to laugh when he was legitimately funny and give subtle signals when his humor was mean-spirited or inappropriate.

Second, I was able to quickly assess where a particular student was academically and provide appropriate feedback and scaffolding to take him to the next level.

Lastly and most importantly they learned! James was able to explain how the universe was born from a single explosion to form the universe as we know it. Sanquan took an immediate interest in the concept of "exponential growth" and created several visuals to show this. For far too long inner city students have become accustomed to chaotic classrooms where not much learning takes place. In education we search for that magic bullet. There are always "new" strategies and approaches that make the veteran teacher's eyes roll back into their heads, "Not another "new" approach!" Someday when public education is funded as it should be, we might finally have small classes where children can learn.