Are your classes long enough?

[seastarmath]

How long are your class periods, and do you think that time is sufficient?

I have only fifty minutes to teach sixth grade math. I have about twenty eight students per class, two of which are inclusion classes. We use to have a full hour, but then that law came into effect that says the kids have to have thirty minutes of physical activity a day. Classes were shortened so we could take the kids for a walk. (Yes, the classroom teachers have to do this. There IS no one else.) Then, it was decided we needed to set aside time students could get help with finishing their homework. There went some more time. We are mandated to accept late work--no time limits--as we cannot give zeros. We also cannot take off for not having a name on a paper: now how can I take points off a paper for not having a name when I can't even give a grade because I DON"T KNOW WHOSE IT IS? :angry2:The paperwork in keeping track of who is missing what and getting that information to the home base teacher (who has these kids during the make up time), then correcting papers that come in at odd times is killing me. :cry2:Plus, all the IEPs, 504s, ESL, and most of the kids who did not pass the year end test last year are on our team, which translates into at least forty percent of the kids are missing work. :eek:

If I had more time to teach math, the kids would have less homework. I'll bet less would need help in getting their homework done, because we could actually start practicing in class. I am so frustrated I could spit!

[Liane]

How long are your class periods, and do you think that time is sufficient?

I have only fifty minutes to teach sixth grade math. I have about twenty eight students per class, two of which are inclusion classes. We use to have a full hour, but then that law came into effect that says the kids have to have thirty minutes of physical activity a day. Classes were shortened so we could take the kids for a walk. (Yes, the classroom teachers have to do this. There IS no one else.) Then, it was decided we needed to set aside time students could get help with finishing their homework. There went some more time. We are mandated to accept late work--no time limits--as we cannot give zeros. We also cannot take off for not having a name on a paper: now how can I take points off a paper for not having a name when I can't even give a grade because I DON"T KNOW WHOSE IT IS? :angry2:The paperwork in keeping track of who is missing what and getting that information to the home base teacher (who has these kids during the make up time), then correcting papers that come in at odd times is killing me. :cry2:Plus, all the IEPs, 504s, ESL, and most of the kids who did not pass the year end test last year are on our team, which translates into at least forty percent of the kids are missing work. :eek:

If I had more time to teach math, the kids would have less homework. I'll bet less would need help in getting their homework done, because we could actually start practicing in class. I am so frustrated I could spit!

Wow, I can see why you feel frustrated - especially if you're used to having more time in class. What I find most helpful in situations such as this one (a large class, kids who have a harder time turning work in or doing work on their own, etc.) is taking things MUCH slower. Do you have a pacing guide that you have to follow, or are you free to teach at your pace? My personal opinion is that you should have less objectives each day, and leave lots of time for practice. And if you already have only one objective per day, spread it out over two days. Give the kids enough of a chance to internalize the material and do practice work in class.

When it comes to accepting late papers, I have always made it a point to accept late work - even if it's June and the work was due in September. Why? Because once the kid has done it, it tells me he/she can do it, and that's the whole point of class, right?

As far as kids not putting names on their papers - that's something that at the High School level I still have to remind kids. Some kids just don't think about these things - they have a lot of other things on their minds (especially, it seems, in a district such as yours). YOU need to remember to remind them every time you collect work - "Did you put your name on that? Did you put the date?..."

Concerning not giving zeros - I don't give 0s... But I also don't give credit where credit is not due. I like to use a program called "Easy Grade Pro." With EGP, I can keep track of student progress (including what they've turned in, and what they haven't), and I can batch print student progress reports. When students see that they are missing X assignment and getting a 55 for it (since you can't give 0), they'll make an effort to make it up and turn it in.

Hope that helps alleviate some stress. Sometimes things seem a lot worse than they are. You just have to take it easy and go with the flow.

Liane Carmi

[MissTeach]

My class periods are 50 minutes also. I used to teach at a school that had the block schedule and our classes were 90 minutes. That was wonderful! Of course we met every other day, but I still believe more was accomplished because of the class length!

[Aziz]

My school has the block schedule. I personally prefer the longer periods (sixty-five minutes) even though it means only meeting three times a week. I think the students like that the homework isn't due the next day and so they have an extra day to get a hold of me if they have questions before handing it in.

We used to have seventy-minute periods but then a forty-minute period was added in the middle of the day for club meetings.

-Aziz

[ColleenThomas]

I also teach grade 6 math...and I have 44 min a day to do it! All of my classes are inclusive, because we have NO special ed classes at all! We have complete inclusion, even violent autistic children....twins last year!

This is my second career, and I am thinking it is not my last...I have been tracking my students abilities in basic computational skills, and right now only have about 20% per class who CAN do basic computational skills with no problems.

I just wonder what is going to happen....are these kids going to be able to do any HS math at all??? I feel like I am letting them down too...but with so little time, and so many needs, I just feel totally overwhealmed.

:confused:

[seastarmath]

OMG, Colleen! Our situations are so similar! I at least have an inclusion teacher in the room with me. Do you have one or do you have to fly solo?
And on top of all of this, do you have the state telling you where you have to be in the curriculum and when? Are you expected to teach the kids to compute with fractions when they can't even add yet?

It is so frustrating! WE are not letting them down. We are doing all we can with what we've got. We have to remember that.

[teacher5]

HI! To everyone. I have 60 minute math periods daily, for two different classes. The two inclusion students are in one of these classes. The spec. ed. teacher comes in during this period to attend to their needs. One of these kids is functioning at a first grade level. Since she came in the middle of last year, and her mom is limited in the way she can advocate for her at a committee mtg., her true needs probably won't be met unitl she gets to middle school and they realize they need an alternative school for her. In the meantime, they have saved thousands of dollars in transporting her there and paying for her education there,too. The other student can function much better, but is very literal. In both classes, approx. one- third to one half need some kind of remedial support. Luckily, I have a full time aide who knows this program after working with me for 5 years. Also, I have a student whose father has threatened administration so they have provided me with another full time teacher every other day who will support this child and three others who are at risk. Furthermore, my math implementation teacher, (like that fancy title?) supports other needy or at risk students two times every six days. I am so grateful for all this support, but the kids are still struggling because at 5th grade we accelerate everyone! We do a 6th grade program and stop and do drill and kill techniques when there is a need in the program so you can progress. We are on a schedule of lessons and dare you fall more than one or two days behind on the schedule. This schedule is in place so you cover all mandated topics before the state test. I did say cover, not master. So even with longer periods and lots of support the higher ups just don't get it. You can't teach a student who is not cognitively and developmentally ready for a concept. You can teach them to mimic the strategy to solve the problems, but they really don't understand what they are doing.

[ColleenThomas]

We have no special schools here...we have COMPLETE inclusion of all children. It is not working, but no one wants to touch the topic, it is way too politically incorrect here to blame anything on inclusion, even though most teachers would say it is failing badly here! We have Teacher's Assistants in many classes, but that is because each class has at least 2-5 special needs kids. It is crazy! I have one class where out of 27 kids, almost 60% of the class is on a plan of some sort. Inclusion is bringing down the entire class.....

I had a parent the other day come to see me, her son was concerned he was placed in a "special" class because the math was so low. Nope. I just can't teach at the level I am supposed to if the kids don't have the skills to understand what I am doing. I am teaching grade 6 curriculum, but it is dumbed down! I feel horrible.

Last year, I didn't dumb it down as much, and now I am hearing from the next level teacher, they don't remember anything.....and they still can't multiply, divide, add or subtract......ugguuu



Soooo, this year I am trying to spend more time on the basics, and reach more mastery with more kids. I really don't know how our kids are going to compete in a global economy with the lack of mastery we do in our culture in mathematics.

My two top students are from Korea. One speaks no english and understands nothing I say, and is making 100's on his test of computational work.


I really think our biggest problem is student apathy. They care so little, because they move on anyway. Their parents think it is all our fault, so why should they help more at home?

I hate to generalize, but I really am beginning to wonder about our entire system! My kids are in a French school, which means they are immersed in French since grade one, and taught all subjects in French. Our new Education Minister has tried to axe the program, because he sees it as elitist and streamed....and it was. However, I am thankfull my kids have not had to deal with so many of the problems in our English system due to the inclusion, and social promotion.

[PunchingYou]

(im not a teacher)

My classes are like 45 minutes long.. really unproductive, though if they were any longer, i would commit suicide from boredom.

[Clix]

We're on semester blocks: 4 classes, 90 minutes a day, for 90 days; at the semester break (usually over the new year) we change classes, so the students have a total of 8 courses each year.

I really like it, though it can make for a LONG break in between sequential courses. If a student has English II semester A of his sophomore year and English III semester B of his junior year, that's an entire year between the classes!

[landreth2007]

And I think I have problems! I teach 6th grade science and we have 50 minute blocks. Some days it is plenty of time and other days...Labs are pretty difficult to complete in that amount of time so we usually have to stretch them out over several days. It isn't always the best way to teach but you do what you can.

I have 2 CWC classes but since I'm not literacy or math I don't get a sp. ed teacher, just an aide. She is a huge help since 10 of my 28 students in one class have some sort of IEP, AIP, 504, etc. Not to mention the severly autistic student. All of my other classes has special needs students including ESL but no help for them other that what I do. No one ever said what we do is easy but it is often very frustrating.

[Damien]

We have 50 minute periods, but as a science teacher, my classes are double classes 105 minutes (the extra 5 mionutes is what is usually set aside foir students to move between classes).

We are not allowed to give the students breaks - so I usually do a 'wake up kids' activity if we are doing theory - or if we are doing an experiment, no one really notices the time.

However, for some of my lessons the double is split over recess or lunch break - I dreaded this initially, but it has proven to be a nice thing as it definitely wakes the kids up.