Pie in the Sky

Alas Bill Gates, numbers DO matter.

I'm teaching my third year of Transitional Kindergarten, and my 30 something year in teaching. Some of my years don't count in retirement because I subbed (for two), some were in West Virginia over California, and some I was so ill I missed time. So I've taught many years but my retirement is a bit over 25 full years.

Just for clarity sake. It has little meaning to my observations to follow.

At some point I read Bill Gates -the education guru-who stated class-sizes were irrelevant.

Perhaps he was playing provocateur. It's the kind of thing a guy can say and I literally hold onto for thirty years. This piece is one that laid in the back recesses of my mind, turning to cider.

It was folded into some proposal that if you teach well-then- of course you should get huge class-sizes.

All kids deserve you.

Well.

The last two years I started my TK with those unbelievable sizes. In a small portable. Supported by my district but at a level I had tachycardias.  It didn't go so well for me. In fact the month of September was incredibly stressful for children and teacher. Slowly I adapted routines just for size. In large numbers this means more structure. It also means less availability of the teacher.

It HAS to mean that. Or what, I clone myself for the cause?

This year my number at this moment is lower. I hope it is allowed to grow slowly.

The reason is.....I am calm. It is absolutely peaceful for my four year olds. I can hear everyone. I can be heard. I don't have to limit centers to two or three because I can't see what's happening. There is space for every child. I can meet with every child everyday-they can hear one another. We don't need as many behavioristic processes and procedures. Thank you district.

Goodness Bill, it's far, far, far more likely children coming to me in need of care, love and instruction will get it.

Class-size is incredibly important.

My mom once used an apple pie to make an observation about life. Mom was a great pie maker. A pro. She said, "Everybody likes an apple pie, some will tell you they like a thin crust, others a thick one. Some will advise you about the apples-the variety and the thickness of the slices. Some will tell you everything they think you ought to do-cinnamon, how to layer, top crust or no, pinch of salt. But until I'm sure they've baked at least fifty apple pies-I thank them and say that advice is worth a grain of salt. Want to know why? I've baked at least two hundred apple pies maybe more. It's how I got good at it. I tried them in different elevations, different weather which affects the crust and baking. I've used early transparent, romas, all different variety of apples and different ovens too. I like gas ovens but I've cooked them in wood burning stoves and in the electric. Pretty much all this was more than an anticdote. It was a data set. And I am a kind of observational analyst. Nothing ticks me more than a novice who doesn't listen to, or hear, an expert. Good pie comes from experience."

Applying that asking for smaller class-size, that request for less is based on working with children.

Something Gates has not done.

At all.

I don't care for pie in the sky, do you?