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Yep, a combo class has two (or more) grades in one classroom. Very, very common here.
It's a necessity in our small district - we don't always have enough kids to make two full single-grade classes (paying two teachers), but too many to have one classroom (like this upcoming year's first grade class of about 30, and second grade of about 30 so we're having a one straight first, one straight second, and a 1-2 combo). In the past our school used to have three grade span combos sometimes. Some districts are so tiny they still have one-room school houses - there is at least one K-8 one room school house I know of in a nearby district.
Some people love it, and think it's highly beneficial to the kids to have the mixed grade. Generally I've seen that parents usually like it when their "lower-grade" kids are in the combo class - in other words, the parents of the K's were really happy when their kids were assigned to the combo, and the parents of the first-graders not so happy. When it's set up, usually they try to put higher achieving lower-grade kids with lower-achieving higher grade kids, although that's controversial (I didn't think that worked patricularly well, myself). Or sometimes the "high need of attention" kids get the single-grade class and the "more independent" get the combo, which I think probably works better from the perspective of the kids but might make the straight-grade teacher pull her hair out.
But the fact of the matter is, at some point in their elementary school, most of the kids in our district are going to have to experience at least one combo year because ain't no taxpayer gonna pay for teachers to teach classrooms of 10 kids.
Anyway, the teacher still has to teach the standards for both grades. Luckily, many of them overlap or lead into each other. Last year was my first year teaching a combo (and I didn't get to finish it out due to the increase in enrollment) so I'm not very experienced in making it work, but some teachers are quite good at managing it. One thing that's very nice is the built in opportunity for the younger kids to be challenged and the older kids to easily get some review/reteaching if they need it.
WOW!!! That is amazing. Even here in Texas in some of the small towns in the middle of nowhere do I think they still have schools that operate on a "1 room" schoolhouse or even combo classes. I don't know if I'd like it myself. My oldest is the "gifted" child while my youngest starts out slow then picks up in the middle of the year. I just don't see how it could be beneficial for either of them. Glad we don't have to deal with that situation though.
My largest class this year has 31 students and we are still adding. My smallest has 25 students. I was wondering about other teachers. How large are your classes?
My largest class has 35 students but it won't stay that way. I started out with 35 in my classes last year and my largest class ended up being 28.
I hate the large classes at the beginning of the year. I have a couple of fun labs I like to kick off the year with and labs are just a pain with classes that large. I only have room to set up 7 lab stations and groups of 5 just don't work. You always end up with two people doing everything but the lab and one just watching the other two do the lab. I can't even do assigned roles with lab groups that large because there aren't enough roles.
My largest class has 35 students but it won't stay that way. I started out with 35 in my classes last year and my largest class ended up being 28.
I hate the large classes at the beginning of the year. I have a couple of fun labs I like to kick off the year with and labs are just a pain with classes that large. I only have room to set up 7 lab stations and groups of 5 just don't work. You always end up with two people doing everything but the lab and one just watching the other two do the lab. I can't even do assigned roles with lab groups that large because there aren't enough roles.
That is exactly how I feel. I am a very hands on teacher and when classes are big it's so hard to actually get the kids to learn as much as they can from the labs. Times like this I wish there was a federal mandate that science classes could not be larger than 26 students. It becomes a safety hazard when you cram that many students into such a small setting with chemicals and glassware.
That is exactly how I feel. I am a very hands on teacher and when classes are big it's so hard to actually get the kids to learn as much as they can from the labs. Times like this I wish there was a federal mandate that science classes could not be larger than 26 students. It becomes a safety hazard when you cram that many students into such a small setting with chemicals and glassware.
I agree. Recommendations are something more than 50 square feet per student with no more than 24 students broken up into no more than 8 lab groups with no more than 3 students in a lab group. That's the maximum one teacher can be expected to monitor well. I don't feel it's safe to do labs with 35 students or in cramped quarters. We really do need a law passed here because administrators seem to think they can fill up science classes just like history or english classes when the consequences can be grave for overfilling science classes.
My school's attitude is that the numbers will decrease over time so it's not an issue. Yes it is. I can't do labs if I don't feel I can keep the students safe. At the very least, they should allow me to split my class on lab days and allow me to send half of the students to a study hall with an assignment (we don't have study hall during the day so I'm dreaming).
My largest class this year has 31 students and we are still adding. My smallest has 25 students. I was wondering about other teachers. How large are your classes?
I can have as many as 34. Right now I have 33 presently enrolled.
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Well, I teach in NYC, and generally the class sizes are very large. But my school tries to keep them as low as they can. I teach 1st grade and I usually have 20 (but no para or aide all day). Last year I taught Kindergarten and had up to 27 I believe (with an aide half day). My husband teaches Earth Science in the city too, and he has around 34.
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Glad we don't have to deal with that situation though.
