Class size

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Class size
By Kathy

Wow! Your class size would be a dream!! I am a first year fourth-grade teacher in northern CA. I have 33 students in my room and am getting a new student on Monday. Out of the 33 students, I have four that are in resource,
two being tested for special day class because they read at the pre-primmer level and can't write a complete sentence, two in a pull out accelerated learning program to help them catch up to grade level in Language Arts, one GATE student, two that have sever medical problem (rheumatoid arthritis, and one with diabetes), one student is diagnosed with ADHD and ran out of meds during the

summer(he is still not medicate), and two with behaviour disorders. With so many students and ability levels, it seems like all I do repeat directions and classroom management! It also takes a great deal of time correcting papers for so many students. I am at school from 7-7 almost everyday and also 6 to 8 hours on the weekends. I have limited the number of papers to correct to spelling tests, daily math papers (required by the math program we are using), and all the assessments that are required at the beginning of the year. I am exhausted and feel frustrated at how much is expected with so many students. However, even with all the challenge I am facing, I love my job and know that I am in the right profession.