I am hopeful that the interview with the school Counselor will give me an extra opportunity to explain the Health care Science Pathways again. I have already had many discussions with the school counselor regarding the need to place students in my class when they can't find an appropriate fit. These are usually the students that do have an interest in health care and are usually the ones that will cause class disruptions. Most importantly I want to discuss class size and find out what can be done to limit the class size to around 20 students. Large classes in HSTE Pathways are difficult to manage when performing hands on skills and making certain that all have meet the criteria. I am very curious about the practices and procedures used for placing students in the HSTE classes. Certainly there has to be a set of guidelines used to make these decisions. I am also concerned about the push for every child to go to college and the realistic expectations for every child. I really don't hear much in my school about the Technical School/College approach and the good opportunities offered in those educational settings. I a really looking forward to the face to face opportunity to sit and have that one on one conversation with the School
Counselor. I can see that she works very hard but she also seems very relaxed mosted of the time even during the hectic scheduling time. If nothing else comes out of the interview I hope she can share some of her techniques for relaxing with me.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that it will be an opportunity to share about the Healthcare Science program with the counselor during the meeting. You also mentioned about how difficult it is to do some of the skills lesson plans when the class is above 20 students. I totally agree that when the numbers start climbing in the mid 20's it can be quite challenging to manage the classroom in a skills lab. I like your idea about discussing with the counselor what criteria or guidelines are used when selecting students for the HSTE Pathways. College does not fit for every student and it is important that students know what other options are available to them. When we are better informed we are able to be a better resource to our students.
ReplyDeleteHi, Brenda - yes, large classes are a challenge, and we are caught in the middle between having manageable-sized classes and system resources. State mandates have been set at 28 students per class for CTAE teachers and they have been that way for years, unless recently changed. 28 is manageable if you are on top of things and do careful planning and resource allocation, and keep all students focused and busy with meaningful lessons.
ReplyDeleteOne of your questions to your counselor may address the push at the legislative session this year for increased class sizes due to budget issues. An interesting question for us as professionals is - would we accept more students per class if it meant no lost teachers?
It will also be interesting to see what relaxation techniques your counselor shares with you. We look forward to hearing all about it.