The new semester is here, and my German 4 class is now a German 5 class. There are a grand total of eight students in this class. I was very surprised by the size of this class, since my German 5 class (as a student) was around 15 students. I already know six of the students, since they are seniors, but have never met two of them. Half of the students are from Brookfield East, and half of them are from Brookfield Central. So far, the biggest challenge has been getting the students to speak freely with each other, since they do not know the other students.
The activities during class are mainly partner activities, which has helped the classroom dynamic. After a few class periods, the awkwardness of being with someone new has almost disappeared. There are many benefits of small classes that I have noticed so far. First off, the teacher can move much faster, since there are less students to worry about, and she can help one student off to the side, and the others will not be loud while she is helping them. Also, there is less talking within the transitions that helps move the class forward.
There is a psychological phenomenon known as group think. This is when groups of individuals make decisions in a way that discourages individuals from being creative or from going against the group. In the classroom, I have seen this happen almost on a daily basis, and the small classroom size really shows this phenomenon. The teacher will ask the class if they are understanding a topic, and the students will look around and nod and say they understand the topic, even if they do not. Had we asked each student individually, they would have answered with their true feelings, instead of just going along with the group's feelings.
However, group think is not always a bad thing. These same students participated in a Socratic seminar (like an academic conversation), and I noticed that the students, as a group, would start to talk more, and build off of each other's energy. They would follow each other, and work from their examples, which pushed the class conversation so much further.
