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Wichita, Kan., Students Find New Teachers, Smaller Classes

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 24--Clark Elementary School's 260 students streamed into the building early Tuesday morning, so parents could help their kids find the right class. At one of the buildings, first-grade teacher Amy Stewart greeted students warmly at the start of their first day.

"Good morning!" Stewart said. "What grade are you in?"

Then Stewart pointed students and parents in the right direction. Similar scenes played out all over the city as Wichita's roughly 49,000 students began a new year.

Near the end of Clark's first- and second-grade hall, mom Annjeanette Amposta tried to reassure her daughter, Chaela Herron, before she started second grade.

"You'll be fine," Amposta said while holding her daughter's hand.

But when asked if she was ready for school to start, Chaela emphatically shook her head no because she didn't want summer to end.

Clark and 14 other elementary schools started the year with smaller classes in the early grades thanks to 47 new teachers the district hired with some of the $39.4 million in new state money.

But only 25 of those 47 teachers have their own classrooms, which forced the schools to improvise creative solutions.

For Chaela and Clark's other second-graders, that meant meeting two teachers Tuesday instead of the more customary one. Kindergartners and first-graders at the school had a similar experience because those grades also had one more teacher than classrooms.

"I think it will end up being so great for kids," principal Donna Welty said.

Kara Knudson, Delilah Crossette and Marie Samuelson will work together to teach Clark's two second-grade classes.

At times they plan to split the kids into three small groups, such as when they teach reading or math. And sometimes one of the three will provide individual attention to some students while the other two lead their whole classes.

"Welcome to second grade," Crossette said shortly after 9 a.m. "Are we all excited?"

Knudson finished taking attendance while Crossette started class.

Then the two switched off and Knudson introduced herself as new to Wichita after a year in Iowa and several in Georgia. And she told the class they were to draw a self-portrait while Crossette handed out the paper.

"I want to remember what you look like on the first day of school," Knudson said to her 20 students.

While they colored, the kids started to get to know their classmates.

"Do you know why I have so much hair?" Su'Tayzia Mitchell asked the girl next to her.

"No," Rachel Hansen replied quietly.

"I have a perm on my hair," Su'Tayzia said.

Then she asked Rachel to check the color of the plastic clips holding her six-inch-long braids.

"Do I have a blue one?" Su'Tayzia asked before selecting her next crayon.

Around 9:30 a.m., Crossette introduced herself and explained why there were two teachers in the room.

"I'm not going to be in here all the time," she said. "My classroom is down the hall, and some of you guys will come and see me for reading and math. And I'll be teaching social studies."

Crossette's classroom is really only half a room that she has to share with a first-grade teacher. The two areas are separated by a partition.

Then Crossette started to explain the day's main lesson: learning to walk in the halls.

Crossette acted out the correct behavior of looking forward, remaining quiet and holding her hands behind her back while explaining.

"Should we practice?" she asked the class.

"No!" several students replied "We were in the first grade."

But when the kids started lining up it became clear they did need the practice because they had trouble staying quiet and in a straight line.

Soon after, Crossette left the room to help out next door and Knudson took over the lining-up lesson before a morning assembly.

On the way to the assembly, it became clear that the teachers also have a few things to learn.

"Miss Delilah, where is the bathroom?" Knudson asked while walking backwards in front of the class.

"It's right there by the water fountain," Crossette answered from the back of the line.

By the end of the day, Knudson's students could recite the rules for lining up and walking in the halls, and they could nearly follow them, too.

Much of the first three weeks of elementary school will be spent teaching rules and routines, such as lining up and the classroom behavior rules, that will govern the rest of the year.

"That's what we'll do all week long," Knudson said at the end of the day.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

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Source: The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

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