In Bryce Chamberlain’s percussion ensemble class, there are almost twice as many students as instruments.
So while half the class practices with the xylophones and drums, the other half waits 30 minutes for a turn. Chamberlain said it feels “like teaching two classes in one period.”
There are 48 students in one of his sections of film studies. Another 45 in a second. And 43 in a third. He teaches in a small auditorium just to fit them all.
With so many in his Washington Terrace classroom, Chamberlain finds it hard to build relationships with students, hard to individualize teaching plans, hard to even remember names.