Earlier today I read Chapter 2 of Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants; so much Hulk rage.

At one point I had to get up and pace on the subway, burn off some of the anger. So annoyed.

Chapter 2 focused on classroom size, which has always been an idiotic notion: from the perspective of the student. What sparked my rage was the teachers Gladwell interviewed.

My fight since Grade 5/6 right up to graduating high school is that curriculum AND teachers should be Borg like and quickly pivot and especially adapt instantly to whatever it’s faced with!

So the first moron is the teacher with 12 students in her French class and called it a nightmare. If you know discussions are going to be limited ADAPT, focus on more creative projects, work more slowly with the students. Steep them like tea in French. Next year when you get 30 students in your class ADAPT again.

The other butthead was the fool who had 30 students in his classroom and he complained about how much he has to mark. Idiot! Don’t hand out so many assignments…have discussions, do group work, be more creative. ADAPT!

Why does any sort of creative thinking stop the second a teacher steps into the classroom?

In every other job in the entire world you have to roll and Borg like ADAPT to your circumstances. None of the teachers in Chapter 2 adapted.

None of the ones I had adapted. I’m not asking for an amazing Dead Poets Society teacher…I am asking for the simple human decency to recognize this school year the classroom has changed so changes have to, logically be made.

Nobody listens to kids in a school environment, adults all seem to know better and it’s hard for parents to grasp what it means when your child is struggling.

The B.S. we’re told is that students in Grade 5 HAVE TO master the curriculum or else they will struggle in Grade 6, right? That’s total crap. There are a whole host of reasons why students struggle, none have to do with failing to master previous curriculum. I continue to blame teachers for the sin of failing to adapt.

I’m done ranting now…the rage has cooled.

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