I was chatting with a retired teacher.. she was saying taht in her years of teaching.. only 10 of 30 kids would get a concept. I asked her what concept.. she said that it didnt matter what the new material was.. only 1/3 of the kids would understand it..She did teach in a low socioeconomic area with lots of non English speakers.
I was wondering if her experience was typical..
No clue.
But I'm thinking that if English is my second language and I'm being taught by an teacher speaking English...I'm probably not "grasping" a new concept the first time either!
I think it depends on the subject.
I teach World History - since it is a "story", most students get it the first time. Math, science, or English may be a completely different story. Heck, in math I don't even get it now....
I've found that while teaching pre-k or kindergarten students more often than not I was lucky if 1/3 of the students got the concept however that could have more to do with age and lack of experience than anything else. My children go to school in a lower-economic area and I have been told, for all three years of schooling of my oldest that she grasps concepts very quickly. The school is very diverse and I do believe that more often than not a parent's role has more to do with why students are grasping concepts quicker than others.
Oh boy, I don't always grasp new concepts the first time either, but i would hope someone would keep working with me until i did.
But trying to manage 30 kids and all their special needs at one time necessitates moving on at some point.
Just this past year our family has been involved with a 6 yo kindergartner ( from a well off educated loving family) that can't recognize and identify the numerals 1-5. I can show that kid the number 4 on my mail box and the number 2 on my liscense plate everyday for months and he just doesn't get it. Not eligable for special ed either.
My guess is alot of her students, not only had a rough home life going for othoem they probably had some un identified learning diablilities.
I am wondering if she meant when she FIRST introduced the topic? I would say that's probably not too far off the mark for kids understanding a completely new concept the first time you explain it. But most teachers and most lessons are not going to stop at once. We repeat, re-teach, present in a different way, ask questions, try practice problems, etc on each topic before moving on. I see more than 1/3 of my classes (high school chemistry) understanding a concept. Not everyone gets to the point of understanding the "hardest" concept in every chapter or anything, but most of my kids get the basics down well!
It depends on the situation, and in her situation she's probably correct.
Definitely not typical. I hate to say it, but she probably wasn't an effective teacher if only 1/3 of her class was grasping what she was teaching.
