Having managed to steadily build the enrollment in her middle school German program (in a nation that hates foreign languages, no less), my wife just got a larger classroom for the first time in six years. The two pieces of evidence that convinced the principal were as follows:
1) She has two semi-permanent bruises on either side of her legs from constantly running into the childrens' desks, which are packed absurdly closely together.
2) One kid did the math and demonstrated that the present arrangement was, in fact, a fire code violation.
And this is in a fairly well-resourced district.
Anyone who isn't familiar with what teachers face has no idea what a boon this larger room will be. Job one is crowd control, before any learning whatsoever can occur. The kids sitting far enough apart that they can't touch each other is a HUGE step towards crowd control.
Next time one of the copious teacher-haters tells me that class size doesn't matter, I have a mind to slam a desk into their legs precisely where my wife's bruises are.
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