Tag Archives: teaching

New school building’s lack of space impacts learning conditions

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by Breon Thacker and Quaron Walker-Bey

Three years after the grand opening of the new Patterson High School building in 2021, students and teachers are struggling with a shortage of space, leading to a host of problems for the growing school population.

According to a 2015 report on the 21st Century Schools website, the old Patterson building took up 303,582 square feet. By contrast, the new building, which is shared with the Claremount School, was projected to be 267,771 feet total, including both schools. Teachers who remember the old building are glad to have the improvements in facilities and technology but are frustrated with the lack of space and the issues it creates.

“I like the new school building with the new technology, but at the old school building there was more room for students; teachers weren’t on top of each other”, reflects EMT instructor Mr. Casey. Mr. Casey thinks the 21st Century Building program could have planned the switch better. According to Mr. Casey, the building was originally designed for about 1,000 students and we are at or above about 1,300 now. The student population is overcrowded for the size of the building. Also, there is a bandwidth lag in the Wi-Fi system because so many students are on it at once. To compound the problem, there are not enough classrooms for the number of teachers in the building, forcing some teachers to share classrooms with other teachers whose curriculum or subjects are totally different from one another.

Some teachers have to move from classroom to classroom throughout the day, making it difficult to prepare for lessons. World History teacher Mr. O’Neal is one of these teachers. He says that some of the teachers here are very unsanitary, so he has to spend time cleaning up other after classes that aren’t his, and it can make it difficult to plan ahead of time for class. Mr. O’Neal has to switch classrooms every period that he teaches a class. Mr. O’Neal goes on to explain that he has 20-25 students per period and due to the small classroom sizes there is often not enough room for all his students to fit. Frequently kids may have to stand up for a whole class period.

Many staff members and and students share the opinion that the school should have been built larger, with more classrooms and offices and more space overall. Since the past can’t be changed, the question now is how to address this problem going forward. Should the school cap enrollment and try to lower the student population in future school years? Should school leaders seek funding for the building to be expanded? Should Claremount be relocated to a new site so that Patterson can utilize that section of the building? None of these potential solutions seem very viable in the present moment, but the problems caused by the lack of space at Patterson are becoming harder and harder to ignore. Something needs to be done about this issue or it will only get worse.

Patterson holds language learning dinner

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by Mirian Maurizaca

A language learning dinner took place at Patterson High School on November 14, 2024. There were two sessions for this event–the first one was for staff members at Patterson and the second session was for community members. This event was an opportunity for students in the Interpreting program to show off their language skills. 

There were three languages to learn: Spanish, Arabic, and Tigrinya. Students taught participants basic phrases in their language. Everyone had a chance to learn each language and many were enjoying it. There was also food which for many was the most exciting part of the event. The food reflected the diverse cultures of Patterson students, including pupusas from El Salvador, jollof rice and chicken from Nigeria, and falafel wraps from Syria.

Throughout the event, teachers, community members, and students were having conversations and learning each other’s languages. Everyone left with a packet with basic phrases so that they can keep practicing. 

AI presents new opportunities and new dangers for schools

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by Wilfredo Portillo Quinones

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into education. The generative AI interactions that most students are most familiar with involve large language models like Chat GPT, which uses the internet to respond to questions users have and is capable of answering any sort of questions that would normally be asked on Google. A lot of tools have been implemented with AI in order to help students answer questions or understand classwork. It’s also used to help with teaching, which we see a lot now. AI is capable of teaching and helping students who struggle with regular learning. People have mixed feelings about this though. A lot of teachers are afraid of losing their jobs if AI gets too good and replaces them. There is also a concern that AI is negatively impacting learning because it can be used to cheat or take shortcuts instead of taking the time to develop academic skills. Is AI harming education or is it doing a good thing for us?

There are many platforms which are powered in part by AI, including Khan Academy and DreamBox, which adapt lessons to match individual students’ learning speeds and styles. For instance, a math app might adjust the difficulty of problems based on students’ past performances, ensuring they stay challenged but not overwhelmed. Hechingerreport.org states that, “Teachers save time by using AI tools that handle repetitive tasks like grading multiple choice questions, planning lessons, assessing students, grading homework, giving feedback and administrative paperwork.” However, they also say that it doesn’t mean AI is capable of replacing everything teachers do. AI could trim a lot of the work being done so teachers can focus more on helping students learn.

While AI has a lot to offer in this day and age, there are many concerns that we need to take into consideration. One major concern is that students might rely on AI tools or become very dependent on them for answers or learning. That might lead to students not being able to use cognitive skills, critical thinking skills or problem solving skills. If students use AI on homework or for test preparations they won’t be able to use these skills without AI. Another concern is how AI stores information and whether this information is secured, especially with information on many students. With the increase of AI tools people want to make sure their personal information is secure and not at risk of being breached by hackers who might take or use this information for harmful purposes. These concerns need to be taken seriously.

To avoid the misuse of AI or even cheating using AI, students need to be educated on responsible AI use and there should be restrictions on AI usage to safeguard students and to ensure academic honesty. Schools can’t avoid AI tools or AI in general, but responsibility should be taught while using AI.