As Redhawks settle into new routines and new classrooms, students in GT American Studies are adding something old to all of the new.
“We switched rooms because our AMSTUD sections got bigger!” AMSTUD teacher Ashley Harrison said. “We are super excited the classes are growing [and]…the room is very big and makes for a really great space for our bigger classes.”
For GT Humanities teacher Sarah Wiseman, sharing a room with AMSTUD is just another way to support the growing program and keep it going.
“I was happy to share the room as a solution to the growing program size of American Studies,” Wiseman said. “I want to see that program grow and be successful, and I do not want the students and teachers to feel uncomfortable in a cramped classroom.”
For many students, switching rooms means getting to spread out and have more space while learning.
“I think it’s a smart decision considering that our AMSTUD classes are so big, so we wouldn’t be able to fit in the regular class,” junior Srishti Shetty said. “[My favorite part would be] having two projector screens up so then people in one room can look at one projector screen and you’re never like too far away from it.”
But the benefits of having more space come with their own drawbacks; spreading out more means less interaction between different groups of students.
“I think it’s really beneficial because we get more space to move around and really interact as a class,” Shetty said. “But I do think one of the drawbacks would be that the Humanities room is kind of like two separate classrooms, so a lot of us are like separated from each other… so it’s hard to interact with everyone in the classroom and you’re mostly in your little group.”
For teachers, sharing a room can mean shuttling between multiple classrooms throughout the day as they juggle multiple classes.
“The only drawbacks is when you have two classrooms that you use, it is always a fun game of making sure I have everything I need for whichever classroom I am in for that period,” Harrison said. “My Chromebook charger is always being left in the wrong room, it will just take some time getting used to moving things from room to room. It is a little tricky during tutorials/advisory because we are in the old AMSTUD room (my current room for english 2) during those times. We just have to make sure that we communicate that with our juniors.”
But ultimately, for Wiseman, the benefit of the change far outweighs the drawbacks, as sharing a room allows her to spend more time and reconnect with her former students.
“The best part of the switch is getting to see the American Studies students more often,” Wiseman said. “I love my Wisebabies and miss them when they grow and leave my nest.
