Overcrowding complicates every aspect of teaching. On the most basic level, the more students you have, the greater your workload. This means that you will need to pay close attention to managing your own workload and time. No matter how dedicated you are to your students, you will not be able to perform at your best if you are overworked and sleep-deprived; you may need to reduce the amount of work you assign or cut back on school-related voluntary or extracurricular activities.
The key to handling a large number of students is being well organized and having lessons meticulously planned. Unfortunately, this will reduce some of your flexibility as a teacher.
Discipline can be an issue as classrooms get more crowded. One way to handle this is to use assigned seating, placing children who are most likely to be disruptive towards the front of the classroom and separating children who tend to create mischief together.
As you will not be able to give as much individualized instruction in an overcrowded classroom, you should make sure to use support services such as tutoring centers as effectively as possible for at-risk students. Parents can sometimes be useful resources, as can volunteer organizations such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Another useful strategy is peer-group work in which you assign more advanced students to work in groups with weaker students. Online adaptive learning systems and related technology might also be useful as a supplement to or part of classroom instruction, giving the students individualized instruction that you do not have the time to provide.
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