Too many students

Students descended upon campus today for the first time since I’ve been in residence.  It was strange to see a small, quiet campus transform overnight into a small campus buzzing with activity.  I am really looking forward to getting into the classroom and interacting with these students after eight months of waiting.

Thankfully, none of my classes have what I consider to be too many students.  I was surprised recently to hear somebody complain about having 27 students instead of the expected 22.  I realize that, for a class of that size, five students is a 23% increase, but I cannot yet grasp the idea that 27 students can be too many.  Of course, I’ve been conditioned by teaching years of classes with between 50 and 80 students.  Maybe I need to bookmark this post and read it in a year or two when I find myself acclimated to my new environment and complaining to the registrar about every student over 20.