One morning, Emma discovered that her classroom had changed. She found that the desks were no longer in rows, but pushed together to make eight bigger desks. She was so excited about it for the first two days that she couldn't listen to the teachers carefully. But soon she and her classmates got used to this new classroom arrangement(安排). "Now our class is quieter," said Emma. "What's more, we can come up with our own ideas and learn more through discussion. It's a better way to study."
David liked it, too. "Group members first discuss, "he said, "and then show to the whole class. It encourages us greatly. "This was part of a reform (改革) at David's school. The school made this reform because they wanted to offer students easier ways to study and more chances to discuss. "Our school hopes to improve students' abilities to study by themselves and work in groups." said Linda, an English teacher.
However, the reform has demanded(要求) more from teachers. Now they have only 15 minutes to give a lesson that would have been taught in 40 minutes before. It is difficult to teach in such a short time. The teachers have to find better ways to teach more effectively(有效地).
"The reform demands more, but I'm sure it is helpful." added Linda.
