Monday, August 5, 2013

Priorities

As teachers, our priority is for students to learn everything we have to teach them. This includes math, language arts, science, social studies, proper behavior, etc. The list goes on and on.   Add to that the extra pressure of statewide testing and blame being laid on teachers and even rational human beings get sucked into school being the end all, be all. 

However, we need to understand that a good education is not top priority for a lot of families. Especially families in high poverty schools, such as mine. Imagine this: a parent comes in for a parent teacher conference to discuss why their child is struggling with reading. You express that their child needs to be reading every night for a minimum of 30 minutes. The parent responds by crying for a myriad of reasons: they are raising the child alone and have two (three) jobs to keep them afloat, they are homeless living in a car, their spouse is abusive and the police often visit their home, there is violence in the neighborhood (the only place they can afford to live), the other parent is in prison, an older sibling is in a gang.... 

We, as teachers, have no idea what is going on in these homes unless we reach out! You have to know your parents if you want to educate their children. Meet them halfway. What can you do at school with their child to take something off their plate? Think outside the box. Talk to a social worker or counselor. Do something. Be there. It's your job.  

Case in point: this is one of my previous student's poetry and priority in her life: 



4 comments:

  1. I think you bring up a very good issue in this post about the role (and challenges) of parents related to education. A lot of teachers don't realize that there are 3 parties involved in a child's education that need to work cooperatively: the child, the parent(s), and the teachers. Students at my school have similar needs associated with lack of parenting since many are boarding students. In many ways, we teachers as their dorm parent, fulfill some of the "parent" role since their real parents are so far away.

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  2. One of the most critical things as a teacher is to understand where your students come from. You can't educate them when they are hungry or when they are worried about where they will place their head at night or who will drag them from their home. Teachers have to step in and comfort, guide and genuinely care for those kids in order for them to have the chance to break the cycle they see day in and day out. If you can't meet them halfway, we are the ones that truly lose.

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  3. Your student's work is heart breaking and amazing at the same time. As we start the school year, you bring up a really great point and one that I constantly need to remind myself of. It can be really frustrating when a student is not applying themselves in your class. At the high school level, it can be hard to discern what the underlying issue is and continue to provide support. Many students can lash out at you, act out, try to cover it up in front of their peers just to appear as one of them. We as teachers need to show support and care because when you have over a 100 students on a daily basis it can be hard to know who is going through what on any given day. And we may be the only ones they have to care!

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  4. This is really powerful, Becca! Thanks for reminding us to always look a little deeper and not to make judgements. You are clearly so passionate about what you do. Keep up the hard work.

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