My brain hurts after tonight's discussion in class. I can't stop thinking about all the responsibility and pressure kids living in poverty must feel. How hard it must be to live without hope! The activity we did in class was excellent at giving some perspective on how difficult it would be to choose which bills you are going to pay each month. After just a few minutes of trying to figure it out I just wanted to give up. I wanted to give up because I didn't want to choose between food and electricity or running water. I wanted to give up because I didn't want to think about the physical and emotional pain these families must feel everyday but of course, it is all I can think about.
After tonight's class I feel this weight on my heart when I think about all the stress these kids and parents are put under everyday. What specifically can we do as teachers to lessen the burden these kids feel? How do we empower these kids to end the cycle of poverty? I am glad we are diving deep into these difficult issues and I know it will make us all better teachers, I greatly appreciate the difficult work we are doing. But at the same time, as a very wise cohort member said tonight, "throw us a life raft"! With all these questions and issues being raised we need some answers. We need some hope! We are wrestling with so many heart wrenching issues and I want to make sure I don't get all swallowed up, we need to come up for air every now and then and hear something positive. So please someone tell me something positive.
When I first read this post, right after you made it, I could hear the ways your brain and heart hurt. And that felt heavy on my mind. I want to come back to this now and ask you if you've found stories of hope? Something positive? I wonder if there is anything within this week's reading by Karp that has you feeling hope or seeing pathways for empowerment?
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way after this discussion, but now that this quarter is over, I think I'm beginning to see that we do have a huge opportunity in being that positive for the students :)
ReplyDeleteThe subject of poverty was probably the heaviest and saddest subject that we approached this quarter. It left me with little hope at the time that we discussed it because I saw teachers as having little power to change these sort of things(I wrote about this in my blog). To answer Allison's question: Karp's article did offer some hope and it did indeed show some paths that we could follow to enact the changes that we want. But for me these changes are still very far away, I feel weak and pretty much still powerless while facing the problem of poverty.
ReplyDeleteAs a presenter of the povery discussion, I feel the need to put in my two cents. Although I can certainly see why you found this depressing; there will be kids in your classroom that have much more pressing problems in their lives than their school work, and you're right, there isn't a whole lot you can do about that. However, what you can do it work with the staff of your building and work to create change that benefit these students, whether it be after school homework help, getting companies to donate products/clothing, sending kids home on friday with food for the weekend, or even policy like making the free/reduced lunch program more discreet. Also, and I think even more importantly, you have the power to make these (and all) kids feel loved, welcome, intelligent, cared for, wanted, needed, etc. You will have the power to make your classroom and equalizer-an even playing field for all kids where every student learns, shares, makes friends, thrives and chases their dreams. You will have, as a teacher, an awesome power to give students a safe, loving, educational environment for at least six hours a day and while that may not feel like enough, I can promise you it will make a profound difference in the lives of children, and what more amazing news is there than that?!
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