Teaching Outside the Classroom According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 39.8 million people (13.2 percent) were below the poverty level in 2008. Although poverty is a known topic to most Americans, many do not know the details or severity of poverty in the United States. The majority of people tend to stay away from the topic of poverty, almost acting as if it does not exist. Among these Americans are teachers. If our nation’s teachers are not informed on this subject, how will the youth find out about it? Therefore, we feel that being informed on poverty and homelessness will help us to become better teachers. Teachers have an enormous impact on their students; they influence what they do and how they act. As teachers we need to be sure to leave a good impact and impression on our students. Building a good strong relationship with our students and getting them informed on important issues is key. We need to grow to the best teachers that we can achieve for our students. As teachers, know what is going on in the community in which we live, and in which our student live is important. Knowing about poverty and local related issues can help us achieve the goal of becoming the best teachers we are capable of being. Children are sponges, absorbing information from their every surrounding. Many people spend about 20 years in school, making the teachers they learn around a large impact on who they become. We learn much from our teachers, not only the curriculum is taught; life lessons and skills are acquired in the classroom as well. Teachers teach using their own life experiences—these experiences build who we are and how we teach. Working with people in the community who are less fortunate adds much to our life canvas. We see the world from a different eye. Knowing what goes on in the community around us helps us as future teachers better understand the community from which our student come, and it help us better understand our students themselves. Poverty and homelessness is a growing issue; our country is going thru one of the largest economic crisis, where more and more people experience poverty and homelessness everyday. Education is a very important to have in today’s world, and teachers are key to that education. A good teacher is one who can relate to the lives of their students and understand what is going on. Working with the food drive and seeing poverty and homelessness directly makes a huge impact on who we are as people and as teachers. It builds who we are a people, and makes us the best teachers that we could possible become.
Throughout school, teachers have talked about the immense amount of poverty in other countries. Although that is a severe issue, many teachers do not realize the intensity of poverty and homelessness in the United States. Teachers need to have the ability to accommodate to students and parents that are in these arduous circumstances. Homelessness and poverty within the United States needs to be addressed. They should also try to relate with their students so they can assist them. They could try to contribute as much as they are able to alleviate the pressures from parents so parents are able to focus on different areas of their lives. Teachers must understand that their students are going to come from all kinds of situations. but it is necessary for teachers to teach their students to respect their classmates regardless of their back rounds. Students need to learn from their teachers that everyone should be treated equally. They should also accept that all students live different lives and some of those circumstances include poverty and homelessness. Teachers should set an example for students by being respectful towards others and that students should not discriminate against students living with homelessness and poverty.
“Schools should be the laboratories or acts of conscience.”(Haynes, 2009) The article “Schools of Conscience” written by Charles C. Haynes talks about the idea that school is the place to prepare children for the real world and civic learning should be a high priority. Haynes believes that we live in a world that is not concerned enough with students and the people they become while in school. He states that math, science, and English are all important, but no one seems to be interested in getting these students ready to be an active part of society. “We want to inspire students to follow their conscience not in spite of what we teach and do in our schools, but, because of what we teach and do” (Haynes, 2009). In order for our students to get involved us teachers need to set an example of how to do this. What we learned from this article is that as future teachers we need to help our students realize that what we teach also pertains to outside the classroom. For them to be active participants in the community is just as important as the grades they get in school. Participating in activities like a food drive, volunteering at a retirement home or, animal shelters allows students to get involved in their community and see how life can be outside of the school halls. As future teachers it is important to be sure that we teach our students how to become active parts of their community.
By being a part of the food drive we learned how much poverty can affect one’s life. As we walked through the Jesus Center we saw, first hand, the difficulties homeless Americans go through each and every day. The simple act of taking a shower or getting a meal, for a homeless person, requires finding transportation to a certain building from wherever they are in town. For most in Chico, who are lucky enough to have the help of the Jesus Center, this transportation is limited to walking. We have always been aware of homeless people and the fact that they live within every community, but it was not until we stepped foot into the Jesus Center that we realized what challenges poverty stricken people face throughout their lives. Our work collecting and counting cans for the Jesus Center helped us realize that it is not only important to teach our students about homelessness and poverty, but to set an example to help them avoid these situations. We have set goals for ourselves in our future teaching careers in which we will instill good habits in our students, to ensure that everybody we teach has the proper knowledge to avoid poverty as much as possible. These skills will include managing money (which can be covered in a project incorporating mathematics), good work skills (which will be expected regarding class work as well as homework), as well as other qualities that are necessary to be successful in life. We are determined to make these projects fun so that my students have fun while learning valuable skills that will help them in the classroom as well as in the outside world.
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