Dedication to ALL students

            When I think of students coming into my classroom from a life of poverty and my obligation to them as a teacher, I am continually drawn back to the issue of homework. In her article “Understanding Poverty,” Donna Beegle discusses how through her research and that of others, thousands of educators have found that homework provides no benefit at all for students in poverty. She continues on to say that often times, it instead creates added stress in their lives and the lives of their families, works to alienate the student even more, and makes them feel as though they don’t belong in school. Many times, these students have no one at home who feels willing and/or capable to help them with their homework, or parents or siblings may not have time, or the education to help. So why do we continue to give homework to poverty stricken students?

            This also gets me thinking that if these families who are working extremely hard and so many hours barely have any time at all to spend together as a family, should they have to, and do they really want to, spend what little time they have together sitting and working on worksheets that are brought home from school and that often times only result in heightening everyone’s stress levels? What good is coming from their efforts? It seems as though their time could be spent doing something much more meaningful and valuable to them. So, what’s the alternative to homework? More time to practice skills and lessons in class? But that would mean cutting back on time for other subjects during the school day… How do we make our lessons meaningful and accessible to all of our students, including those who are coming from poverty?

            Something else that’s on my mind is how many other opportunities are students coming from poverty missing out on in schools and what action can, and should, be taken? Often times, what seem like little things to others, such as the pants you’re wearing or what’s in your lunch, can further alienate a student and make them feel as though they don’t belong in school. In Beegle’s article, she discusses how so many students cannot afford their yearbooks at the end of the school year, an important part of their history, and the impact this has on them. I would hope to donate mine to a child in need - do others do this? And what about school lunches? It seems there is always inequality associated with lunches, whether it’s when the “cool” thing to do is bring your own lunch, or now everyone buys hot lunch, or the stigmatism associated with “free” lunches, and those who buy them. Can, and should, we equalize things like lunches? What are we willing to do to try to make school a welcoming place for every student?