Low socioeconomic class is one of the biggest problems facing my students. While all of them have a "home," many of them have it very rough. So many are hungry. They come in for breakfast and haven't eaten since lunch at school the day before. Others didn't get to sleep until late (after I did) because their parents may have been at work and no one was there to tell them to go to bed. Others may have had to cook dinner, bathe younger siblings and then do homework before bed. Still others had to sleep on the floor or in a bed with 4 siblings because there is not room for another bed. Some of the kids don't see their parents because they work all the time trying to earn a few extra dollars.
I fully believe that all kids can learn. I don't want my students to have the mindset that because they're "poor" they can't succeed in school. I have high expectations for all my students. However, I realize that if they come to school in the morning grumpy, it may be because they are hungry or didn't sleep the night before. If they put their heads down on their desk, it may be because they didn't get to sleep until after midnight and up again at 5:00 to get ready to catch the bus. While I know they all can (and should) be learning, I also know that a lot of their families don't value education the way my family did when I was growing up. There is a lot of encouragement that comes with being a teacher, and the children who live in high-poverty need it so much.
What can we do to help the students who live in shelters or in their cars when they come to school?
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