Remember field trips during school? I remember going to zoos, museums, aquariums, plays, and basically every other educational place out there. Did a learn a thing or two during these trips? Yes of course I did and so did my classmates.
But as I look at my students and learn more and more about them everyday, I realize that museums and zoos are not enough for them. Field trips should be much more than that. They should be a way out for my students. Last week we took a trip to D.C. and it was amazing. Of course we saw all of the monuments and learned about the history of our country and blah blah, but we gave our students the opportunity to travel, something that most of them have never done before and never will. We showed them the outside world, the real world.
"Ms. P! There's so many white people!"
That's a phrase that I will never forget. They live in a country which is known as the melting pot of the world, yet they have failed to actually live in it. These are the experiences that my students need. So here starts my journey to make sure that these students get to experience as many places before they leave me...as long as the budget allows for it.
-Ms. P
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
The Small Things
We sometimes forget how much of a privileged life we live. How we don't have to worry about feeding ourselves, worry about finding a place to sleep, or even making sure that we have something to wear. I know I do. All the time. But, this past week I realized how those who don't have these necessities still somehow find a way to smile.
I have two students who are both sisters. This past month they moved about an hour away from school. They now have to take two different trains every morning to get to school which takes about two hours. So they're late almost everyday. But that's not even the entire story.
They live in a two bedroom apartment and there are six people in the family. So they find themselves sleeping on the floors without a mattress. This past week their electricity was cut off so they now have to shower in cold water and their food in their refrigerator is spoiled. They don't have much to eat because they don't have the money.
But that isn't even the point.
The younger sister came up to class last Friday an hour late. She came up to me with a huge smile on her face and said, "Ms. P! I knew you were going to read the next chapter of The Giver so I read ahead so I wouldn't miss anything!"
That's the point.
The small things.
“If you take care of the small things,
the big things take care of themselves.
You can gain more control over your life by
paying closer attention to the little things.”
~ Emily Dickinson
I have two students who are both sisters. This past month they moved about an hour away from school. They now have to take two different trains every morning to get to school which takes about two hours. So they're late almost everyday. But that's not even the entire story.
They live in a two bedroom apartment and there are six people in the family. So they find themselves sleeping on the floors without a mattress. This past week their electricity was cut off so they now have to shower in cold water and their food in their refrigerator is spoiled. They don't have much to eat because they don't have the money.
But that isn't even the point.
The younger sister came up to class last Friday an hour late. She came up to me with a huge smile on her face and said, "Ms. P! I knew you were going to read the next chapter of The Giver so I read ahead so I wouldn't miss anything!"
That's the point.
The small things.
“If you take care of the small things,
the big things take care of themselves.
You can gain more control over your life by
paying closer attention to the little things.”
~ Emily Dickinson
Saturday, May 10, 2014
The 4 Mile Radius
This past week we went on a field trip to a large college campus. This university is located in a rural area and basically it's a big college town. The experience that I had with my students there was...how can I put this...truly eye opening.
"Ms. P It smells...clean. Why?!"
Such a simple observation really made me start thinking about the 4-Mile radius. The 4-Mile radius is a term used by the teachers here that refers to the area that most of these students have not left all their lives. So they don't realize that there are places that are different than their hometowns, there are people that are different than those that live in their neighborhoods, and that there are cultures that are different than that they are used to.
And so I said, "That's right! You're not in the city anymore!".
I wanted to take a group picture and so I found a random college student and gave her my camera to take the picture.
"Ms. P! Why are you talking to strangers? How are you just going to give her your camera!?"
And for a second time I didn't really know what to say. I mean I guess I didn't think twice about talking to a total stranger on the street and most importantly didn't think twice about making sure that she didn't steal my camera. It never occurred to me and that's because I never had to grow up making sure to watch my back at all times, I never had to grow up around people that I couldn't trust, and most importantly I never had to grow up with my parents constantly reminding me to watch out for people. It was never really needed and so I was taken back by that comment.
And then I over hear another student saying, "Ohhh why is that white girl walking with those black guys!?"
I didn't realize how much of a culture shock this whole experience was to these kids. They're seeing things that they have never seen before and they don't know how to react. How do I explain to them that this is what the rest of world looks, smells, and feels like. THIS is normal. THIS is how you should be living.
I began thinking about the students whose parents decided that they didn't want to let their students go on this trip because they were "too scared" to let them go. That's right they were scared to let their kids go from this 4-Mile radius. I couldn't understand. You're limiting your child's experiences and most importantly you're making it harder for them to move up and away from the impoverished and gang infested neighborhoods. They don't have anything to work for anymore because they don't know what's out there. They don't know that there is this entire new world that they can work for. They will never realize that there's more out there and that all the work that they do in school will one day be all worth it because success is only 4 miles away. But they never will.
They are imprisoned in this 4-Mile radius.
Some will never make it out.
-Ms. P
"Ms. P It smells...clean. Why?!"
Such a simple observation really made me start thinking about the 4-Mile radius. The 4-Mile radius is a term used by the teachers here that refers to the area that most of these students have not left all their lives. So they don't realize that there are places that are different than their hometowns, there are people that are different than those that live in their neighborhoods, and that there are cultures that are different than that they are used to.
And so I said, "That's right! You're not in the city anymore!".
I wanted to take a group picture and so I found a random college student and gave her my camera to take the picture.
"Ms. P! Why are you talking to strangers? How are you just going to give her your camera!?"
And for a second time I didn't really know what to say. I mean I guess I didn't think twice about talking to a total stranger on the street and most importantly didn't think twice about making sure that she didn't steal my camera. It never occurred to me and that's because I never had to grow up making sure to watch my back at all times, I never had to grow up around people that I couldn't trust, and most importantly I never had to grow up with my parents constantly reminding me to watch out for people. It was never really needed and so I was taken back by that comment.
And then I over hear another student saying, "Ohhh why is that white girl walking with those black guys!?"
I didn't realize how much of a culture shock this whole experience was to these kids. They're seeing things that they have never seen before and they don't know how to react. How do I explain to them that this is what the rest of world looks, smells, and feels like. THIS is normal. THIS is how you should be living.
I began thinking about the students whose parents decided that they didn't want to let their students go on this trip because they were "too scared" to let them go. That's right they were scared to let their kids go from this 4-Mile radius. I couldn't understand. You're limiting your child's experiences and most importantly you're making it harder for them to move up and away from the impoverished and gang infested neighborhoods. They don't have anything to work for anymore because they don't know what's out there. They don't know that there is this entire new world that they can work for. They will never realize that there's more out there and that all the work that they do in school will one day be all worth it because success is only 4 miles away. But they never will.
They are imprisoned in this 4-Mile radius.
Some will never make it out.
-Ms. P
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