Every year around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, I pause to reflect on my favorite part of his famous "I Have a Dream Speech".
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
This year I've also read several interesting articles on Dr. King's work, particularly in the area of poverty. Would he think we've come far enough to combat poverty among all people? We may have come a long way since then, but poverty is still is significant issue in America. I am faced with it every day in the faces of my 20 students. Actually I've seen 26 students in just the first semester of this school year, but poverty often leads to transitory lives for children.
My war on poverty is a simple one. If I can teach every one of my students to read, and read well, in first and second grade, then they have a better chance at a good life, a better chance of going to college, and a better life filled with good choices and opportunities.
Educating children is my passion. I am always surprised when I come across someone who sees teaching as just a job. It is a calling. I think that is why I've had such a hard time teaching my "Bridge" (aka Dual Grade) class this year. Each one of my students deserves the absolute best education possible. But being in a bridge class, they are getting less instructional time than their peers in other classrooms. Children in poverty need more instructional time, not less. The advice I have received from some fellow teachers is to treat this like a job- teach to one grade and let the other one sink. Stop spending so much time on the weekend doing planning and grading. Not good advice. My students deserve better, so I prevail.
I have tried some creative planning to make sure they receive the best that I can offer with such limited time. I had a subscription to Raz-kids.com donated to my class this year. That had been a wonderful way for each student to receive more time in Reading, particularly in Reading Comprehension.
When my second graders were struggling in Math because they weren't getting enough instructional time, I "borrowed" time from our Science block. I've found some creative ways to squeeze a week's worth of Science instruction of about 2 hours down to 15-30 minutes per week. Not the best situation, but desperate times call for desperate measures.... I've also found an individualized math tutoring program to help meet the needs of my students. Unfortunately I have been unable to convince my school to pay for the program when the free trial is up ($59 for my class, or $299 for a school-wide license) but I will pay for it myself because I know my students deserve every possible advantage to catch up and be successful in Math.
While I am working very hard to help my students, I come across so few people that are outraged by this. The prevailing attitude seems to be "That's just the way it is." Children in poverty deserve so much more. I already have a few good ideas on how to make this better for next year, aside from getting adequate funding from the state to eliminate the bridge classes altogether. I don't know what the next year will bring, but I do know that my students deserve better. I will continue my fight with “painstaking excellence” to give them the best possible education so they too can have a bright future.
In the words of Dr. King….
“We are challenged on every hand to work untiringly to achieve excellence in our life work. Not all men are called to specialized or professional jobs; even fewer rise to the heights of genius in the arts and sciences; many are called to be laborers in factories, fields, and streets. But no work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, ``Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
