Community Education

The community that I live in is rather small but very involved.  There is a public library that holds activities and seminars for both parents and students of the community.  The library also is very involved in the schools, they help with activities and fund raisers that each of the schools in the district do.  Most businesses in our town also try to get involved in community education, they help with activities such as homecoming and Riley Day.  They help raise money for whatever the schools need as well.  Overall I believe that my community is very involved in the education process and they do whatever they can to help students and schools succeed.  

Drug and Alcohol Families

This video explains how meth users affect children.  Meth users can be very dangerous around children.  Meth users a lot of the time leave the trash and other materials behind which can actually hurt the children, or sometimes meth users act out in different ways.  Children that have or are around meth users a lot of the time have both social and emotional problems.  They try to hide these emotions in different ways from people.  In the classroom they feel safe, so some children will let out their emotions in art and other forms.  As a teacher, you need to look for these signs and signals.  The children are trying to talk to you in a way without speaking.  In this sense they look up to you and feel safe in your presence.  This will affect you and your classroom environment and you may need to deal with this kind of situation.  

Poverty In America

Poverty and homelessness is a problem for youth in America for many reasons.  Most of the time these kids are put into situations that they should never have to deal with, like raising their siblings and working to help their parents make ends meet.  They are not always able to focus on just school and completing their education.  This then drains them and can be both mentally unhealthy and physically.  There is not enough help out there for these kids and their families.  They are working just as hard or even harder than many others and that still isn't enough to get by. 

I would address this type of situation in my own classroom by allowing these students to stay after school so their parents wouldn't have to worry about paying for childcare and this would allow the students to get complete their school work and get help.  This would not only be a study session and place to stay I would use it as a place of comfort for the children.  I would want them to know they are safe to come there and if they need to talk that I would be there to listen and try to help.  

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