Barriers to Education

This week in Teacher Cadets we had the pleasure of having guest speaker Rona Neely come on Monday and Thursday. She is the CERRA program facilitator, the author of a children's book, a teacher of the year finalist, and the creator of Gears Youth Services. She shared with us her incredible story of overcoming so many barriers such as poverty, depression, teen pregnancy, and a difficult home life. Because she didn't have a stable family, her grandfather, Otto, and her teachers were able to have a huge impact on her life. When she became a teacher she was able to use her previous hardships as a way to reach out her students. She told the stories of Jayla, who constantly had a negative attitude towards school and a terrible home life, and Ashley, who lost her mother. Mrs. Neely said that students such as these don't need to know algebra or english; they need a person in their life they can go to for comfort and encouragement. She gave this acronym for how to CARE for students with educations barriers:

Connect
Affect
Respect
Expect

Mrs. Neely also showed us the Monkey Business illusion. In this illusion, people become so focused on the players in white that they do not notice the gorilla, the curtain changing colors, or one player leaving. In the same way, teachers can become too focused on teaching or a certain student that they miss another student's behavior. It is crucial as a teacher to be paying attention to the players in white and the gorilla so that nothing goes unseen in the classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY

On Tuesday and Wednesday we started reading articles on the barriers of education. We discussed and took notes on barriers of Autism, eating disorders, bullying, sleep deprivation, poverty, death and grief, suicide and depression, and teen pregnancy. All of these barriers are things that teachers need to look out for in their classrooms because many of these students will need a little extra care than most students. Overall this week we learned that teachers make huge impacts on children's lives, especially those who have educational barriers.

Finally, on Friday we had a craft day!! We began making You Matter posters for our "adopted" teachers. Each poster had the teacher's name and the You Matter mantra written on the bottom. That was our week in Teacher Cadets!