Mariah Bush

Student Teaching
Poverty Simulation
23 February, 2017
Poverty Simulation

Growing up in a single parent home, with a mother who had only a high school diploma,
I saw a struggle with finances, and stability from 6 years of age, or at least from the earliest I can
remember. There was never a doubt if my mother would do everything in her power to support
and love my younger brother and I, but there were days of doubt on if she would be able to pull
together enough money to pay for the bills, food and other expenses from her home day care
business one she had been running for 23 years. I remember the trips to Save A Lot to buy
enough cans of $.10 green beans and other canned goods to feed her day care children and our
own family for a week at a time, hoping we wouldnt run out before the parents could drop off
their checks for my mothers services before Friday. Yet somehow, we survived. Or so I was lead
on to believe week by week, day by day, year by year.
It wasnt until I was put into the simulation this last Friday, that I was suddenly aware of
just how much my mother was dealing with unannounced to myself or my brother. To say that
was my greatest epiphany however, would be an understatement. There were many moments I
found myself running around, feeling overwhelmed and panicked at the number of things to
complete on my survival list. Suddenly, it wasnt acting I truly was stressed over my
situational factors. My newborn needed child care for $48 a week. I was a college student who
had to balance going to classes, and assisting my 9 year old brother in his daily life, as well as
assisting my grandfather in the responsibilities of paying bills, grocery shopping and other
necessities.
Suddenly, before I knew what was happening, the final bell rang, signaling the end of the
month. While the simulation was over for us as student teachers, I was left with the ache of pain
in my heart knowing this was no simulation for some. That in fact, this simulation had been my
life not only 10 years ago. The cable being turned off, spending the 4th of July without fireworks,
buying food at minimum and discount, only driving the car when necessary. It was all my life.
And others lives in the room next to me, the students coming into my classroom, those that
make up my community. The simulation was over, the real life struggles so many were facing
daily, were not.
Looking back on the simulation I came to many conclusions. One of the many that stuck
with me the most, was how easy it was for me to make compromises morally and ethically.
When it came down to it, I was willing to do whatever it took to provide for my family
including stealing others money, belongings, and even an unattended car. While it was a
simulation for our class that day, it opened my eyes to how easy it is for others in real life
situations to make compromises to do things they thought they never would in order to take
care of necessities and those in their homes. I also found it ironically easy to forget about my
schooling. I was a 20 year old single college mother, yet within the first 2 weeks, I had
dropped out of college without a second thought, without hesitation. Because it was necessary. I
had to make ends meet, I had duties and responsibilities that had to be handled and they could
only be handled if I wasnt in school.
Following that same train of thought, I also found myself so consumed with my list of priorities,
I was left with no time or thought towards my childrens/siblings wellbeing at all times during
the day. It didnt cross my mind to think I wonder if my 9 year old brother is at school or
skipping class right now? because I was too occupied going to pay for the utilities, groceries and
day car for my own child. It wasnt that I didnt care about my family member or their wellbeing,
in fact it was my desire to provide for them and protect them that lead me to prioritize other
necessities first that eventually lead to me not getting to the day care facility before closing,
leading my child to being taken by the police to child services. Was I a bad mom? No. I was
simply a mom balancing more responsibilities, fears, lists, chores, and needs than my mind could
keep track of.
I reflect on all these situational emotions, and perspectives, to say this; I now truly
believer that the majority of the parents written off as bad or uninvolved, absentee parents are
simply parents trying to not only survive, but provide for their families in the ways they are
equipped for and know how to. I believe in education, it is easy to label parents/guardians for
their involvement or lack thereof without a second thought. However, this simulation lead me to
take that moment of pause. To think about the children in my classroom, to my mother while I
was growing up, and all the future students yet to walk through my door. Will I write those
students and their families off so easily? Would I have survived, let alone thrived in the
classroom, had a teacher done the same to my mother? To me? Another piece of information I
took into consideration was from Tienkens article The Influence of Poverty on Achievement.
Tienken states multiple times throughout his article the effects poverty has not only on student
success in the classroom, but on testing as well. According to the article, In no state does the
group of students categorized as economically disadvantaged ever score higher than its middle
class and wealthy peers on any state test, at any grade level. (Tieken, 3) It is no shock when
paring this information with the simulation that such statistics prove true.
While I truly believe I walked into the simulation with an understanding of poverty, both
from first-hand experience of living it out, and having it in my classroom, I am genuinely forever
changed from the experience. When discussing the simulation later this week with my
cooperating teacher, I told her how I thought I would walk out with a better understanding of my
students, but honestly, I walked out with a better understanding of my students home lives and
parents than anything. This of course directly affected my understanding of the students in my
classroom as well by association. In the future I plan on using this information to instruct my
students in a way that meets not only their educational needs, but their emotional, social and
physical needs as well. I am a firm believer in Maslows Hierarchy and plan to incorporate my
understanding of the said tier, the simulation and Tiekens article into my teaching style and
structure. I will construct homework to be reasonable, and achievable given the time in the
classroom. I will not schedule projects out of budget for students and their families. I will not
make the classroom a place of intimidation or fear. My classroom will be a place of welcome
change for some, if not most, of my students. I will give the structure not found at home. I will
be the stern authoritarian some of my students will lack. I will set high expectations and goals
because I KNOW what they are capable of. I will HOLD them to their dreams and their
aspirations. I will push them to greatness, beyond what they think is possible, beyond their
surrounding circumstances, beyond what is considered attainable from their social and economic
standing. When my students walk into my door, I will make sure that they enter and leave every
day knowing that regardless of what awaits them outside of the classroom, no matter how
devastating or overwhelming, is uncompared to the love and security they feel while in my
classroom. This is not said out of ignorance, immaturity or insensitivity to the situations
surrounding my students, but rather to say I will do everything in my power to make my
classroom a place where inclusion, positivity and safety outshine the darkness, abandonment,
fear or negativity surround them at home. Miss Bushs classroom WILL be a home for the
homeless, a shelter for the downtrodden, and an environment of possibilities, promise and hope.