Chapter 1- Knowing Students Well

In chapter one of Fires in the Bathroom, the section on "Getting to know their neighborhoods" really stuck out in my mind. It discussed how student leaders in the school took groups of teachers on excursions to see where students were living. It surprised me because activities like that do not happen that often in Maine.

So far, the content was what I had expected it to be, but I was shocked to read about the "tours" student leaders took their teachers on. In Child and Adolescent Psych, we learned about neighborhood efficacy and how it affects the students and their ability to learn. Even though teachers may realize the impact of living conditions on a child's confidence/identity/learning/etc, visiting neighborhoods is a great idea because it really allows the teachers to get to know their students on a different level. If I was teaching in a city like the one mentioned, I may be oblivious to the quality of neighborhoods because I have never lived in an area like that before. This is now something that I will be more aware of in the future.