Kevin Kastner

Collaboration Report
The Effects of Outside Factors on Student Learning

A. Description of behavior, method for observing behavior, and how to combat it

It is easy for us as teachers to see student behavior for what it appears on the surface. A

student who acts out on the playground and hurts their peers might be an example of this. The

simple way to address this is stopping the behavior and perhaps applying an appropriate

punishment. This would likely be the approach that many professional educators would take.

This is like putting a band-aid on a water balloon. It may temporarily stop the leak for a

undetermined amount of time, but it is not really repairing the underlying problem, is it? As

future teachers, we need to realize the different experiences that our students bear when they

come into our classroom. A classroom of students has a lot in common with each other in that

they spend a school years’ worth of experiences together, but they all go home to very different

situations. How do we address these students who act out at school when we haven’t the slightest

idea of their struggles outside of the classroom?

Serving in an urban school district, part of your daily routine is making sure that your

students are fed when they come in to start the school day. Many schools offer free/reduced

breakfast and lunch programs which is fantastic. These programs supply students with the

nutrition they need to get through the school day. It helps them to grow physically, mentally, and

emotionally. As a teacher, should part of our job be keeping our students well fed and taken care

of outside of these two meal windows? I think yes. Students who are unable to get breakfast at

home likely deal with hectic family schedules and it is usually a mad dash out the door in the

morning. What happens if they are running behind and they don’t make it for breakfast time?

Students are not going to be able to effectively learn from you if they are focused on their

growling stomach all morning. In some instances, students may even lash out and display bad
behavior in the classroom. I know that when I haven’t had much to eat I am not very fun to be

around. The same is true for our students.

An interesting article that I came across, titled “The Impact of Malnutrition on

Intelligence,” tells us about the long-term negative ramifications that poor nutrition can have on

our youth. The biggest take away from this article is diminished IQ in children ages 3-11. If

children are not receiving all of the necessary vitamins and nutrients that come with a healthy

diet, their brains are not going to develop the same way as a student who has access to three

hardy meals a day (Venables, Raine). The article also discusses the effect of malnutrition on

temperament. Students experiencing a lack of daily calorie intake are more likely to be problem-

causing students in your classroom. It would be easy to blame the student for their negative

behavior, but this is not always the case. Students are not going to be biologically able to fully

control their behaviors when they are starving and worrying about where their next meal is

coming from. A simple remedy that teachers can do to help students experiencing excessive

hunger is keeping a box or two of granola bars in their cupboard. If a student missed a meal, the

teacher could supply the student with a small snack so they can get back to their learning.

Another common problem that affects many students is divorce. Broken families affect a

student’s emotional, social, and educational development at the very least. At the time of the

separation, learning is obviously not going to be the kid’s main priority. In many instances,

children will begin to act out at school. This can happen for many reasons, such as a lack of

attention at home. In the years following the divorce, the child will likely lack a solid support

system in their education. By no means does this mean that children of divorce will not be as

successful as a student whose parents are married. Logistically, it is harder for parents to

coordinate with each other. An excellent example of this would be parent teacher conferences.
Both parents and the teacher are major components in the successful upbringing of a student.

There needs to be a cohesive relationship where all parties are on the same page. According to

Epstein in his article “School/Family/Community Partnerships,” students who benefit from

strong partnerships between their family, teacher, and community are more likely to be

successful (Epstein).

Another challenge faced by much of today’s youth is the issue of poverty. Poverty affects

a child’s day to day life probably the most. It goes along with nutrition and the idea of basic

needs. If a student is from a family experiencing economic strife, they are not going to be the

greatest student due to the stress happening outside of the classroom. These students are also

more likely to have more behavior problems. The article I looked at for support is from the

Journal of Psychology. It takes a look at a longitudinal study performed on sixth grade students

from impoverished neighborhoods. The main conclusions drawn from the students in this study

were lower GPAs, lower school support, and more discipline referrals (Niehaus).

As teachers, how are we to help students who come from these circumstances? Sadly, it

is completely out of our control. What we can do is be there for these students. Sometimes all it

takes is for a student to know that someone is in their corner. This can be done in the form of

compassion on the part of the teacher for tardiness. Rules should still be enforced, and discipline

should still exist, however, when a behavior problem occurs, the teacher should react with

patience and a silent understanding of why the behavior was committed in the first place. These

students need somebody to be there that is not going to give up on them. In the long run, this will

greatly help students dealing with poverty.

B. Summary of peer contributions
Articles Used for This Report:
1. School/Family/Community Partnerships (Epstein) – Andrew’s article
2. The Impact of Malnutrition on Intelligence at 3 and 11 Years of Age: The Mediating Role of
Temperament (Venables, Raine) – Ben’s article
3. A Longitudinal Study of School Connectedness and Academic Outcomes Across Sixth Grade
(Niehaus) – Kevin’s article

For my collaboration report, all of my group members contributed an article, as well as a

brief summary of the article to our shared Google Doc. During our collaboration time at the end

of class, my group debriefed on our findings. When I was the group facilitator, my discussion

centered around outside factors that affect a student’s learning performance. We split it up

between the three of us with us each looking at a different factor. Andrew focused on divorce

and parent-teacher collaboration. Ben focused on malnutrition and its effects that carry over into

the classroom. I focused on the umbrella topic of poverty and the negative effects it can have on

student education. Out of a score of 10, I would give all three of us a perfect score. Obviously,

we all contributed more to our own week of facilitating the discussion, but we helped each other

out a lot. All of our articles were scholarly, relevant, and informative on our given topics. My

group worked very well together.

C. Reflection
From this collaboration project, I learned a lot about some of the struggles that my future

students will be facing outside of my classroom. I think that it is important for educators to

recognize that not everybody comes from the privileged circumstances that they might. It is also

important to see things from the lens of the student. Lastly, it is important for teachers to go

above and beyond for their students. If you are only there to teach, collect a paycheck, and go

home, that is not enough. A lot of students require a constant force of good in their lives that they

can depend on. Before a student can learn, they have to have their basic needs met. In some
cases, it may be appropriate for teachers to help students fulfill those basic needs. This may come

in the form of providing them with a snack to get them through the morning. If an early

elementary student is falling asleep in class, let them take a nap for twenty minutes to recharge

their brains. Simply being aware of these things is a really big part of combatting this big issue.
 References

Epstein, J. L. (1995). School/family/community partnerships. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/docview/218509027?accountid=39473

Venables, P. H., & Raine, A. (2016). The impact of malnutrition on intelligence at 3 and 11 years of age:
The mediating role of temperament. Developmental Psychology, 52(2), 205-220.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1037/dev0000046

Niehaus, K., Moritz Rudasill, K., Rakes, C., A longitudinal study of school connectedness and academic
outcomes across sixth grade, Journal of School Psychology,Volume 50, Issue 4,2012, Pages 443-
460, (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440512000337)