Home Visits

On the flteach listserv for language teachers, the subject of home visits came off and I shared my experiences with visiting the homes of my students in West Oakland. Names have been changed.

I just knocked on doors--I started with the "hardest" kids first but I also made sure to visit as many students as possible that represented all of my students. I wanted to let my families know I appreciated them. I went to introduce myself: "Hi, I'm your child's Spanish teacher. I care about your child doing well in my class. Here is my number and email if you need to contact me." I did not go to be a social worker and pass judgment on living conditions. I had no expectations really about what I would see. I did not go to complain about how bad their child was--I would try to be as positive as possible (at least on the first visit). I just wanted to meet my families, introduce myself, and make sure they knew that I wanted the best for their child.

For most of the visits, parents/caregivers would make sure to show me how well taken care of their child was--here is where he can study, here is how much food he has to eat. Parents want teachers to know their child is not just anybody. I got that. Word spread fast "Ms. Payne came to my house!"

Every visit was not joyous. There was Anthony. His mom and I started out having a great conversation. She shared that there had been several deaths of close friends and family lately and that she felt he was taking it very hard. Then Anthony walked in and whatever the look on his face "what the hell is SHE doing here?" his mother started blowing up at him. "I'm tired of this! Get out! Get out before I call the police!" It was crazy. Outside, he yelled at me "it's your fault." I yelled back "wait a minute! don't blame me. we were having a great conversation until you walked in." He calmed down. He said she does that every night when he comes home. Then he just walks the streets until she calms down or gets drunk. The next day (and from then on) he was my biggest ally in class--all 6'4 almost 300 lbs (comes in handy if you're a new teacher).

Then there was Keisha who every day in class glared at me and would repeatedly sneer "you think you're so cute." I went to her house and as soon as I introduced myself her mother got ready to punch her in her face. The house was filthy beyond belief. I quickly let her know that I was just there to introduce myself. There were no dramatic changes. Her looks never became friendly but the open hostility went away. I would sometimes catch her looking at me with a puzzled expression like "who are you?" She dropped out of school not long after and moved from that house (I went back). I don't know what ever happened to her.

Then there was Isaiah. When I knocked on the door, he opened the door and slammed it shut again. I rang the doorbell again. His mom answered. I'll never forget her. She said "Isaiah, I will put my hands and feet on you if you ever do that again." She talked about how she had just gotten out of jail and wanted to do right by her kids. She showed me their computers and talked about how when her kids went to college, their uncle would pay for their education. Peeking from the bedroom, was his little sister. Fast forward a few years: his mom was in and out of jail repeatedly, he was in and out of jail repeatedly (he's now in for a very long time) and his sister was my student. Months went by before she told me who her brother was (they had different last names). She remembered that home visit. After graduating from continuation school, she took a trip to China (graduation present from uncle) and was enrolled in community college.

I truly believe that as teachers we have to humble ourselves enough to serve families and we can't serve families if we don't know them or want to know them without assumptions and biases. I am thankful for the information that I received from every one of those home visits.