Cultivation

As teachers it is our responsibility to cultivate our students experiences. 

Kids do not always come to us with the tools they need to learn what we have to teach them. They may not be cognitively ready or they may lack the language and vocabulary needed. Often they lack the back ground knowledge to always understand what we are talking about, especially when we are introducing new material. 
While they sometimes cannot relate to us, are they alone in misunderstanding? Student experiences often consist of things that we would rather not think about, never mind actually experiencing them. 
Abuse. Drug Use. Malnutrition. Neglect. Violence.
We cannot change what happens in these kids homes, short of reporting extreme neglect or abuse. But there are things we can do. We can give students positive experiences. We can show students that they are not alone, and that we care.  
 The definition of cultivate is prepare and use, for agricultural use. When you are cultivating land, you often have to add good things to the land that you've got. Fertilizer must often be added, along with water, and of course, seeds. While our students may not be where we need them to be when we get them, we need to add enough positive experiences, viable connections, and tools to prepare them to leave our classrooms.
As teachers, we have to help the students that we are given. We have to help our students to cope with not always perfect lives and teach them to cultivate their experiences, because only through experiences can true retained learning occur.