Teaching with Poverty in Mind What Being Poor

Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids Minds and What Schools Can Do About It by Eric Jensen Teacher Study Group Summer 2012

TEN MODULES OF LEARNING 1. Review Power. Point slides 1 -17 relating to A Framework for Understanding Poverty- Ruby Payne v Post a response to both case studies, and the what children living in poverty might need to know about the ” hidden rules” of school 2. Watch and respond to PBS Video: People Like Us “Tammy’s Story” Read the following chapters, respond to the posted question, post one I like or I wonder of your own, and then respond to another participants post. 3. Chapter 1: Understanding the Nature of Poverty v Which of the six types of poverty are most prevalent at MCS?

3. Chapter 2: How Poverty Affects Behavior and Academic Performance v How do we as educators need to be mindful of our behavior when working with students living in poverty? 4. Chapter 3: Embracing the Mind-Set of Change v What are the implications of neural plasticity and gene expression for educators and students? How do we convince others? 5. Chapter 4: Schoolwide Success Factors v What role does accountability play in the SHARE model? Discuss what we could do to to strengthen SHARE at Massena CSD. 6. Chapter 5: Classroom-level Success Factors v What is the purpose of building hope in the classroom? 7. Chapter 6: Instructional Light and Magic v Discuss one or two strategies that Mr. Hawkins used that you see as valuable. 8. Read and Respond to the articles on motivation 9. Submit response paper to the essential questions (3 -5 pages) along with timesheet by July 31 st.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: How can having a framework of poverty help us better understand our students living in poverty? Crosswalk: Ruby Payne’s work How does poverty affect our students’ learning, and what can we do as educators to ensure their success ? Lessons from brain expert: Eric Jensen

Crosswalk: Ruby Payne’s work A Framework for Understanding Poverty

Situational Poverty- a lack of resources due to a particular event such as death, chronic illness, or divorce

Generational Poverty- Having been in poverty for at least two generations. Characteristics can appear sooner if the family lives with others who are from generational poverty

Ruby Payne’s key points t understanding poverty • Poverty is relative • Poverty occurs in all races • Payne’s work is based on patterns and all patterns have exceptions.

CASE STUDY: ONE A young elementary school teacher decided to splurge and buy her each of her students a movie pass for Christmas. Discuss how this teacher’s lack of understanding of poverty impacted a few of her students.

WE VALUE WHAT WE KNOW Lower Class Middle Class Upper Class Survival Work Political, Relationships Achievement Financial, Entertainment Material Security Social Connections

CASE STUDY: TWO Each year a retired teacher donates money to an elementary school to be used for student(s) who don’t have the needed supplies. The principal was aware of a fifth grade girl whose father was on disability, and did not have a mom in the picture. She called the dad and asked if it would be alright to take the young girl to the mall to do some back-to-school shopping. A successful trip to JC Penney’s netted two outfits, a pair of Nike Sneakers, socks, underwear and a book bag full of paper, pencils, pens, crayons…etc. How did the principal’s middle class values affect her actions?

Individuals bring with them the hidden rules of the class in which they were raised.

Schools operate from middle class values and norms. Discussion: What are some of the hidden rules of school?

As educators we must teach students who live in poverty there are two sets of rules.

PBS: People Like Us Tammy’s Story http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Q 8 VXr. He. Lq. BA

Two things which help a person move out of poverty are: Education & Relationships

Four reasons one leaves poverty are: 1. Too painful to stay 2. Vision or a goal 3. Key relationship 4. Special talent or skill

To move from poverty to middle class, one must give up relationships for achievement

Defines poverty as C-M-R a chronic condition affecting mind, body, and soul resulting from multiple adverse synergistic risk factors

Chapter One Understanding the Nature of Poverty The Six Faces of Poverty Intensity Absolute vs. Relative Poverty Duration Generational vs. Situational Poverty Context Urban vs. Rural Poverty

Complex array of risk factors which adversely affect those in a multitude of ways Four primary are: Emotional and social challenges Acute chronic stressors Cognitive lag Health and safety issues

Action Steps: Chapter One Deepen staff understanding debunk the myths. . . Empathy rather than pity caring and high expectations

Chapter Two: How poverty affects behavior and academic performance Old Paradigm: Brains stay the same.

New Understanding: Brains can and do change everyday. But if the experiences stay the same, so will the brain. What we do as educators, makes a difference!

Chapter Two: How poverty affects behavior and academic performance Infants are hardwired for only six emotions: joy, anger, surprise, disgust, sadness, and fear

Emotions that need to be taught include: Humility Forgiveness Empathy Optimism Compassion Sympathy Patience Shame Cooperation Gratitude

Chapter Two: How poverty affects behavior and academic performance Kids in poverty get less attunement Attunement is the establishment of a positive , reciprocal relationship with their primary caregiver This “quality time” provides the basis for learning non hard-wired socially appropriate emotions

All students have three strong “relational” forces with them that drive their school behaviors. (Page 20)

If we criticize, hold negative attitudes, and use sarcasm as classroom discipline , the fear and stress areas of the student’s brain will be activated. This area alters the student’s ability to Embody respect think. Embed social skills Be inclusive

Evidence suggests that poverty adversely alters the trajectory of the developing reading brain. Action steps: Build core skills by explicitly teaching vocabulary, problem solving, sequencing , social skills, and hopefulness

The better the school environment is, the less the child’s early risk factors will impair his or her academic success. What can we do to ensure a positive school environment at MCS?

Chapter Three: Embracing the Mindset of Change Nature, Nurture, Gene expression Brains are designed to change. IQ is not fixed but variable.

Action steps: What’s our mantra? Is it …Kids can change, and we can make it happen!

Chapter Four: School Wide Success Factors Support of the Whole Child Hard Data Accountability Relationship Building Enrichment Mind-set

Chapter Five: Classroom level success factors Champion Mind-set Hopeful Effort Attention Skills Memory Processing Kills Sequencing Skills Arts, Athletics and Advanced Placement

Cooperative Learning Activity: Articles on Motivation Creating Conditions Where Students Motivate Themselves By Terry Heaney Motivating Unmotivated Students By Douglas B. Reeves

How do we persuade students from poverty that school can be personally productive and meaningful? Engaged learning! Strategies which engage students to participate emotionally, cognitively and behaviorally

Emotion al Punctuation is a “Memory Marker” Event + positive emotions= better memories Verbal affirmations, smiles, physical gestures, head nodding, positive comments, positive music, celebrations, use of preset celebration rituals

A moment with Eric Jensen http: //www. ascd. org/Publications/Authors/Eric. Jensen. aspx? id=603899782001

TODAY’S ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: How can having a framework of poverty help us better understand our students living in poverty? Crosswalk: Ruby Payne’s work How does poverty affect our students’ learning, and what can we do as educators to ensure their success ? Lessons from brain expert: Eric Jensen

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