Understanding Poverty

I think this has been the most interesting reading assignment that I've done in MTC thus far. There were numerous times throughout my reading that I thought the book offered invaluable insight in to the lives of my students. The part that struck me the most was the section that covered behaviors related to poverty, and what types of reactions you will get for certain classroom situations. She was dead on....no joke. For every example she gave, I would have an example or situation that I've already experienced come to mind. I particularly liked the interventions that she suggested immediately after her behaviors were listed. I hate to say it, but it has shown me that I haven't gone about things the right way all the time, or at least her recommended ways. For instance, about 10 hours earlier today I had a student scream and argue with me, because I had called her out in front of her peers on her classroom behavior. I didn't even think at the time to take her aside once she calmed down and discuss other responses she could have used. I was so focused instead on making her submit to my command; it's times like that when I've got to let go of the pride and find a common ground to get through to her. I don't let my frustration get the best of me too often, but today I did.

Anyways, back to the book, I also particularly enjoyed how much it talked about the lack of role models in these students lives today. Just the other day in fact, we had our first parent teacher/conference at school. Nearly all of the parents that did show up were single mothers who you could tell were so worried about their children because their work schedules force them to not be around as much. I'm not saying raising a child alone can't be done, but I do believe they are up against a lot more obstacles than two-parent families. I can tell such a difference behavior-wise in my class of those students who have both parents. My kids at football practice are so eager to be around all of the coaches too. It's amazing how much they crave acceptance from an older male. This book just re-emphasized that to me.

All in all I think she made some outstanding points in the book, and I really got a lot of out it. TWO THUMPS UP! I did, however, find the truth of what my kids go though to be very depressing. I'm starting to get at the point where I really feel like this stuff is just plain unfair, and you almost feel kind of handicapped by the situation. I mean really how much can YOU do. You did your part and you feel good about yourself for a little bit; but in the end when you look at the population as a whole and you read books like we just read, it leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth. It's going to take so much work and time to even out the playing field, and to even do that you have to have an obscene amount of people committed to the goal. I don't know...I'm rambling...I'm tired....I'm going to stop now. I did enjoy the book though.