Chapters
1 and 2 Reflection
Teaching
with Poverty in Mind
Reading the chapter entitled “How Poverty Affects Behavior
and Academic Performance” has reminded me of all the issues students have to
overcome in regards to their poverty situation - emotional challenges, social
challenges, stressors, cognitive lags, and health and safety issues.
However, as I was
reading chapter 2, I became impatient because I simply wanted to get to the
“how can I help” part. The action steps detailed at the end of chapter 2 are
invaluable reminders of what we can do to not only to improve school behavior
and performance but also to ensure that students have the skills to change
their world in the future. This is where I wanted to put my focus.
Building students’ core skills is the place to start.
Helping students develop better attention and focus skills, teaching students to
build better short and long term memory skills, helping students build positive
social skills, teaching students problem-solving skills, helping students
identify their strengths and weaknesses in basic school subjects, and building relationships
with students in order to foster hope and show support are all definite ways we
can help students in poverty succeed. We should revisit this list often!
In my years of teaching experience, two areas from the above
list have truly been manifested. I so enjoy teaching students problem-solving
skills within project-based learning. It is often a long and sometimes
laborious process, but when the students finish their projects and present
them, I always say to myself, “this is real learning!” Students emerge with
confidence because they have solved a problem their way. And undoubtedly building a trusting
relationship with any student is possibly the first key to superior
learning. Hope and support are two of
the richest gifts any teacher can give a student!
What a remarkable thing to do in this world; affect a child
in a way that makes him or her filled with hope to succeed in life!
