Post 1 - Chapters 1 & 2

Children dealing with poverty is something that we, as educators, want to say we consider and recognize in our classrooms. We want to say this and we do say this, but that does not always mean we know why it is happening or how to deal with the students affected by a lack of income. With everything else teachers deal with in the classroom environment, poverty may easily have gone unnoticed. Instead, we go around treating all students the same and expecting all students to complete the same tasks by the same due-date. 


That's not to suggest that we should start treating children affected by poverty differently than the rest of the room. In reality, it is more important to treat these poverty-stricken children as if they didn't have these life burdens.  Calling them out (even unintentionally or privately) can have devastating results. The child will feel alienated (or further alienated if that feeling is already there) from the rest of the class. Jensen makes it very clear that we do not want to show pity for these students; rather, Jensen suggests we feel "empathy" (p. 12) as this will invite the student into the room with causing a scene. 


I continue to think about those who deal with poverty, trying to come up with a plan for successful education when the first thing on their mind is typically not parts of speech. How do we teach to those who go straight to work after school lets out? We demand homework as a way to practice skills; they perform life-skills instead as a way to survive. 

As educators, how do we acknowledge without labeling; how do we assist without patronizing; how do we encourage without pitying? When it comes to poverty in education, situations can change and new students can be on the other side of the "haves" and the "have-nots." It is up to us, as professionals, to keep them engaged (or as engaged as possible) because after they leave our classrooms, they have a different assignment to fulfill. It's not about pity; it's about empathy. And it's about presenting opportunities for these students that they can, in fact, be something...be someone...other than poverty-stricken.