I teach courses at both the middle school and high school level in our small, community school system. My students range from 11-18 years old and a majority come from limited means and poverty backgrounds.
In addition to the normal challenges that face low income students in middle school, we sustained a great deal of damage to our campus from Hurricane Irma.
Many of them also sustained damage at home, and they've all had their learning interrupted. We're trying to replace the materials we lost, establish normalcy as much as possible, and meet their needs both in and out of the classroom. The better we understand our students, the better we can foster their development.
My Project
Our community is a small, low income, rural environment. Generational poverty affects the majority of the students in our school system. It can be a challenge for everyone involved when the skills and traits needed in a poverty environment are at odds with the skills and traits we're trying to introduce to our learners.
The better I can understand their needs, behaviors, and mindsets - the more effective I will be.
I have read Ruby Payne's book on generational poverty, and it is excellent. I would like to be able to take the official two day training, as well as read the related literature and have access to the tools.
The training should allow me to:
- Use concrete strategies that impact the achievement of students from poverty.
- Better understand how economic class affects behaviors and mindsets.
- Develop stronger relationships with students to impact behavior and achievement.
- Identify key instructional strategies that meet the needs of the under-resourced learner.
- Understand the hidden rules of economic classes and how they apply in classrooms.
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