Blog 8: A time to reflect. Brendan Ayers

Poverty is NOT a Learning Disability was a very informative book.  I am very pleased to have read this book, particularly for the first several chapters.  Unfortuantely, the latter portion of the book was geared more towards administrators, and in positions of power within the school building, although, it was nice to see what an administrator should keep in mind on a day to day basis.  The beginning portion of the book did a wonderful job setting the stage for students that come from lower SES environments.  We leared many facts and statistics associated with poverty, all of which were very eye opening.  This book has give me new perspectives and outlooks on the urban environment, which means a lot since I've already been with the urban district for several years. 

1. In what ways have you examined fundamental beliefs about diverse learners with respect to learning and teaching? 

As the title suggests, poverty is not a learning disability.  I think this sums up the question.  According to dramatic statistics, I feel as though teachers use classifications (particularly in lower SES environments) as cruches, so they can be lazy in their lesson planning.  It is believed that these students need to be in an inclusive setting, when the there's a great chance the information may not be forseen as important to these students.  In order to understand your students better, COMMUNICATION!  Talk to not only the student, but their parents, and the students' past teachers who undoubtedly know the student better than you!

2. How or in what ways have you reframed your perspectives on diversity with intent to inform future practice?

Through this book, I have reframed my perspectives greatly.  I need to take into consideration that students may not see things the same way as I do.  What I find enjoyable and think is a fantastic activity the students will love, they may hate it with a passion!  The students may not be amazing when it comes to doing things a certain way, so we need to differentiate the instruction, and make it applicable and acceptable among all students.  This book helped remind me that students are another reason for our positions, not only paychecks!

3. What do you know now that you didn’t before? How might you incorporate this knowledge in your teaching?

There are many things I didn't know before, but one thing I learned and will act upon is the scarcity of books and accessible resources for our students.  I think it's important for students to have many pieces of literature and quiet places to work on schoolwork and homework.  With this in mind, I would love to make a difference (if only in my own classroom!) and stay late with students as needed on a nightly basis, since they may lack the effective learning environment they may need to be successful.  In doing this, you not only offer a chance for success among the students, but you are also extending your hand and showing them you do care about them and want them to be successful.  Showing students that we care and getting to know them I feel is a critical step to a successful academic future for the students.

BLOG 8: It's A Wrap! How to teach low SES students!- Stephanie Esposito

STEPHANIE ESPOSITO

FINAL BLOG: REFLECTION

POVERTY IS NOT A LEARNING DISABILITY!

The reason I chose to read this book is because I wanted to gain a better understanding of how to equalize opportunities for low SES students in my classroom. I was very pleased with the first half of the book. Lots of examples of how to teach low SES students was described in great detail. Some examples included: building positive relationships with students and their families, conducting formative and summative assessments, integrating learning experiences, and creating a positive environment for instruction. Along with what the teachers should be doing, school-wide suggestions were also provided. These suggestions included: increasing parent involvement, harnessing the power of individual competencies, and having a positive attitude. 

What really made a lasting affect on my personal teaching practices was learning about the "deficit perception". When teachers do not understand the effects of poverty on students a deficit perception is developed and students are mislabeled. As teachers, we must KNOW our students on an individual basis and understand that poverty is NOT a learning disability.

1. Reading "Poverty is Not a Learning Disability" has allowed me to examine fundamental beliefs about how to teach low SES students. One belief that will have a lasting effect on my teaching practices is understanding that I need to be aware of the learning opportunities that may not be present in economically disadvantaged homes and consider opportunities to put intervention programs in place, rather than "dummy down" or "water down" the curriculum. 

2. My perspectives on diversity have been developed and reframed through reading this book. In all honesty, I did not know how profoundly poverty can affect one's education. The reality of poverty is that these students have not been given the opportunity to learn, therefore, they come to school with a lack of readiness. "The three most limiting factors to children's readiness are (1) limited economic resources, (2) parents with low levels of education, and (3) single parenthood" (p. 9). Several other facts that impacted my perspective on poverty include: 

"Children from poorest communities: owned just 38 books as compared to 150 in the top fifth, were read to much less often (63% compared to 93%), spent 18 hours or more a week watching television, moved more, and were much less likely to have seen a play or participate in an extra curricular activity" (p.9). From reading this book, I have gained a much better understanding of the impact that poverty has on a child's education and now I know what to look for and how to accommodate to a child from a low SES family.

3. What I know now is how many students are mislabeled because teachers do not understand the affects that poverty has on a child's education. "A much higher percentage of low SES children are referred for placement as learning disabled than their middle- and upper-class peers" (p. 15). It's sad to think about how many low SES students are shunted off on the special education track when it's not only unnecessary, but also frequently harmful. With this in mind, my personal teaching practices will be better now that I have a better understanding of learning disabilities and the affects of poverty on a child. Being able to differ between the two will allow me to give my students the education they deserve.

Blog 8: Bringing it all Together-Final Reflection by Melissa Rife

Blog 8: 3/31/11

I was really excited to read this book at the beginning of the semester. I was hoping to really examine ideas and strategies about students who live in SES neighborhoods. Well, it turns out that this book really took the viewpoint of the principal and what he/she should do as leader of a school in a low SES neighborhood. Although, I did value learning about networking community connections, professional expectations, finding the right people and managing performance, I would liked to have known more about my role as a teacher working in a SES neighborhoods or schools.  I think the part that will resonate with me is the importance of school readiness and how students that come from low SES neighborhoods will be lacking important skills needed to start school but that it doesn’t mean they can’t learn.

1. In what ways have you examined fundamental beliefs about diverse learners with respect to learning and teaching?

* While reading Poverty is Not a Learning Disability I examined several fundamental beliefs. These we some of the beliefs that I felt were absolutely important as a teacher and a continuing learner. Students’ that come from low SES neighborhoods should not be an indication that they can not learn. As teachers we must be proactive in our job with strategies that will help students from low SES backgrounds to flourish. A strong home –school connection is imperative for achievement. The attitude that one carries is visible to the students as well as colleagues therefore it should be a positive one.

2. How or in what ways have you reframed your perspectives on diversity with intent to inform future practice?

* I have always believed and said that all students have the right to the best and appropriate education. I don’t think believing and saying that is enough anymore. Too many students are being dealt with in an inconsistent representation due to their cultural background. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to ensure that all students learn. I must be proactive with my approaches and strategies in class and infuse diversity within community.

3. What do you know now that you didn’t before? How might you incorporate this knowledge in your teaching?

* The tragedy that becomes reality in this book is a teachers’ lack of understanding of poverty, the role they play in learning disability referrals and the cost of misidentifying children as learning disabled. Those three things combined broadened my awareness of what can happen when educators don’t have a firm understanding of poverty. I know now that part of my role as an educator is to talk about poverty fellow teachers and strategies that we can apply so students can be successful.

Blog 7 Bringing it all Home. Brendan Ayers Ch. 11&12, Vocabulary Vitalizer and Literary Luminator

Vocabulary Vitalizer

Teaching- Education in the broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual

Autonomy-  Personal independence
Community-  A group of people living in a particular local area; "the team is drawn from all parts of the community

Conscientiously-  conscientious - characterized by extreme care and great effort; "conscientious application to the work at hand"; "painstaking research"; "scrupulous attention to details"

Intervention-  the act of intervening (as to mediate a dispute, etc.); "it occurs without human intervention"

• Intervene-  get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat of force; "Why did the U.S. not intervene earlier in WW II?"

Literary Luminator

"In every school we observed, the principals believed that the first seed for sustainable change begins in the hearts and minds of the faculty and staff."  (pg. 124)

I completely agree with this statement.  We the educators need to care enough about our students and their families more than the position itself, because with a heart and a mind for the students we not only enjoy our line of work, but also this attitude will reflect on the students.  If the students see that we legitimately care and love doing what we do, we may naturally gain more respect from the students.  Unfortunately, if our hearts and minds aren't in the classroom, we may never succeed to the best of our teaching abilities, just as the students won't learn to the best of their abilities.

"Once a quarter, having grade-level teams visit vertically with the next grade above and below theirs, to understand what instruction looks like at those levels."  (What administrators can do to establish a sense of a professional education community within their school) (pg. 126).

This is imperative for the well-being of the students.  Students need a good flow of curriculum throughout their school careers.  As long as students are on track, this practice will help cover more material with the students and keep teachers on track with each other.  How can students be expected to learn something if they haven't had the opportunity yet?  When teachers are in close communication throughout the school year there is no reason for material to get covered twice, or inaccurately assumed to have been previously learned in a prior grade level. 

"Greets every child at the door to the school everyday with a hug, handshake, or high five and a personal message of welcome" (A citizenship building initiative by the principal that helps students make the right decisions) (pg. 127).

Even though I have been subbing constantly this school year (2010-2011), I am yet to see this idea consistently in practice.  Not only for administrators, but I think this would be a fantastic practice for educators as well.  Anyone that has 10-15 minutes in the morning to greet the students with a smile.  This is not only a strong sense of community, but a positive sense of community.  We are always trying to create a community throughout the school building, perhaps the community already exists, it just needs modifications and assitance to be the positive community we strive to create. 

References:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Blog 7: 3/24/11 In Case You Missed It the First Time- Melissa Rife

Chapters 11 & 12 Creative Connector and Rigorous Researcher- Melissa Rife

Creative Connector:
1. "Teachers can't teach and children can't learn in a school that doesn't feel safe, ordered, caring, and communal." pg. 126
I don't have many years of teaching so when I read this from our book it reminded me of when I was younger. Before attending public school, I attended a catholic school. I had several nuns for teachers and it wasn't a good experience for me. I had difficulty staying focused, was a left handed writer and has a speech therapist for a while. I just remember feeling out of place, not wanted or a burden to those nuns. It didn't make for a very positive environment. At the present time I teach 22 wonderful second graders and I'm reminded often that I would never want my students to go through  what I had to go through as a young girl. 

2. "The key to creating the school climate and implementing an effective education program for all students, and especially low SES students, is developing the right attitudes in all participants." pg. 130
In my shorts years as a teacher I have been in several different schools, but what these schools all have in common is attitude. It is always very obvious  how most teachers are feeling from day to day about their job. Attitude plays a huge part in the success of our students. As teachers we need to recognize and reflect on our own attitude from day to day. Children will always see right into you as a person so your attitude is important. 

3. "Statistics show that, as a nation, we are failing to fairly serve a growing percentage of our students based on our own misidentification of what the problem really is and what we should be doing to solve it. If you agree, you can do something about it." pg. 133
Stop saying, "these students can't learn". I'm tired of hearing this and yes I do hear this from other teachers. We as teachers need to stop. We are all in this together. We must work collaboratively to teach all children to learn and be successful. 






Researcher:
 I know that we have had these words before but this is a reminder of why we read this book. It's to recognize and understand the differences between SES students and students with LD. 
Socioeconomic Status: 
An individual's or group's position within a hierarchical social structure. Socioeconomic status depends on a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence. Sociologists often use socioeconomic status as a means of predicting behavior.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socioeconomic+status

Learning Disability: Specific Learning Disability......means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental retardation; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
http://www.nichcy.org/Disabilities/Categories/Pages/Default.aspx 

Blog 7: "Achieving Success"- Stephanie Esposito

Stephanie Esposito
Blog 7 (Chapters 11&12) Essence Extractor & Idea Illustrator


--Essence Extractor--

"Developing the right attitudes in parents, students, educators and administration is the key to a successful education for ALL STUDENTS!"




--Idea Illustrator--

"The most effective development we realized as a staff was that we developed a can-do attitude about all of our children and then showed them the way to succeed. Once they knew that we believed they could, their energy was unstoppable" (p. 130). 

-->Developing a positive attitude and maintaining a positive attitude is crucial in all schools, especially schools that educate low SES students. Our students need to believe in themselves and one step is showing them that we believe in them as well.

DEFICIT PERCEPTIONS- "Many teachers do not understand the effects of poverty on school readiness and, as a result, accept the inevitability of impending failure for children of poverty- these teachers exhibit deficit perception" (p. 10).

-->As teachers we need to get to know who are students really are and what their home life is like. Without this knowledge, we are teaching with a blind eye and short-changing out students. We must never assume!

SUCCESSFUL INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR EQUALIZING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOW SES STUDENTS:

--> Immediate Intervention

--> Be Proactive

--> Continuous formative assessments

--> After School Instruction

--> Summer School programs that focus on the upcoming curriculum

--> An atmosphere where students feel safe and confident

--> Differentiated Instruction

--> Hand-On manipulatives, discovery learning, & project-based instruction

Blog 6: The Many Faces of Success! By Brendan Ayers Rigorous Researcher and Creative Connector

**Since it was a very limited unit, I decided to research the term success, and how many notable people interpret the word**

If you ask people what they mean by competencies that promote job success, you'll get a wide variety of answers (pg. 104). 


The following are actual "definitions" to success, according to famous persons, the first is from the online Webster's Dictionary.

Definition of SUCCESS

1

obsolete : outcome, result

2

a : degree or measure of succeedingb : favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence

3

: one that succeeds

Ralph Waldo Emerson- To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded. 


Bob Dylan- What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.


Albert Einstein- If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.


Malcomb Forbes- Failure is success if we learn from it.


Bill Gates- Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.
Kevin Spacey- Success is like death. The more successful you become, the higher the houses in the hills get and the higer the fences get.
I felt as though these various definitions and defining thoughts of success were very interesting.  All over the place in terms of thoughts, and something for everyone.  But what is the definition of success?  The first word in the Webster's dictionary was "obsolete"... I've never considered "obsolete" a good thing...




Creative ConnectorIf you picture an iceberg in your mind, the portion of the iceberg that's above the waterline represents the knowledge that can be usefully applied to the job and the skills demonstrated in the performance of the job.  These "above-the-waterline" elements can be strengthened by training and development and are reasonably easy to change.  The portion of the iceberg that's below the waterline represents elements or characteristics that are more difficult to change and less responsive to training and development.  These elements are more inherent qualities that include, for example, self-image (attitudes, values, and identity), traits (general dispositions to behave in a certain way), and motives (thoughts and impulses to behave in a certain way)(pg. 104). 


I can most easily connect this quote with earlier jobs in my life.  When I was a teenager testing the working world, one of the jobs I had was a sales associate with MediaPlay.  I stayed with MP until they went out of business, I was an employee there about 3 years.  They loved me as a person, and as a welcoming staff member, and several regulars (customers) found joy in talking to me about the music that was out there.  Anyways, I was always on the "above water" side of the iceberg.  When you have a dress code, strict code of conduct, scripted documents to sell their terrible perks card, and on top of it all, make less than 8 bucks an hour?  About 5 after taxes?  It's no wonder to me that I was so reserved and wouldn't sacrifice my values for that job!

When you go to a McDonald's, you know exactly what you'll get to eat.  When you need to send an overnight package that absolutely has to arrive the next morning, your first thought is FedEx.  When you buy a new computer, one of the first things you look for is an Intel processor.  Why can't the same mind-set work to the advantage of public schools?  We think it can (pg. 107). 


This statement upsets me from a past experience.  I worked at Earth Camp with the Genessee Country Museum for 7 years.  At my very first interview, I looked different.  Very different.  My hair was below my shoulders, I had 13 earrings.  Not your typical employee.  But the employer saw through that, they saw a unique person that could really help the program.  Luckilly, I got accepted into the position, and consequently, pushed Earth Camp in a great direction for the next 7 years.  This was my all-time favorite job, and I owe it to the employers thinking "outside the box".

Professionals in the field of education (teachers, administrators, counselors, specialists, nurses, etc.) chose this field because they love children, are dedicated to the concept of education, and believe in its value to our society (pg. 114).  

This passage sums it all up.  We are here for the children, and we need to do our job.  Teaching in the city school district, too many teachers take their personal feelings into the classroom, verbally lash out at students, and just can't keep their cool.  I don't feel as though the Rochester City School District is a bad place at all, I feel it's a district where the children are pressured to live up to a bad reputation.  Therefore, rather than try to break the stereotype, it feels expected to me that the children will be difficult, and I have a feeling the students walk into the classroom thinking that whatever they do, they have already been labeled.  



References
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_success.html
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/success
http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/success/