Teaching with Poverty: The Impact and

Strategies

By: Matt Bergman

Essential Questions for Today:

•What is poverty?

•How does poverty impact our classrooms?

•What strategies can we use to overcome the challenges of poverty in our classrooms?

How would you define the term poverty?

• Poverty is “the extent to which an individual does without resources.”

• Chronic condition that results from multiple adverse risk factors and affects the mind, body, and soul.

Approximately how many million Americans are living in poverty according to the US Census Bureau?

A.32

B.35.9

C.46.3

D.49.2

% of Americans Living in PovertySource: US Census Bureau

TURN AND TALK about the impacts you see poverty having on your school

Lack of motivation

Cognitive lags

Chronic tardiness

Inappropriate behavior

Lack of parental involvement

High transience rates

How Poverty Occurs…

Situational Generational Absolute

Relative Urban Rural

SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.

Poverty can be situational – a sudden crisis emerges (health issue, job loss, divorce). According to research, we know that many of our students living in poverty come from unstable situations.

A.Generational

B.Situational

C.Relative

D.Absolute

Although rare in this country, it does occur in many parts of Appalachia. Families face the struggle of day to day survival, often struggling to find shelter, food, and running water.

A.Generational

B.Situational

C.Relative

D.Absolute

A type of poverty based on the economic status of a family who meets the poverty thresholds set by the government.

A.Generational

B.Situational

C.Relative

D.Absolute

In the United States, families with income less than that deemed sufficient to purchase basic needs—food, shelter, clothing, and other essentials—are designated as poor.  In 2011, what was the poverty threshold of a family of 4?

A. $13,243

B. $23,018

C. $29,209

D. $32,304

SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.

Type of poverty where two or more generations of a family are living in poverty. They are often not equipped with the tools to move out of this type of situation.

A.Generational

B.Situational

C.Relative

D.Absolute

Other types of poverty

Urban Rural

According to the US Census Bureau, what is the fastest growing form of poverty?

A.Rural

B.Urban

Source: William P. O'Hare, The Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America (2009).

One-Size Does Not Fit ALL!

Graffiti Activity: Think about our students….

1. What positive things do you HEAR them say?

2. What negative things do you HEAR them say?

3. What positive things do you SEE them do?

4. What negative things do you SEE them do?

5. Where do you SEE them succeed?

6. Where do you SEE them fail?

7. What positive things do they FEEL about themselves?

8. What negative things do they FEEL about themselves?

What I See…

Off Task and Discipline Problems

How would you describe the follow about where many kids from poverty come from?

Emotional Environment

• Less likely to receive positive reinforcement

• More likely to have difficulty forming positive relationships

• Turbulant relationships

Support Systems

• Less-supportive networks• Mistrust of adults • Rely on peers more for

social and emotional support

• Often live in chaotic, unstable, single-parent households

Students demonstrating Irresponsible Behavior DO NOT see the school responding to these needs.

1. Authoritarian2. Undemocratic3. Uncaring4. Rules are designed for the

convenience of teachers and administrators

perception

We cannot assume!

• Jensen states that “discipline issues” can often arise when teachers expect more than students are capable of on an emotional level

• Develop self-regulation

Strategies for Developing Self-Regulation and Reducing Discipline

Problems

1. Norming Activity

• Step 1: Think about a time when you were in a group that worked really well.

• Step 2: Think about a time when you were in a group that did not work well.

• Step 3: Share with a partner

• Step 4: Partners share with another pair

• Step 5: Open up for discussion

2. Build Relationships!

• "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship." James Comer (1995)

• Don’t want to be “called-out” in front of class

• Mistrust of adults

• Relationships with peers most important relationships

Rage• Uncontrollable anger

• Cannot be tolerated inside or outside of school

Anger• Mid-level negative feeling

• Different than annoyance, b/c of desire for retribution

Annoyance • Low level of anger that will

dissipate once the stimulus disappears.

3. Teaching Students How to Recognize and Manage Anger

S.U.D.S • Subjective Unit(s) of

Distress System

• Verbal instrument – measuring one’s internal level of discomfort at any moment

• 0 to 10

• 0 to 100

Mad Pass with form

What I See…

Cognitive Lags

Martha Farah

Destroys cognition

According to the Infant Health and Develop Program show that at least __ % of children living in chronic poverty had deficiencies in at least 2 areas of functioning (i.e. language, emotional responses, etc.)

a.17

b.26

c.32

d.40

Like acid, stress corrodes the brain’s circuitry and can disrupt growth or damage brain (Smith, 2009).

How does poverty impact students?

• Studies Have Found Students in Poverty• Often have delayed language and cognitive

skills

• Lower literacy rates

• Poor numeracy skills

• Higher rates of behavioral and emotional disorders

• Higher percentage needing Special Education services

How do our student’s react when things get too hard?

Are you teaching cognitive skills?

• According to Jensen (2014), “students who struggle with reading, math, and following directions may have weak vocabulary, poor working memory, or poor processing skills.”

• Ferguson (1998) found that high-performing teachers can overcome the problems of underperforming students

• “Like effort, cognitive capacity is teachable” (Jensen, 2014)

How are you teaching cognitive skills?

“Focus on the core academic skills that students need the most. Begin with the basics, such as how to organize, study, take notes, prioritize, and remember key ideas. Then teach problem-solving, processing, and working-memory skills (Jensen 2014).”

1. Creative Ways to Communicate Goals

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=6860631&height=400&width=300

2. Creative Note Taking in Dr. Rose’s Class

3. Are they really listening?

Directions:

1. Open up a _______

2. Answer the following question: What were the main ____ of the ______?

3. Save your file as __________

4. When you are finished you will __________.

4. Are your student’s setting goals?

What I See…

Struggles with Vocabulary

4 Corner Trivia

Satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

A.Schadenfreude

B.Hegemony

C.Fugacious

D.Somnolent

Usual, everyday, or customary.

A.Peripatetic

B.Quotidian

C.Bricolage

D.Antediluvian

Old fashioned, out of date, obsolete.

A.Somnolent

B.Fugacious

C.Antediluvian

D.Parsimonious

“The achievement gap is largely a vocabulary gap.”

According to Marzano

Many vocabulary terms that student’s don’t know based on their experiences

Words heard by age 4 (in millions)

13

26

46

Poverty

Middle

Upper-Income

(Hart & Risley, 1995)

Research has shown that vocabulary…

Learning

Memory

Cognition

How do you choose words to pre-teach and emphasize?

Tier 3 –

Domain Specific

Tier 2 – General

Academic

Tier 1 – Everyday words that we use

Beck, I.L., McKoeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.

1. Incorporate vocabulary into the fabric of daily instruction

• Multiple opportunities

• 6 meaningful interactions

2. Games with Flashcards

• Bingo

• Battleship

• Categories

BINGO

Battleship

3. Flocabulary

https://www.flocabulary.com/1-that-monkey/

4. Reviewing Vocabulary Game (Denver, CO)

5. The Power of Technology

https://www.movenote.com/v/SwcKNJous1OtQ

6. Word Walls

1.Word Splashes

2.Categorizing different words

3.Fly Swat Game

What I See…

Struggles with Reading

The Matthew Effect

Keith Stanovich

Lack of Enrichment at Home

• Fewer books at home

• More time watching TV

• Strain of single-parenthood correlates with:• Poor school

attendance• Lower grades• Lower chances of

attending college

• 36% of low income parents read daily to their kindergarten aged child.

SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.

• Many vocabulary terms that student’s don’t know based on their experiences• Reading and reading

comprehension difficult• Introducing concepts

and lack the background knowledge

What can we do?

Provide access to a variety of reading

materials

Opportunities to read in

school

Supports in place

Reading through a social lens

1. Variety of Materials in our Classroom

2. Opportunities to Read in School

3. Supports in Place

4. Reading through a Social Lens

4 A’s Model:

• What assumptions does the author make?

• What do I agree with from the text?

• What do I argue with from the text?

• What do I want to aspire to from the text?

www.nsrfharmony.org/protocol/a_z.html

Dice as a Discussion Tool?

What I See…

Lack of Motivation

How would you critique this job interview garb?

Why do people living in poverty often buy the most expensive clothes, buy the latest iPhone if they cannot afford food?

Answering the Question

• “When you feel like a nobody, you want to look like you’re somebody” – MHS Student

• The way people value food, clothing, time and education often varies by class

Lack of Background Knowledge!

• Students living in poverty often come to school with a different set of experiences than middle-class teachers

• Expect students to act with a middle-class mindset

• Expect kids to understand hidden rules of middle class

Activity

• Take a moment to stand up and find someone in the room, whom you don’t know very well.

• Take a moment to start a conversation with this person. Ask them about their summer, their family, interests, etc.

Tell me what you noticed about the conversation (verbal / non-verbal)

How much eye contact did you make?

Why is eye contact so important?

• In middle-class families, looking someone in the eye is a sign of respect; however, those who come from poverty it can signal confrontation.

1. Encourage a Growth Mindset

• Lowering expectations does not work!

• It’s ok to fail

• Multiple choice / matching / coding

2. Performance Review

3. Self Reflection

•What did I do well?

•What did I NOT do well?

•What will I improve for next time?

4. Self Grading Rubric

5. Don’t Lower Expectations

• Communicate expectations and do not assume• I used to have my students write down the

expectations of the day

• Shouldn’t think of it as strategies to help your kids in poverty

• I have to teach this way to poverty kids and another way….teaching this way helps all students learn

Barrier = Poverty

•Many of our students come from poverty, which we cannot control•We can control how we can help our students in our classrooms

Thank You!

• For questions:• mattbergman14@gmail.com

• For more Web 2.0 ideas! • @mattbergman14 (Twitter)• learn-lead-grow.weebly.com/ (Website)• http://bergman-udl.blogspot.com/ (Blog)