Week 2
The focus of the articles this week was on poverty and how deficit thinking can affect the classroom environment and the students academics. Although many people believe that poverty may affect their care for academics, their determination, their likely hood to be involved with drugs, and their language, it actually does not. All of these are actually mythical effects of poverty, and have shown to not have any correlation. However, when looking into a classroom, a teacher that may have these types of deficit thoughts may cause a students academics to decrease. This could happen because her expectations from that student have lowered, and her willingness to reach out to that struggling student may have diminished. Gorski provides teachers with strategies to could benefit students in poverty, with the reassurance that there is no one size fits all fix for every student. These strategies include: express high expectations, enhance family involvement, incorporate arts into instruction, incorporate movement into instruction, focus intently on student and family strengths, analyze materials for class bias, promote literacy enjoyment, and reach out to families early and often.
One of the seed activities that I tried this week at the Boys and Girls Club was Jump-Turn-Freeze. This activity is found in the dance and creative movement section, which encourages children to move with purpose. Gorse said to incorporate movement into instruction can aid students in poverty because they are limited to their physical education time in school and healthy students fare better in school.The Boys and Girls Club was established as a place for families that need assistance in after school child care, but cannot afford other child care services. Many of the students that go to the Boys and Girls Club receive free/reduced lunches at school. I think that their set-up correlates with Gorski’s strategies. After power hour, the children are given a snack which may one of the only opportunities to have food for the rest of the day. After snack the students are on a rotation system that includes: art, gym, computer lab, game room, and prodigy (a dance program). The art, gym, computer lab, and prodigy relate to Gorski’s strategies in that they are providing students with art, movement, and technology that they may not receive at home or at school. Even during power hour the students are given opportunities to use the computer for any homework.
After interning in the fourth and fifth grade section of the Boys and Girls Club for two weeks now, I have had opportunities to understand some of the students on a better level. I have heard their positivity and pure enjoyment of being at the Club. Many of them find refuge in this club with their friendships because they face difficulty at school. It almost seems that the equality of SES of these students and the familiarity between each other’s backgrounds draw the children to each other forming a bond. I have talked to the students about the prevalence of art and movement in their classrooms, and unfortunately many of them have shared the lack of these. It draws me to the conclusion of why this Club is so important to them. However, even with this inseparable bond that many of these students have with each other, I was informed on Monday that the director of the Club has decided to stop picking up from two of the schools that many of the students come from due to the schools lack of students receiving free/reduced lunch. Regardless of whether the student receives this aid or not. When the student heard the break of the news, I could see the disappointment in many of their tones and eyes. Although I understand the director’s reasoning for the change, it is disheartening as well to know that some of these students will not be seeing the Boys and Girls Club after this year finishes out. This divide makes me wonder what Gorski would do in this situation.
Miss Edmunds Teaches 
June 3, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Hello Gianna,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your blog this week. You made a nice connection Gorski’s (2013) suggestion of integrating movement into classroom instruction. While visiting the Boys and Girls Club, I have seen how much they enjoy moving around and interacting with each other. The seed activities that you describe are great way to engage the students. When thinking about the other strategies that Gorski discussed, what are some ways to integrate those into your experience at the Boys and Girls Club? How can you see integrating these strategies into a traditional classroom during your internship experience (and beyond)?
I look forward to reading more about your experiences at the Boys and Girls Club through your blogs.
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June 3, 2016 at 7:01 pm
He mentioned to teach your students about historical figures that did antipoverty work, and I think that that is a great resource to teach older students the value of how history makes an impact and what they can do as well. To tie both of his articles together he mentions to promote literacy enjoyment, where a teacher could do a series of read alouds about these historical figures. There are so many literature resources that vary on level about these people (Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, the Black Panther, etc.). Read alouds increase a students enjoyment in reading and introducing students to new topics expands their interests. Additionally, when thinking about being a teacher, addressing deficit thinking from colleges and staying out of these kinds of degrading conversations creates a safer environment for your students at the school.
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