I'm kind of sad that we don't have much class since this class is part hybrid and other things seem to get in the way. Perhaps some of the disconnect is because I really need to catch up with embracing more of my Higher, Wider, Deeper assignment before it's due. However, although we didn't have class on Monday I still liked the class-time we had on Wednesday.
    In class we got into groups and tried different scenarios to simulate a speech delay. In my group we had people put marshmallows into their mouths and try to speak. The first girl to put them into her moth wasn't able to fit that many marshmallows before she couldn't fit anymore. It was difficult to understand what she was saying. She reported being a little frustrated because we tried to guess what she was saying and this slowed down her process of being able to say what she had to say. I need to remember to that, and let those with speech impairments finish their sentences, not only because it may speed the conversation up, but because it allows the person speaking to be independent and to develop their language ability. We don't want to have children who rely on adults or older siblings to speak for them, it shrinks their talents. The second volunteer was able to put a considerable number in, but even then we could barely understand him and he had to resort to charades. The fact that he was able to put in so many mar mallows and still speak some words, while the first volunteer could only speak with a few, reminded me that we shouldn't assume we know what a child is capable of just because we have had experience with children with the same disability (even at the same level of disability). Different children have different capacities, emotions, experiences, and struggles as well as different development and experiences in their cognitive, social, and physical domains. One child have disadvantages that we don't understand and might have had to worm really hard to get to where he or she is at.
      In class we discussed the debilitating effects of poverty. Poverty can be very misunderstood because we tend to equate it with merely having little money. There can be a humiliating emotional aspect to poverty, because people feel like they can't provide for their families. Social ties can weaken because it's difficult to communicate to people without phones or internet access which is frightening because it means one less safety net if trouble were to trip that family up. We tend to judge others because they are in rough situations, thinking that they brought it upon themselves, and yeah, maybe they did. Maybe those people slipped up one day, but the only difference between them slipping up and those of a higher SES slipping up (which I have done on many occasions but have had the resources to bounce back) is that they didn't have the resources to catch them and so they fell.
Poverty is difficult to leave because poverty tends to breed poverty. those in poverty are less mobile and more likely to marry those in close vicinity who are like-minded. Those in poverty have a different perspective on the world. For example, those in poverty homes tend to have authoritarian parenting, partially because many are in manual labor, low-paying jobs that have an authoritarian mentality to it, an mentality of obeying the boss regardless of the reasoning and severe reprimand for non-compliance to the current work structure. This mentality can be perpetuated through generations.
     In chapter 8 we read about disabilities like poverty, substance abuse, and ADHD. The spectrum of issues with these disabilities is great and many of these children aren't disabled enough to need an IEP. However, many of these children are on the outskirts of learning and merely need a teacher to reach out and draw them back in. For example, some children with parents involved in substance abuse have difficulty trusting adults, including teachers. Teachers need to consider ways to connect with these children so they can feel secure and engage more in learning without the need of accommodations, modifications or specialized assistance. Children with ADHD may just need a buddy to help them keep focus, some breaks to move around, and a little more of hands on activities. These children may just need someone to help bridge gaps in their learning.
      For those children who have a language barrier, they may need a better working vocabulary before they are ready for full language immersion. As we watched in a video, some children shut down when they are overwhelmed by the language barrier. Some try to gain some receptive language skills by copying what students write and by writing what the teacher says; however, while this receptive effort may teach them something, there is still a gap of knowledge that the child can't bridge. Neither child's reaction was incorrect, both just need help in order to understand better.