This week my group presented on poverty. I was drawn to this subject because the impact of poverty can be really overlooked. Children can be labeled as having a special need when really they don't have the social, emotional, cognitive, or temporal resources that come from being in a higher socio-economic status. For example, a child might be labeled ADHD because he or she is lazy, distractible, or rebellious during school when really the child's disinterest comes from a poverty mentality which implicitly teaches that there is little value in schooling and education, partially because the child will most likely end up in a similar situation the parents are in regardless of grades. A child might be labelled as having a learning disability and may be assigned to resource rooms when really the child struggles because he or she didn't have an enriching environment as a foundation to learning new skills. It's difficult to learn to read in school when the child isn't in a home where language development is considered, and where there are no books to practice 'emerging literacy.' When children are hungry, tired from helping around at home, don't have a coat to keep warm or are focused on stresses and struggles at home they tend to focus less on school and the tasks at hand. It's unfair to compare children according to intelligence and aptitude when really one child just has different resources than another. We have to consider what children have to work with when we measure their progress, effort, and success.

         I liked how Brother Cloward talked about how we can effect these children. There are so many ways we can bridge the gaps that poverty creates. Firstly, I like to think that taking control and inventory of resources and managing money allows people to have more to give. I know people who don't feel like they ever have enough money to give but that's partially because they aren't careful with their funds are let money slip in unnecessary ways. There are so many ways to enhance resources in cheap ways (ex. planting fruit trees). Not only should be make sure that we have something to give but we should learn about the resources in the area because the community can have a lot more to offer families in poverty (or those with language and cultural barriers as mentioned by the group presentation before us) than they know about. It's important that we make a special effort to be close to those children so we can know what their struggles and needs are. This will allow us to tailor our assistance for their specific situation. One day a child in poverty might need educational assitance and the next day they may need a coat. If we aren't close we might assist the child in a way that is nice but not needed. 

          The group that presented before us touched on language barriers. I can't imagine what it would be like to try to go to college in another country where I knew minimal words but I assume I would feel overwhelmed and would want to give up quickly. It's easy to see how children in this situation tend to lose interest in learning. Some find innovative ways to barely 'get by' but these techniques render very little real learning. 

          In class we talked about making sure our assignments and tests are constructed in a correct way. We got into groups to fix an assignment that wasn't written right. It's incredible how many times I have misunderstood assignments or test questions because they weren't written well and the ambiguity confused me. We need to make sure that our instruments to assess children aren't misrepresentative of the child's knowledge because the child was tripped up by an erroneous detail.