Write down 10 things that you cherish most. Now cross off 5 Now 3 more You have just experienced in a small way what those whose circumstance conspire against them face everyday.

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Could you -- or someone you know -- experience … a natural disaster a job cut-back or layoff loss of sole wage-earner’s income a negative change to current lifestyle inadequate health-care benefits for a family member needing long term care

Could you -- or someone you know -- experience … loss of health coverage and other benefits being routinely behind on paying bills high balances on credit cards a family member’s addiction

Why I Teach…

Life is Difficult for our Impoverished Youth

Bias against Poverty So many misconceptions Lazy Lots of free time Get a job if they wanted one Never got asked to spend the night Shelter Rat Make it a crime to be homeless –Camping –Congregating –Sleeping beach

A Wise Man Once Said… That what you are in life has not so much to do with what you have accomplished, but the obstacles you overcame in doing so.

What I wish my Teachers had known… Ashley O. – 18 year old senior Honor student at a math and science magnet Recipient of Richard Maddox Scholarship of $40K Will attend Longwood and become a teacher Homeless most of life

You may very well be the ONLY significant adult relationship that child ever experiences. Make it count!

An Indian physicist puts a PC with a high speed internet connection in a wall in the slums and watches what happens. New Delhi physicist Sugata Mitra has a radical proposal for bringing his country's next generation into the Info Age from a Businessweek Online Daily Briefing, March 2, Hole in the Wall Experiment Digital Divide, Web 2.0, and Homeless Children

Rethinking Teaching & Learning 1.New literacy 2.Changing demographic 3.Teachers need to design for collaboration and communication 4.Active content creators.

Students have changed is demographically. Watch this clip and share with us how your classroom's demographic has changed over the last five years? Do you feel that ELL (ESL) students have different instructional needs? How so? What types of instructional delivery do you feel works best for these kids? Where does Web 2.0 (the new tools like blogs and wikis) play in that dynamic? Watch this clip

Today's learner has been given different opportunities for learning than you and I had. Traditionally, most of the opportunities for learning didn't happen within schools. Think of ancient Greece. How could the apprenticeship model play out today? Would helping your students develop personal learning networks enable them to have some of the depth and diversity in learning that students in the past experienced? opportunities for learning

Change is NEEDED … so we do not have children with six hour handicaps Have you ever known a child that in school was an at-risk learner, but outside of school was competent and capable? How about a student who comes back to see you years after they graduate and you find out they became much more successful than you ever thought possible. Well this video explains why. Jane Mercer's research proves that many kids we think are handicapped are simply situationally handicapped. Well this video explains why.

Digital Divide Have Nots Haves

The truth is that parents of children with technology access at home will ensure that their children have this information advantage. Who will ensure that the children of poverty are given an equal opportunity?

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy- Our words and expectations are more powerful than we realize. Choose them carefully. Use them to Empower!

Key Concepts for at-risk Children and Their Parents Moral Warehouse Othermindedness and Self-government Build/Repair self-esteem - Blossoming

Examine Expose Expect Emotion Endear How to Blossom

What do teachers need to know about students experiencing poverty? We want you to be someone we can trust and share what’s going on with you—remember we have been trained to not tell. We have a very poor ability to conceptualize We have poor organizational skills We need loose structure with stability We need a personal space and are possessive of our belongings

Teaching Strategies Planning and Preparation are Key Constructivist- Problem-Based Learning Active and Imaginative Problem Solvers High Standards and High Expectations View them as at-promise - rather than at- risk Teacher’s job is to break the cycle of poverty

Teaching Strategies that Work Best for Homeless Kids Build self-confidence and positive self-concept Self-esteem and Self-control are closely related Establish relationships Prepare for the next transition- teacher proof them. Teaching methods that work best with homeless kids work for all impoverished or at-risk kids and their parents.

Water Downed Expectations “What hurts us more, is you teach us less.” Haycock (2001) says… “…we take the students who have less to begin with and then systematically give them less in school.” And then we call it best practice…or differentiation.

Recommendations Diversify your curriculum and make it relevant to more than just your middle class students. Include experiences of the poor in your examples. Use concrete more than abstract. If your students can’t learn your subject– it is your problem and your responsibility.

Recommendations Change Some Rules –Make the rules less based on middle class values and priorities. Understand poverty. Be Passionate –Be wildly passionate as an advocate for these kids.

Man is so made that whenever anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish. -- Jean de la Fontaine