Chapter 4

Teaching with Poverty in Mind

Where are we at as a district in your mind - reflect on the steps we are taking what are the next steps?

Looking at the Five SHARE factors.

Support of the Whole Child. 

 Academic and alternative tutoring programs.  At the elementary school there is before and after school tutoring programs for students who need help completing daily assignments.I have a great appreciation for the standards based report cards used by the kindergarten teachers. They tell so much more about a child's learning than letter grades.

Academic career, or mental health counseling.  Each school has a counselor to address the mental health of students.  We also have a school psychologist that is on-site 2 days a week and possibility more in case of emergencies. 

Access to medications – both schools have secretaries that have been trained administering prescribed medications.

Childcare – to my knowledge there is no current availability for this.

Community Services, life skills in finances, health, and housing, medical care psychological care, and transportation, reading materials, transportation – I am currently not knowledgeable of how the district in involved in these services. 

Hard Data:  We do have state and district assessments and that data is analyzed to improve instruction offered to students.  We have set a goal as a school to improve student engagement. 

A data team to gather and analyze data for the purpose of making instructional changes would be a good step to take.  It would also provide for intervention to be put into place before a child fails or falls through the cracks. 

Accountability:  I do feel that grade levels and content area teachers have worked together to use data in instructional decision-making.  We have PLC’s where collaborative efforts are taken to assure all students receive quality instruction.

Relationships:  Classroom and school activities are designed to encourage students to develop positive relations with peers and teachers.  The current attempts with teachers identifying students with whom they have established relationships with will be interesting to follow. Several teachers have implemented the PBIS approach to classroom discipline.  There is also a peer mentorship program being implemented at the high school level.

Enrichment Mindset:  There have been activities that insight curiosity allow for emotional engagement on the part of students and encourage bonding among peers.