I was SO IMPRESSED with everything about this presentation
on poverty in schools. The
presenters did an excellent job of keeping the class actively engaged
throughout the entire thing while covering a range of information. I think that the incorporation of a
variety of learning activities made the presentation all the more effective and
worthwhile in that each activity served a specific purpose and contributed to
the presentation as a whole. There
wasn’t a moment where I felt lost or uninterested; instead, I was curious to
learn even more. I also felt that
the presenters did a good job of covering a rather sensitive topic in a
professional manner.
As someone who is sensitive by nature, much of what we
learned made me feel sad—especially when watching the video of the students
being asked questions about living in poverty. However, I think it is important for us as future teachers
to be fully aware of depth and breadth of poverty in schools, as it is something
we will very likely deal with.
Thus, I was grateful that the presenters focused on the things that we can do as teachers to best support
our students who may come from financially unstable backgrounds. Along these lines, I was glad that we
were given an opportunity to reflect on our thoughts and feelings and jot down
ideas of how we might best support our students while the reality of poverty
was fresh in our minds.
My favorite activity that the presenters had us do was the
role-playing scenario in which we were given a handful of money and had to
decide how to best distribute among our “expenses.” I found this activity to be incredibly effective in helping
us understand first-hand the kinds of decisions that many low-income parents
have to make every single month.
The only suggestion I would have for making this activity even stronger
is by providing a few more specifics (for example, are we in a rural or urban
environment), particularly to the Maine region.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this presentation and I have no
doubt that these three presenters will make amazing teachers in the near
future!
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