- As a teacher leader, what are the three key understandings you learned from the Payne text that you would deem appropriate for sharing with a colleague, administrator, and/or parent? Describe why these understandings were selected.
-The first area I would like to discuss concerning the Payne text is the idea of having a successful support system used within the school. Payne discusses in chapter 6, a successful school in Texas that had a support system set up to make sure that all students complete missing homework. This system is successful because all the gray areas have been covered that most schools do not think about. When we attempted to try this same idea we constantly ran into issues that we could not resolve. Students who could not get rides did not have to stay because they had no way home if they missed the bus. In Texas a bus was arranged to stay late to make sure that students had rides home if their homework was not finished. Also, tutors were utilized so that if students had questions they had immediate assistance from a staff member to help them along. The middle school in Texas has "eliminated several problem and has also provided support for their students" (Payne, 2005, p. 72). It is amazing how successful schools can be when the support is provided to manage small details that allow students to have the appropriate assistance to become successful.
The second key understanding I would like to discuss is in chapter eight and deals with using eye movement to follow the learning process. In this chapter Dr. Payne compares this process to the same process that criminologists use to break crimes, lawyers use for cross-examinations, and salespeople use to enhance sales. (Payne, 2005, p. 97) The key to this process is understanding what zone the students eyes are in and knowing what types of questions to ask in order t enhance the learning process. For example, if you notice that a right-handed child's eyes are in the two o'clock position then it should be a cue to ask a visual question like, "What do you see?". I have learned that understanding eye position will allow teachers to focus more on specific types of questions to better connect with a child in the middle of his or her learning process. Knowing and understanding eye movement will not only help teachers with the learning process but will also assist teachers in identifying how a student tends to store and retrieve information. (Payne, 2005, p. 100). This is just one of many strategies that I believe need to be utilized by teachers in order to produce the best outcome for all students.
The third issue I would like to discuss from the reading is the chart on page 70 which describes poverty related behavior along with suggested interventions. I believe that this chart is extremely important due to the rising number of poverty stricken students within our school system. To be an effective teacher, teachers must understand the behavior process that is related to poverty issues. One example is that poverty stricken students usually laugh when being disciplined. This is further explained that the laughing is just their way to "save face" in front of their peers. Most teachers in this case would take great offense to this behavior and punish the student even more. However, if the teacher understands the reason for the behavior, the text suggest that the teacher needs to sit down with the students and actually explain three to four other behaviors that would have been more appropriate for that situation. The next behavior that is explained is that students in poverty usually tend to raise their voices during an argument with a teacher or a person of authority. This behavior has a direct connection with poverty and their major distrust of authority. Also, angry responses from students is another behavior that has been linked to poverty. Students that are from poverty usually feel trapped when faced with authority and will constantly try to "save face" and will rarely back down. The text goes on to explain that an intervention that would be successful is to, "respond with an adult voice and once the student calms down, discuss other responses that they could have used."(Payne, 2005, p. 79). The next behavior discussed is a behavior that is very important to understand because of the consequences that come with it. Physically fighting is a behavior related to poverty that is so often overlooked by teachers and administrators. The book explains that children in poverty believe that fighting is necessary to survive and they just do not understand the language or belief system to use conflict resolution. The text puts it best by saying, "children in poverty see themselves as less than a man or woman if they don't fight."(Payne, 2005, p. 79). Teachers need to understand that although this behavior is not acceptable this behavior is all they understand. Teachers need to stress that fighting is just not a solution and examine other solutions with the students that would be appropriate at school or in society. I believe that these students just need to practice conflict resolution because most of these students that come from poverty simply just do not know anything but physical contact. I feel that this behavior is very important to understand because most of these students need to be taught other ways to solve problems. If we as teachers can understand the cause for this behavior, I believe we can make a major difference in the lives of these young children.
Payne, R.K. (2005). A framework for understanding poverty. (4th ed.) The Highlands, TX: aha. Process, Inc.
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