Teaching With Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It

This is in my opinion a great book! It is an easy read, but full of great insight and a good book for a book study and teacher's Professional Development. It speaks volumes and opened my eyes to ideas and knowledge about stereotypical mindsets and diversity in and amongst populations of both extremes. Just a really great book. Touches on the mindset of the super students often overlooked because of the poverty around and for which they enter the academic environment. The author has the data to back his claims which makes it really substantial.

I have not finished reading this book, but I will say that chapter two is excellent and a must read for anyone who is interested or is studying anything related to mental health because it is very eye-opening as to why we should dig in more into someone's childhood to be able to understand better the root of MANY issues, such as cognitive development, behaviors and emotions. It explains what poverty overall does to "parents" and how parents stress transforms into frustration and even low self-esteem affecting the way they raise their children with many physical punishments and lack of involvement in their children's life transforming this into "negative attachment."

Helped me better understand today’s situation

As usual, Eric Jensen's book is incredibly thorough when it comes to describing the neauropsyiology of students who grow up in generational poverty. It's so fascinating to hear our these students' brains are literally rewired by poverty and it explains much about how difficult it is to encourage resiliance and set high standards of achievment. NCLB tells us all students need to reach high standards, but this book finally showed me why it is so much harder for some students than others.Where Jensen's books fall short is what to DO about it. This book made me question some of my teaching practices, but did little to "fill the void" with better practices. It did give examples from other schools, but in these short vignettes, it was hard to tell what they really did that was different.

Prompt return, clean product

Having taught in Title I facilities my entire career, I have experienced a wide-variety of success and failures in working with students of poverty. Reading Eric Jensen’s Teaching with Poverty in Mind (2009) provided me with a deeper understanding of the impact of living in poverty on the minds of our students along with the responsibilities of schools who serve these students. This research-packed text includes practical applications schools and teachers can utilize to improve academic performance for all students. In order to effectively teach students who are economically disadvantaged, teachers and administrators must understand how poverty impacts these children both academically and behaviorally. Common misconceptions are addressed by Jensen within this text: the brain is static and does not change, authoritative programs are required to manage student behavior, and students from poverty are unable to achieve the same success academically as students from higher socioeconomic levels. In contrast, Jensen emphasizes that because of neuroplasticity, students of poverty are able to overcome their backgrounds when proper supports are implemented and positive values are reinforced within the school setting. Each chapter of Teaching with Poverty in Mind (2009) begins by outlining research supporting an overarching concept, examples of schools that “make it happen”, and action steps that can be implemented within your own school. A wide-variety of research-based strategies are suggested to encourage the development of the change mindset among staff members. Personally, two of the most powerful chapters within this book targeted school-lwide and classroom-level success factors because they include explicit elements necessary to ensure high-quality learning experiences for all students. While reading this text, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experiences in working with students of poverty. I now have a stronger understanding as to how my own actions have supported and/or hindered the development of my students. Eric Jensen’s Teaching with Poverty in Mind (2009) has definitely altered how I will interact with students and families from lower socioeconomic levels in the future.

Brain research is somewhat new and fascinating. Eric Jenssen made it understandable for someone who has no interest nor aptitude in the sciences. As a person who grew up in poverty, I could relate to much of what he said. Because of this book, I am going to change the way I do some things in the classroom. I was running things in much too an authoritative style, but that's not surprising, considering I was brought up in an authoritative household. While the first couple of chapters are kind of depressing, because it tells of the deficits children of poverty will have, the hopeful parts come next. There are things we can do to help these kids be successful. I'm going to make a presentation to my principal about this book and I'm hoping we'll do a study on it. Too many of our staff members don't seem to know how to deal with these kids and tend to marginalize them. Times have changed and they can't continue to do this. I am going to be these children's advocate. I couldn't do that without this book. :)

"Until your school finds ways to address the social, emotional, and health-related challenges that your kids face every day, academic excellence is just a politically correct but highly unlikely goal." Eric JensenTeaching with Poverty in Mind is perhaps the most important book I've read since I began teaching in a Title 1 middle school 11 years ago. Children reared in generational poverty have special needs. Eric Jensen identifies those needs, explains the science behind them, and offers practical strategies for addressing them.I appreciate the value of this book so much, I gave copies of it to my principal, assistant principal, and the school district's superintendent. I heartily recommend this book for any educator who serves the needs of Title 1 students.

Una visión muy cercana sobre el trabajo de un docente en zonas deprimidas. Aporta visiones prácticas y ejemplos de colegios que lo cumplen.