Helping Low SES Students

"The reason things stay the same is because we've been the same. For things to change, we must change!" (Jensen, 2009.) In Eric Jensen's book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind, Jensen continually talks about how we, as teachers, need to give students the tools for help. Many people just believe that the low SES (socioeconomic status) students are helpless, that since they have been raised that way that there is no way that teachers can do anything. There are many myths similar to these regarding this group of students. These people need to realize that they are wrong. There are certain aspects that these children truly need guidance in.

Building Core Skills and Assessing

One of the biggest obstacles that these children face is the fact that they lack a great deal of core skills that other children have. According to Jensen, some of these core skills that this group of students might be lacking is attention and focus, short and long-term memory, sequencing and processing skills, problem solving skills, perseverance and ability to apply skills in the long term, social skills, and hopefulness and self-esteem. Teachers can use assessments in the classroom to gauge the level of skill low SES students have. Once teachers identify what aspects they need to work on with what students they need to create a plan for how they are going to help a certain child in a particular area. They need to find a program and gain all the resources they can to help these children. "Some of the most important skills teachers should foster are social skills and problem-solving skills" (Jensen, 2009.) Teachers need to teach their students about how to act in certain situations and the life skills they need to truly survive in this world. it is also critical for teachers to model certain skills that they students should have. If they see the teacher modeling it, then the student is much more likely to reciprocate. It is also very simple for teachers to create real-world problems for the students to solve. This will help the students with learning what you are supposed to do in certain situations without feeling like you are "preaching" the lesson. These core skills listed, are crucial for students to have and we need to work on how to help low SES students gain these skills. It is so important for teachers to use assessments to find out what skills these students need to gain.

Provide Hope and Support

When certain students are struggling in school, it is much more likely for them to take on other issues, such as, acting out, getting bullied, bullying, low self-esteem, or feeling depressed or helpless. This can be extremely overwhelming to a teacher. We must remember though that we are there to help these children and push them in the right direction. When teachers see these red flags for a students the best way to help them is to "provide guidance, give the student hope and optimism, and take time for affirmation and celebration" (Jensen, 2009.) Teachers need to give guidance and moral support to these students because it is more than likely they have already been in situations where they need guidance more than ever. It is also so important to stay optimistic for these students. It is extremely unlikely that they get any time of optimism anywhere else so saying things that are positive and allow them to see a bright future is crucial. Also, make sure these students know when they doing things correctly. Allow them to get that sense of accomplishment because it is more than likely they are not getting it anywhere else. These are all very simple steps teachers can do to make a huge impact on a particular students life.

Teachers always need to remember that the simplest thing they say, could have the most profound impact on a students, good or bad. Low SES students are the students that truly need that positivity back in their lives. We need to help them gain the skills that they really need to have in this world and we need to figure out exactly what each student needs. Hope and support is imperative for these students and we need to be there for them because it is extremely unlikely that they have anywhere else there for them.

REFERENCES

Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.