Every child has the opportunity for prosperity,
success, and upward social mobility that
can be achieved through hard work.
By the Numbers - One Year in Oregon:
Although the number of children in foster care in Oregon declined, the state
continues to place more children in foster care than most other states in the nation.
67,885
8500
Reports of child abuse and neglect one report every eight minutes.
Kids in foster care on any given day
11,090
Children with at least one parent in
prison
Children who were found to be victims
of child abuse or neglect
13,5000
1104
5545
Cases of child sexual abuse
Victims of abuse and neglect younger
than 6
1:4
10,500
Girls who have been sexually molested
1:10
Children abused by family usually a parent
Boys who have been sexually molested
54,000
Up to 25%
Children without health insurance
Children living with a mentally ill parent
How Statistics Affect a
Classroom
Approx..
number in a
classroom
Homeless students
2-3
Boys who have been molested
2-3
4-5
2-3
Girls who have been molested
Children living in a foster home at least
once during the year
Living in adverse conditions – poverty,
drug or alcohol affected, abusive
7-8
Students who will move in/out of the school
during the school year
4-5
Living with a mentally ill or incarcerated
parent
2-3
Many students are not ready to learn,
and it is our job to engage them.
Seven Engagement
Factors
1.Health and Nutrition
2.Vocabulary
3.Effort and Energy
4.Mind-Set
5.Cognitive Capacity
6.Relationships
7.Stress Level
Health and Nutrition
Creating a highly engaging classroom
can help compensate for behavioral
and cognitive issues resulting from
poor nutrition.
Adverse Living Situations
More likely to be born with low
birth weight.
Positive Living Situation
Mothers have appropriate
prenatal care.
More likely to be obese and have
a high carb diet.
More likely to be exposed to
lead and other toxins.
More likely to eat less, and
better quality food.
Seldom live in dangerous or
unhealthy situations.
More likely to have mental
health issues.
Receive needed counseling and
treatments.
Health and Nutrition
Creating a highly engaging
classroom can help
compensate for behavioral
and cognitive issues resulting
from poor nutrition.
“What can we do?”
• Be aware of nutritional issues for students and the effect on brain
development, cognitive ability and behavior.
• Be a connection to services to assist families.
• Create an engaging classroom.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the brain’s toolkit for
learning, memory, and cognition.
Words help children represent,
manipulate and reframe information.
Adverse Living Situations
Positive Living Situation
Both the quantity and quality of
phrases in low income families
are significantly lower.
6 negative interaction for every
positive one.
Far less experiences, and
thereby, diminished vocabulary
3 year olds add words to their
vocabulary at twice the rate of
low income 3 year olds.
Many positive, encouraging
words and phrases per hour.
Many enriching experiences and
conversations with adults.
Size of Vocabulary in Total Words
Talking to Infants: The Cumulative Effects of Mother’s
Speech on Vocabulary of 2-Year-Olds
High levels of mother’s
speech to infant
800-900
Words
Low levels of mother’s
speech to infant
100-200
Words
Age of Child (months)
Daily Parent-Child Interactions
Vocabulary
Toddlers from middle and upper
income families use more words
talking to their parents than low
income mothers use talking to
their children.
“What can we do?”
• Purposefully build vocabulary daily, and in context.
• Build academic vocabulary
• Expose students to experiences and discuss the experience with
appropriate vocabulary.
• Be aware or the vocabulary discrepancies in your classroom and
scaffold for those with lower vocabulary so they don’t tune out the
conversation because they don’t understand many of the words.
Effort and Energy
Teachers are more likely to attribute
disengagement of middle income
students as “not reaching potential,”
while attributing the same behavior for
low income students to “laziness.”
Adverse Living Situations
Positive Living Situation
Chaotic early experience, brain
becomes insecure and stressed,
inappropriate responses to everyday
situations
Strong, secure home, positive
relationships, children learn healthy
responses to everyday situations
Acute and chronic stress
Protected from stress
Physical and emotional abuse
Positivity and patience
Authoritarian household
Choices and decision making
Mistrust of adults
Trusting of adults
Effort and Energy
A student who is not putting in
effort is essentially telling you that
your teaching is not engaging.
Give that same kid an engaging
teacher, and a whole new student
will emerge.
“What can we do?”
• Help students see a viable reason for the “academic
game.”
• Affirm, challenge, and encourage.
• Learn about student lives and connect with them.
• Use engaging strategies to draw students into the lesson.
Mind-Set
Mindset is a crucial internal attitude
about learning. It is a strong predicative
factor of academic achievement.
Adverse Living Situations
Fixed mind-set about learning –
“I am what I am.”
Positive Living Situation
Growth mind-set about learning“I can learn and get smarter.”
Depression may be displayed as
anger
Teachers may unwittingly
reinforce student’s mindset
Less frustrated about set-backs
Appears as though the student
doesn’t care or won’t try.
Reinforced for effort
Teacher expects success
Mind-Set
When students have a
positive attitude about their
own learning capacity, and
when the teacher focuses on
growth and change, student
engagement increases.
“What can we do?”
• Teachers need to be knowledgeable about Mind-set and how to
change a student’s mindset from fixed to growth.
• Teach students about their brain and how dendrites grow with new
learning.
• Use the student’s knowledge of their brain to encourage
perseverance
• Highlight small successes.
Cognitive Capacity
Children of poverty are more likely to have
low working memory, short attention
spans, high levels of distractibility, and
difficulty in generating new solutions.
Adverse Living Situations
Smaller hippocampus (center for
learning and memory)
Artificially suppressed IQ due to
environment.
Positive Living Situation
Brain benefits from enriched
environment
IQ developed and enhanced
from an early age
Cognitive Capacity
Children of poverty are more likely to have
low working memory, short attention
spans, high levels of distractibility, and
difficulty in generating new solutions.
“What can we do?”
The mind that is susceptible to adverse environmental
effects is equally affected by positive, enriching effects.
•
•
•
•
•
Build attention skills
Teach problem solving and critical thinking
Train working memory
Develop processing speed
Foster self-control
Relationships
Why do difficult students work for
some teachers and not others?
Because they think
the teacher cares.
Adverse Living Situations
Positive Living Situation
Chaotic early experience, brain
becomes insecure and stressed,
inappropriate responses to everyday
situations
Strong, secure home, positive
relationships, children learn healthy
responses to everyday situations
Acute and chronic stress
Protected from stress
Physical and emotional abuse
Positivity and patience
Authoritarian household
Choices and decision making
Mistrust of adults
Trusting of adults
Relationships
Parent / Child Interactions:
Low Income Families
1 positive : 2 negatives
Middle to High Income Families
6 positives : 1 negative
“What can we do?”
• Students of poverty want to know who their teacher
really is.
• They want the teacher to connect to their world.
• Need stronger relationships to increase trust.
• Won’t / don’t learn from people they don’t like or don’t
trust.
Stress Level
Acute stress is likely to lead to “inyour-face” behaviors. Chronic stress
can lead to detachments and
hopelessness.
Adverse Living Situations
Brain responds to adverse
conditions by focusing on basic
needs, not new learning.
More likely to be exposed to
domestic violence, disruption
and separation.
Stress if often channeled into
disruptive behavior
Positive Living Situation
Protected from stress and
available for learning.
Protected from violent or
stressful situations.
More likely to respond
appropriately to stressful
situations.
Stress Level
Stress exerts a relentless,
insidious influence on children’s
physical, psychological,
emotional, and cognitive
functioning; areas that affect
brain development, academic
success, and social competence.
“What can we do?”
•
•
•
•
Realize stress has a physiological effect on students.
Teach and practice coping skills.
Give students some level of control over their school lives.
Teach stress relieving techniques.
Incoming State
Target State
Boredom
Frustration
Giddiness
Hunger
Anger
+
Teacher
Actions
Anticipation
Confidence
Curiosity
Suspense
Skepticism
Inquisitiveness
Apathy
Intrigue
Annoyance
Intrigue
Resentment
Expectancy
Hopelessness
Fear
Sleepiness
Mischievousness
=
Likelihood of
Success
Health Vocabulary
and
Nutrition
Effort and
Energy
Mind-Set
Cognitive
Capacity
Relationships
Stress
Level
Be aware
of
nutritional
issues for
students.
Purposefully
build
vocabulary
daily, and in
context.
Help students
see a viable
reason for the
“academic
game.”
Mind-set and
how to
change a
student’s
mindset from
fixed to
growth.
Teach
problem
solving and
critical
thinking
Students of
poverty
want to
know who
their teacher
really is.
Realize
stress has a
physiological
effect on
students.
Be a
connectio
n to
services to
assist
families
Build
academic
vocabulary
Affirm,
challenge, and
encourage.
Teach about
how the brain
grows with
new learning.
Train
working
memory &
attention
skills.
They want
the teacher
to connect
to their
world.
Teach and
practice
coping skills.
Create an
engaging
classroom.
Expose to
experiences
and discuss
appropriate
vocabulary.
Learn about
student lives
and connect
with them.
Use
knowledge of
their brain to
encourage
perseverance
Develop
processing
speed
Need
stronger
relationships
to increase
trust.
Give
students
choices/
control over
their lives.
Scaffold
literature
and
discussion.
Strategies that Highlight
draw students small
into the lesson. successes.
Foster selfcontrol
Won’t /
don’t learn
from people
they don’t
Teach stress
relieving
techniques.
Engaging
Students with
Poverty in Mind
Single sheet
summary of
high-leverage
practices for
classroom
teachers.
Def: Engagement
Engagement |enˈgājmənt|
(1) attracted to the work
(2) persist in their work
despite challenges and obstacles
(3) take pride in the accomplishment
Attracted to the work?
Engaging Topic
Connection to Student Lives
Games
Novelty
Technology
Movement
Hands On
Talking With Each Other
Building or Constructing
Integration to Other Subjects
Persist in their work despite challenges
and obstacles.
Take pride in the accomplishment.
Contact Information
Kathy Helgeson
Kathy@RogueEd.com
www.RogueEd.com
541-601-2453