Chapter 2: Today's Students

      

How Does Socioeconomic Status (SES) Affect Students?

      In chapter 2 from the Joy of Teaching, Hall explains how socioeconomic status affects student in school. Students within the same school are often distinguished by their family's income and wealth which sometimes leads to students being classified and sorted by their economic condition. Giving students in higher income families an advantage. In order for schools to try and accommodate students of all socioeconomic status, they provide free or reduced lunch to students who qualify under criteria as low-income students. "When children from low-income families are the majority of the students in a school, they are more likely to have low test scores, unsafe and unattractive schools, and less-than-simulating school work that has little to do with their lives (Rothstein, 2004)." The middle class is an enormous group, including a lower-middle class, when both parents work to pay off the necessities, and an upper-middle class who tend to lead remunerative lives. Socioeconomic status gives students of higher income families an edge when it comes to pursuing higher academic levels and attending college.  

Chapter 1: Becoming a Teacher

The Joy of Teaching

Things about teaching that make you joyful:

• ·      The joy of teaching is watching students grow. Seeing students' complete simple and complex tasks, learn new concepts, win a competition, and graduating. It's always great to see kids accomplish challenges and grow as learners.
• ·      The joy of teaching is working with children. Kids come to class with a new attitude every day. Its important to try and make each day great for them. There is nothing better than seeing that shy student speak up in class. Another would be the feeling of when a student finally "gets it."
• ·      The joy of teaching is taking on a challenge of ensuring that students learn. Leading and managing 20 to 40 students hour after hour is an exciting task on its own. Leading the to academic success is an incredible joy.

Things about teaching that are not joyful:

• ·      An aspect of teaching that can on occasion not be joyful is the pressure of making multiple decisions during a day. Many distractions come up throughout the day its it can be difficult to address them on the spot. It's just always important to address questions and distractions in a professional manner. 
• ·      The demanding task of mastering the material to teach can be not so joyful on occasion. It takes years and years of practice to be able to learn the material well enough to teach it to the students. With practice and persistence this achievement will be a joyful one.
• ·      Facing difficult situations with parents and students can also be a not so joyful aspect of teaching. Students sometimes come to class in a poor mood or miss many classes in a row. These problems can often be difficult to address. Also if students are struggling to succeed in progressing their learning or are disruptive in class. These are both situations that often need to be addressed with the student and parent.