Journal Table Two
Maddy Burns
Important Societal Factors/Significant
Observations from Field Notes
A) What are the specific important-societal-
factors-edfd-460-461-462 that serve as
resources and challenges impacting the
learning of the learner(s) you are studying in
your clinical setting (See the following
document: important-societal-factors-edfd-
460-461-462) (Remember to focus on
resources, not just challenges!!!).
For many of the students at my site, economic factors
are often more challenging than helpful. According to
Minnesota Report Card, my school has 46.2% of the
school on free or reduced lunch. This clearly shows
the economic situation nearly half of the school is
coming from. This societal factor definitely impacts
the students, especially those in Key Kids. They spend
the majority of their time away from their parents. As
Key Kids staff, we help them with homework,
learning social skills, and provide a lot of emotional
support.
However, this extended time we get to spend with the
students is a resource to be able to expand our
relationships with the students and because of this
extra time, we can further their learning and help them
better understand the world, especially from a social
perspective. A lot of what we do with them is helping
them to maneuver through life and the hard parts of
working with others and getting along. We get to help
them learn the proper ways to handle problems and,
specifically myself, teaching them to deal with their
anger.
B) What developmental and/or learning
theorists learned in EDFD 400/401 can be
used to argue why these specific Important
Societal Factors are significant?
Carol Dwecks theories of cognitive science are
Course Content
C) How do specific arguments made by Eric
Jensen or any other scholars used on ANY
OF the 6 Poverty Analyses (located in the
D2L Discussion section) shape your present
thinking about working with impoverished
learners? (Cite specific author arguments,
examples, and page numbers here!!)?
I think Eric Jensens commentary on distress in
children in poverty is very insightful (29). He talks
about the toxicity of distress, or chronic stress, in a
childs life and its impact on their learning. I think it
is important for educators to address that the mental
health of their students is just as important as their
physical health and the children will not be able to
affectively learn if they are unable to focus or
perform due to their distress.
I also agree with the idea of the article, that until the
children who are impoverished are given their basic
needs, like Maslow discusses in his hierarchy of
needs, they cannot fully participate and learn and
their education will not be a priority, but rather
another burden they hold. The group, who
summarized this article in class one day, used an
activity where the learners breathed through a straw
as they spoke and at the end they asked the class how
effectively we were able to listen and remember what
they had talked about. The activity effectively
showed us that until you have what you need, you
really do not care to focus on what you are learning.
D) How do you see your Cooperating Teacher
addressing (or missing the opportunity to
address) students development of soft
skills (Be specific with concrete examples of
these soft skills Closure to the Poverty
Analysis Discussion) and any specific 21st
Century Framework Skills discussed in the
 Journal Table Two
Maddy Burns
incredibly applicable to these societal factors,
especially in terms of locus of control and growth
versus fixed mindset. Dweck describes children who
have a growth mindset, or those who can see
themselves growing and improving through hardwork
over natural born talent, push themselves farther and
work harder and more effectively than their peers with
a fixed mindset. In children who come from poverty, a
growth mindset is absolutely vital to their success.
They need to be able to envision themselves becoming
more and doing more.
Its also important for students growing up in poverty
to understand that they have control over their life, at
least in some aspects and that how well they do in
school is not determined by how much money their
parents make, what kind of house or neighborhood
they live in, or what brand of clothes they have. They
need to understand that learning takes effort and no
one is good at something until they practice it. But the
societal factors can make this mindset very hard to
find because too many times, there are adults and
other students telling these children that their goals are
unreasonable or that they will never amount to much,
which is so limiting to these children and quickly can
move them from a growth mindset to a fixed mindset
where they believe they are what they come from and
no more.
Experiences:
In my time at Key Kids, I have gotten to know
children from many different backgrounds and
socioeconomic classes. I specifically remember one
girl, Student A, who would often come in the summer
and each morning she would complain about how
tired and hungry she was. It was not uncommon for
her to not have eaten anything since she left Key Kids
the day before. We started to send sandwiches and
snacks home with her and as we did that her energy
levels and general happiness really improved.
following resources: P21 Framework
Definitions and Descriptions (Dont just say
some lame sentence about Smartboards
here!!)
My cooperating teachers did a great job working to
foster the students soft skills. They worked to build
moral character in their students by establishing a
sense of right and wrong, and they encouraged their
students to work hard and also work together with
others. For example, whenever someone did
something really outstanding to help another student
they could be randomly selected by the staff to
choose a prize out of the prize box. I work with a boy
who struggles with managing his anger and getting
along with others, so we established a system of
rewards with marbles to encourage his work ethic
and good behavior when interacting with other staff
and students.
At Key Kids we do not use a lot of technology,
because we spend most of our time playing outside,
doing crafts or activites, and working on homework.
In the past, we have used games on the Smartboards
or on laptops and iPads. We also use the GoNoodle
and other dance sites to get the kids energy out,
especially on days when we cannot go outside.
E) How do you see (or fail to see) how your
cooperating teacher demonstrates any of the
concrete strategies for working with
impoverished learners that you learned from
your outside social class scholar See your
Social Class Individual Outline (Second
Column social-class-research-report-
individual-outline-2016-17)? (Cite your
outside scholar, the title of the article, page
numbers, and specific, concrete strategies
discussed in said article!!)
Key Kids does a good job trying to involve the
community into the program. We have many people
beyond just the staff who come in to help the
 Journal Table Two
Maddy Burns

I also worked in the summer with a different girl, students. There are the field experience workers from
Student B, who also came from a low income family. WSU, the college students who create clubs for the
She was in second grade and had a lot of kids, and many other people who come to work with
responsibilities at home, like caring for her younger us. We also work to build a strong bond with the
sister. She was often distracted and had so many parents and there is a solid trust between the workers
behavioral issues she had to be asked to leave the and the parents and it is clear that we all want what is
program. I think a lot of this stemmed from her lack of best for the children.
attention at home because her mother worked multiple
jobs and would only see the girls about every other We are currently doing planning and preparing the do
day and only for a few hours at a time. the Relay for Life on the Winona State campus on
Friday, April 7th to honor one of our coworkers who
I also saw the way it affected some children to be from is battling cancer. The staff and also a few families
a family in the middle or high class. They would have are all going to participate and I think this really
nice clothes, good lunches, and tons of fun stories of shows how much the Key Kids community values
trips they took or things they did over the weekend. each of its members and the different roles we play in
The overall demeanor of some of these kids was it.
sometimes arrogant and entitled. In many of these
families it became evident that the children were the F) List the 2 Human Resources, 2 Academic
ones running the household. Journal Articles, and 2 Curriculum and
Instruction resources you will possibly use for
your Annotated Bibliography.

Budge, W. P., & Budge, K. (2016, May 18). How

Can High-Poverty Schools Engage Families and the
Community? Retrieved February 22, 2017

Lorber, J. (2004). Night to his day: The social

construction of gender. In P. S. Rothenberg (Ed.),
Race, Class, and Gender in the United States (pp. 54-
65). New York: Worth Publishers.

Lukes, M. (2014). Pushouts, shutouts, and holdouts.

Sage Journals, 49(7). Retirieved February 6, 2017

Sadker, M. & Sadker, D. (2002). The miseducation of

boys. In S. M. Bailey (Ed.), The Jossey-Bass reader
on gender in education (pp. 182-203). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass

Human Resources:

Sharina Kuhn, 3rd Grade teacher at Madison

Journal Table Two
Maddy Burns

Elementary

Amy Hornby- Uribe, Spanish Professor and Advisor

at Winona State University