Firgrove Book Study

Well ... I am not sure if Ruby will burst with pride or will wince with pain, but we had a fantastic set of group presentations on A Framework for Understanding Poverty and the last group indulged us in a song of review of all we learned. To be sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandee. It was complete with instrumental accompaniment. Well done team ...

The Firgrove bunch, we read a book
And boy it was a dandy!
The stuff we learned sure made us think
And will surely come in handy!

CHORUS (Let 'er rip!)
Ruby Payne, you helped me see
Ruby Payne, you showed me
All those strategies to use
To help kids move from poverty

Now I know ‘bout those hidden rules
In all the different classes
And I’ll teach middle class rules
To our lads & lasses (CHORUS)

Frozen, formal, consultative
Casual and intimate
Are the language registers
And now we are aware of it (CHORUS)

To be successful in this life
Our students need to know
When to use each register
And this will help them grow (CHORUS)

The child’s voice is emotional
The parent’s is demanding
It’s best to use the adult voice
To foster understanding (CHORUS)

For any learning to take place
It must be based on trust
Significant relationships
Are a definite must (CHORUS)

There are some rules for kids to learn
To use while they’re at school
But using those same rules at home
May make them feel a fool (CHORUS)

Teaching is outside the head
Learning on the inside
Those cognitive strategies
Help children learn with pride (CHORUS)

Expectations and support
Must be our guiding lights
So that our students will have
A future that is bright (CHORUS)

We learned from our brave colleagues
When stories they did share
That what really helped them
Was having someone care (CHORUS)

Understanding poverty
Some interesting notions
Got us talking, gave us skills
And stirred up our emotions (CHORUS)

We at Firgrove ate it up
Just like cotton candy
We’ll apply all that we learned
So kids can be just dandy

(Last chorus slower and with emphasis)
Ruby Payne, you helped me see
Ruby Payne, you showed me
All those strategies to use
To help kids move from poverty

ON Mother’s Day I ran across a TNT frontpage article about Punky Moms who are carving out an identity of their own – and a diverse culture that is impacting schools. The opening paragraph sheds some light on this identity, “Their groove lies somewhere between Pantera, the Pogues and the PTA. They might stay at home with their kids – or not. Many sport body art – tattoos and piercings – or dye their hair pink, blue or other unnatural colors. They might not mind if their kids cuss at home.”

From what I am reading, as a whole, Punky Moms possess values that are very important to them and intentionally determine how they raise their children and live their lives. The website, http://www.punkymoms.com/, captures some of these values. Further on in the article, young punk moms are quoted and give examples of how their ideas play out. It is quite clear, that some of the philosophies and practices that are advocated by the punky moms are contrary to the typical middle-class public school institution. AND THAT IS THE POINT! Conformity to the acceptable middle-class values of family and life are to be challenged and questioned. I sense a disdain for conformity and even as I write this, I am sure that I have already raised the pierced eyebrows of many punky moms. “DEAR Punky Moms, I beg your patience as I try to understand and figure out how all this plays out in the public school arena.”

My point is not to squabble about the legitimacy of their choices versus societal expectations. In fact, some of the issues they raise are very much a part of what I know teachers are discussing: the value of children, the individuality of children, freedom to choose, need to work with the diversity of family structures, etc. However, I am concerned that schools will not be given the opportunity by the moms to help understand and figure out how they can support their child’s learning and best interest. My bet is that many of the punky moms, as well as others, are very suspicious of schools and school personnel. I even believe that many of them hated school and were harmed in different ways by traditional schooling. Schools are slowly becoming more culturally proficient, but it will take time and lots of partnerships with the diverse stakeholders. The more aware we become of diversity among our community, the more able we are to competently work with all students to help them succeed. I believe this begins with relationships and that is for another post …!

To conclude the book study for session 2 I asked participants to comment as to what is working well and what they would like to see improved. Most the comments stated that they are enjoying the book and that they are finding value in the discussions. My thoughts are you will get out of it what you put into it. If you read the text and come prepared to offer up ideas or ask questions it will make the discussion only that much richer.

The constructive feedback that occurred the most frequently was, "Why are doing this and is this more than information?" or "Are we expected to do something with this information?" I have my ideas about the purpose of this book study, but I wonder what others are thinking.

Our group has had a lot of discussion about the use (or the lack of) formal language by kids. WE think that we as teachers and school staff, have a lot of power to help kids understand the need to use formal language, model it, AND to directly teach it. I am at fault in not directly teaching it when I have a chance and I am doing a disservice to kids when I don't take the opportunity to instruct them how to use the formal language register. How about you? Our two book group members that have learned the Queen's tongue would totally agree dudes with that cool idea!

A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING POVERTY - Firgrove Book Study

How do we at Firgrove continue the conversation from our small book groups? How do we learn about all the neat reflections and ideas that we each have as we engage in our reading?

Introducing the Firgrove Book Study BLOG

Post your questions, reflections, or comments so as to keep the ideas flowing.