Eric Jensen - Poor Students, Rich Teaching: Seven High-Impact Mindsets for Students From Poverty (Using Mindsets in the Classroom to Overcome Student Poverty and Adversity)

POOR

STUDENTS,

RICH

TEACHING

[REVISED EDITION]

SEVEN HIGH-IMPACT MINDSETS FOR STUDENTS FROM POVERTY

ERIC JENSEN

Copyright 2019 by Solution Tree Press

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Jensen, Eric, 1950 author.

Title: Poor students, rich teaching : seven high-impact mindsets for students from poverty / Eric Jensen.

Other titles: Poor students, richer teaching

Description: Revised Edition. | Bloomington, Indiana : Solution Tree Press, [2019] | Previous edition: 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018039639 | ISBN 9781947604636 (perfect bound)

Subjects: LCSH: Children with social disabilities--Education--United States. | Poor children--Education--United States. | Academic achievement--United States.

Classification: LCC LC4091 .J4576 2019 | DDC 371.826/94--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039639

Solution Tree

Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO

Edmund M. Ackerman, President

Solution Tree Press

President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife

Editorial Director: Sarah Payne-Mills

Art Director: Rian Anderson

Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton

Senior Production Editor: Todd Brakke

Senior Editor: Amy Rubenstein

Proofreader: Elisabeth Abrams

Cover Designer: Laura Cox

Text Designer: Abigail Bowen

Compositor: Laura Cox

Editorial Assistant: Sarah Ludwig

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to the groundbreaking work of many researchers, the vision and patience of Douglas Rife, Todd Brakke, and the saintly support of my wife, Diane. I also thank the many high-performing teachers whose work has enriched this project, including LeAnn Nickelsen, Whitney Henderson, Shauna King, Jamie Irish, Leslie Ross, Katie Lyons, Victor Shatalov, and Josalyn Tresvant.

Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:

Stacie Emert

Principal

Wheeler Elementary School

Tucson, Arizona

Ellen L. Hall

Principal

Claiborne Fundamental Magnet School

Shreveport, Louisiana

Jacque Wyant

Principal

Sioux City West High School

Sioux City, Iowa

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Table of Contents

About the Author

Eric Jensen, PhD, is a former teacher from San Diego, California. Since the early 1990s, he has synthesized brain research and developed practical applications for educators. Jensen is a member of the invitation-only Society for Neuroscience and the Presidents Club at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies. He cofounded SuperCamp, the first and largest brain-compatible academic enrichment program, held in fourteen countries with over sixty-five thousand graduates. He is listed as a Top 30 Global Guru in Education and does professional development internationally.

Jensen has authored over thirty books, including Teaching with Poverty in Mind, Tools for Engagement, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind, Turnaround Tools for the Teenage Brain, Bringing the Common Core to Life in K8 Classrooms, Teaching with the Brain in Mind, and Different Brains, Different Learners.

To learn more about Eric Jensens teacher workshops and leadership events, visit Jensen Learning (www.jensenlearning.com).

Preface

This revised and combined edition of Poor Students, Rich Teaching and Poor Students, Richer Teaching represents an updated, best-of look at the seven high-impact mindsets necessary to reach students from poverty and help them succeed. How do I qualify to write a book about mindsets and poverty? I did my dissertation on poverty. I have worked successfully with over two hundred Title I schools in the United States. But there is something else you should know about me. This journey actually began in my early childhood. Thats when I learned firsthand about adversity and mindsets.

You see, my mother walked out on my two sisters and me when I was two. My dad struggled to raise three children. He worked during the day, went to night school, and had busy weekends with the National Guard. My first stepmother (of three total) entered my life when I was six. She was violent, alcoholic, and abusive. She made my home life a living nightmare for nine years (from ages six through fifteen). She threatened me daily, and I became a survivor who focused on dodging continual abuse through hiding, staying away from the house, living with relatives, and eating dog food for snacks.

No adult in my early life taught me or role-modeled healthy social or emotional skills. I was terrible as a student, both behaviorally and academically. Moving around was the norm, not the exception; I went to three elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools. At one count, I had 153 teachers. And this is the G-rated version. The viewpoint I learned from my father was, Stop complaining, and focus on whats important. For me, that meant survival.

I am telling you this because I know what its like to grow up in a toxic environment. I have had a loaded, cocked gun held to my head and heard, Do what I tell you, or I will shoot. I acted out in class and got in trouble often. My K12 grades were poor, and I finished high school with a C+ average. The odds of me succeeding in life at that stage were not good.

So how did I find a way to succeed? First, I was born with white privilege. I did not experience daily additional stressors from racism, gender inequality, or classism. Second, I was lucky. At age thirty, I started meeting amazing adult role models and, for years, I made them a part of my life. I started to learn what success in life was really about.

This book is personal for me, and I am hoping to make it personal for you. You must make a choice to understand the mindsets of those who grow up with adversity and, more important, make a choice to learn the new mindsets to help your students succeed.

Ultimately, thats what this book is about: choice. Everyone gets knocked down; for some, it is more often and more traumatic than others. The next time you have a student in your class who acts out, who is frustrated by how your class is going, remember: I was one of those students, and I took it personally when a teacher did not help me succeed. When my teachers did not help me, I just stopped putting in the effort. On the flip side, when teachers cared about and helped me, I worked hard and had a good attitude. Although my own K12 experience was not good overall, a few good teachers were different, and slowly, I began to get glimpses of hope. Their mindsets were different. I felt the impact of relationships and good teaching.