Online Assignment

#2
In Unequal Childhoods, many families from many different socioeconomic statuses were described and analyzed. We go one step further to check if these families could live in Essex County. After looking over the self-sufficiency wages in the NJRCL, it looks as though families such as the Tallingers, Williams, Marshalls, and Handlons that are middle class are well off enough to live in NJ pretty much unchanged.

However, families such as the Brindles, Mc Allisters, and Taylors might not be so lucky. The annual self-sufficiency wage shows that families need to make about $39,299 and up to $61,017 for single parent homes. The three families previously mentioned would have a tough time surviving in Essex County.

Unfortunately, I believe that there will need to be some hard decisions to be made. Take the Mc Allisters for example, they go through rough spells in terms of food. Living in Essex County might make this problem worse and lead to malnutrition and the consumption of fatty processed foods. These families will also have to live in the bigger cities such has Newark. From my walking tour in Newark, there was plenty of public transportation to get around. Necessities such as grocery stores were in relatively close distances. A major concern would also be the crime. Although, crime rates have slowly dropped over the years, that still has to be a major concern for the parents.

#3
LSNJ paints a grim picture for those living in poverty. As I mentioned earlier, families of poverty who want to live in Essex County might have to live in cities such as Newark. While the Federal Poverty Level is at $17,600, to live in Essex County, it takes $39,299, which is a little over double! New Jersey is outrageously expensive! Reports show that Newark has an income inadequacy rate of 44 percent. To add on to the bad news, the average median household income for New Jersey is $55,146 from the census of 2000, the average median household income for Essex County was reported to be $44,944. The self-sufficient hourly wage ranges from $18.61-28.89.

These findings don’t bode to well for the families in Unequal Childhoods if they were to live in Essex County. For one thing, any and all extra curricular activities would have to be stopped immediately. They might have to decide which bills to be now and later. There might be more frequent nights without food. Children won’t get the opportunity to try out or pursue interests such as sports. Their busy schedules will have a lot more free time open up. Free time is not necessarily a bad thing. It might help the kids be more independent.

#4
These reports are just eye opening. The deeper I look at the numbers; it blows me away. I have lived my whole life in New Jersey, but after this I definitely question whether I truly know New Jersey and all of its deeper darker secrets. This information puts things in better perspectives.
As a future teacher, especially with the potential to work in an urban area, its important to know more about where the students come and the road they took to get to where they are now. One way to start that is to engage with the students and teach in a manner that relates to them as people. I also would need to do more research on the background of the urban district that I teach at, so I know what the current issues are. The more I know about the community, the more I can be proactive in it. In doing so, a natural result is trust in the community.

This goes back to the inquiry project that Mark, and Rose Ellen are working on. One way in helping students in math is to bring application back to mathematics. We connect mathematics and the community. This type of curriculum has shown to engage students.It no longer becomes math as this difficult abstract task, but more as a tool to bring more awareness to the community.

Introduction to the Inquiry Project

Over the years research has shown that urban schools are not performing well. With the introduction of No Child Left Behind, schools are not kept more accountable for the education of the children. Urban schools have shown to struggle greatly in academic performance. As No Child Left Behind has been policing these schools, the schools have changed their curriculum to focus more on getting better standardized test grades. The children are no longer getting a proper education, but rather ones that will help the school stay out of trouble, and any punishment that comes along with it.

Our project presents a new perspective in teaching mathematics. It is a curriculum that has high hopes of engaging students as they learn mathematics. Social justice mathematics is an innovative way of connecting math to the student and student to the community. It is our hope that social justice math can not only teach a child mathematics, but educate them about the real world as well.

Post Reading After Thoughts

After reading the chapters, and going through discussion I noticed a lot of nature vs nurture differences. Looking at the perspective of middle class child vs poor child, just really made me think. Middle class parents are so involved and almost to the point of suffocating a child with things to do, giving that child no chance to get into any mischief but rather almost try to create the perfect human. The lower class family showed me that they let children do what they want and learn by nature and experience. Granted that parents might be working all the time, resulting in children having all this free time, but regardless, the child still does what he wants. Middle class children feel entitlement, and more often voice their opinion. They seem to try and negotiate with adults while lower class children just get yelled at and obey what the adult tells them.

Classes will always be full of diversity. Knowing how children are raised can bring awareness of how to handle a classroom and more importantly an individual. The child's economic status does not necessarily mean that they are not as intelligent, but as a teacher I need to realize that kids are different and may need to be reached out in a different light.