It is interactions like these that occur with students and teachers that are very discouraging in a student's education. This student was more than happy to participate in class, but was excluded because of the teacher's different set of beliefs. This then led her to become a silent student that was no longer confortable in participated in class.

This is so big! How are students expected to "move up the ladder" at the same rate as the wealthier ones. It is still possible, but it is made 10X harder for these students, while the others often just get the handouts.

I can connect to this personally. Growing up I would make an effort into schoolwork, but I had experiences with teachers that made me feel less-than. When the whole class would be rewarded, I wasn't rewarded because "I didn't deserve it." Although schoolwork doesn't have to be rewarded, it is the exclusion that sticks with you. I can sit here and tell you that I was a good student, even though I wasn't the smartest. Students who would behave poorly and weren't doing the best academically would often still be rewarded.

I can totally relate to this! It may even be weird to connect the two, but I feel as though imposter syndrome should also be discussed. It is very easy to feel imposter syndrome when it comes to this. I feel like as I was growing up, I never felt like I an equal to most of the students in class/school. To this day, I continue to feel the same. Although I am a student at UCI and have put in the effort to be able to attend this university, I feel like a part of me feels as though it isn't real. One reason being that I never thought that I'd be able to attend college due to the how costly it can be. As well as the setbacks I had in my academics in school.

I feel like this is because people don't want to be seen as the "poor person" they wanna be seen like everybody else. I feel like that can go for a lot of things not just socio-economic status. In other words, people don't want to be defined by their circumstance(s).

I Agree!! I can totally connect with this. I've written before that it was very difficult for me to do well in school due to the lack of "tools." For example, being a first-generation Mexican-American was for sure a big contributor to this. The lack of education my mom was able to get was another layer to that. I also didn't have anyone I could ask for help when it came to homework. My mother was always busy with work and even if she could help, she never had the time (which I always understood). Socio-economic status also stacks onto this one since I was not able to receive help/assistance from my mom, I was also unable to afford a tutor that COULD help me

Once again this supports that students do not perform poorly because of their race/ethnicity. This provided more support to the fact that equity is needed in the education system to be able to fill in some, if not all of the gaps.

Once again this is showing us that this is where a lot of misconceptions form! From this, the misconception can form that White people are smart and that African Americans are not. NOT TRUE!! This is showing us the gap between the advantages that are found in most of these families... leading to these placements.

This is interesting! Another thing I wanna add to that is often times the teachers who are better equipped for the job often expect higher wages than the schools that are on the lower-income side can afford therefore leading them to employ less capable teachers.

Whether this is intentional or not, due to the lack of resources that lower-income students have, it is still very impactful towards them.

I am completely behind this!! Allowing a student the ooportunity to be able to make this choice provides them a sense of freedom and also allows them to take classes whiich they value and/or are interested in.

Humans--most for that matter-- are afraid of what they do not understand/know. Most if not all of my friends had parents that weren't well educated, much less on mental illness. In addition to the stigma that was included in most of their culture. Which leads for parents to "brush off" their child's needs/feelings.

This really caught my attention! This is crucial in a child's language development! I have seen children that spend less time with their parents and are interacted with at a minimal level... even the iPad kids. I feel as though a lot of millennial parents hand over their phones or give their children an iPad in a way you'd give a baby a pacifier. I feel as though giving these children iPads, they aren't interacting enough with their surroundings which (I feel) could alter their interactions, possibly their education/learning.

Here we see that Alexander is being provided with more than enough "tools" to succeed in his education, EVEN enrichment activities! I find it interesting that it is crucial to including the information of the parents' educational background. It is brought up that Alexander's parents knew what was needed in order to prepare him for college. I can connect to this in the way where I look at it from the other side. I was not at all prepared for anything college related due to there being no prior knowledge that was passed down from my mother.

Once again, this is showing us that there is a complete disadvantage when it comes to being of lower-income. Without fail, this makes our education system more than clear...without the right tools, it is very easy to get left behind. How can we change that? Can we even change that successfully in the long run?

I find this interesting, you would assume that as time is going on, more and more change is being made, but this is not the case. Unfortunately, the differences in these students have drastic effects.

What I love about this passage is that, it humanizes the teachers at schools when they're all about getting to know their students and being able to build that "community." Not many teachers do this, but it is truly beneficial to the students, it can help students be eager to learn and ready to come to class. In addition to that, whenever there is confusion on any sort of material, it is easier to ask for help since the teachers have already gained the trust of their students.

This passage brings to light something is seen throughout our education system. I myself have also been subject to this. Especially when I was younger, the teachers would ask us the best ways we learned material, but most children that age usually are unsure of what is most beneficial to them. I even remember taking a survey to figure out what types of learners we were in order to include all of them in the curriculum.

This passage demonstrates how actions that may appear harmless can be negatively charged. This professor is only portraying what appears to be valuable; "white men." This brings me to a time in high school. My senior year I took an African American Lit class, but the person who was instructing the class was a white male with blue eyes. The teacher was well aware of his place and knew the confusion that would strike within students upon finding out that it was him that was teaching the class. Although, he had no ill-intent, since the teacher was white, I don't believe he truly could've fully understood the material to that extent... As in, he has never had to experience it.

Although there is inclusivity that is implemented to our education systems, it still manages to fall short. Inclusivity isn't just in reference to skin color, it can be to learning style, and many other things. For example, when learning math in elementary school, with a bit of explaining some kids could solve math problems left and right with just a piece of paper and pencil. For others, they may have needed a visual. For example, an easy way to provide a visual for these students is to give them a bunch of block that from there they can do simple math equations. Which also leads me to this; what happens to those schools that aren't funded well enough, how can they create accommodations for students that learn differently than the rest of the class? Or do they just get left behind?

This passage is frustrating. College applications are confusing as is, whether you are a first-gen college student or not. Now, imagine that you have no idea what any of the "lingo" is and what all of it means and does. It's like trying like being asked to navigate a large cluttered room blindfolded, it's nearly impossible.

Privileged students are often the ones who can only benefit from this mindset; Borrowing money from parents. What if there is no money to borrow? What do you do when your parents don't have savings for college? How does that mindset work then? It just doesn't. Like I've mentioned previously, I've been a part of low-income my entire life, when I was in high school, most if not all of my friends parents had money saved up for them. When I asked my mom if we had anything, the answer was as expected--we did not. I experienced this very thing, the urgency for money that I needed for college. In addition to that, I am a first generation college student, (at the time) I had no idea what FAFSA was or how it worked. So the second I could, I started working. I would go to work every day, after school and on weekends. I frantically worked so I would (hopefully) have enough money for college.

In other words, this passage states that the programs themselves are not harmful, but the image it can portray. Look at it like this, imagine the elementary school you attend has a gifted program. Now if you see that the children that are a part of the program are often not minorities or are less fortunate, you would not tend to associate "giftedness" within those communities. This can create bias or stereotypes, negatively impacting those who are apart of these communities.

This passage describes the negative effects of "tracking" and how it can appear totally harmless to group the kids that are at the same level of proficiency. Yet, it can have a negative impact. I can relate to this when I was in elementary school. For example, back then, there were a "select few" that would go to a separate teacher's class and these "select few" were students that were struggling with not necessarily academics, but in language, yet it wasn't ESL. When I first started going to this separate classroom, I didn't understand what the reason was initially, but later on I began to realize why and it did alter with my perspective of myself when it came to my academics.

This passage emphasizes how common it is for people to be overworked (specifically women) right under 40 so employers are NOT obligated to provide for medical insurance. Unfortunately, I met a few people who are well in their 30's that experience the same thing. Although they're in good health, medical insurance is something they should have access to.

Reading this reminds me that there are people out there that genuinely don't know why people are poor and why it is that they continue to live in poverty. As someone who has been low-income my entire life, it can be difficult to climb up the ladder financially. Often times, those less fortunate are living paycheck to paycheck and are subject to public schools that aren't well funded and/or don't have teachers with the same knowledge as those who are fortunate.

This image actually brings me to another thought of mine. In this diagram, it includes "Work or extracurriculars?" When thinking of success in school, there is also the possibility that students have another responsibility--a job. Although for some it can be more of a necessity than a choice, it can be easy to overwork yourself, especially when you're left with no choice but to work. Another small thing I wanted to add was that when applying for colleges, they may ask for your extracurriculars, and for those students who are at work all the time it can be difficult to also pick up an extracurricular on top of everything that they are already juggling.

I completely agree with this statement. Although the thought behind public education is good, it still doesn't get these less fortunate kids "out of the woods." For example, for me it was really difficult keeping up in school (elementary - high school) due to several different obstacles. One being that I couldn't get the help I needed in school because I could not afford a tutor. Another being that I could not ask anyone at home since they did not speak English. As well at the people at home never finished their education. Specifically, the highest grade my mom got up to was 6th grade. Those are just a few of the obstacles that were holding me back. Now, imagine a bunch of other struggles that other less fortunate children had...

I feel like this couldn't have been said better. Equity is essential to "level the playing field." The way I think of it is you have two kids. One has a thick cotton blanket, the other doesn't. To make it fair, you give the other one a blanket, yet it's not the same. The other child receives a thin cotton blanket. Yes, they both now have blankets, but they aren't equally as effective.

There is a section of this statement that discusses "almost certain" failure when students do not succeed in school. Although I do believe I can understand where this comes from... since they aren't able to put their efforts into something that will only "benefit" them, why would they put any effort into better their lives. Yet, I know several people that weren't scholars in high school and are still successful. For example, a tattoo artist of mine did not graduate high school, but is a very talented and dedicated person and has made his career skyrocket. Although being a tattoo artist isn't the same ass being lawyer or a doctor, he still is successful and more than financially stable, and most importantly happy.

This statement discusses how the community's values are often portrayed in the schools as they are able to vote in school elections. It is then brought up that this can create "bigotry and zenophobia." Which I think raises a question for schools in general, not just the public ones. And that is; Should we embrace differences from other communities or should we keep it how it is? Now, this is where it gets complicated. Some may ask, why should people who are not a part of "said" community be able to make decisions on it. Another thing is, if this was possible, how effective would it be? Would we see a sharp positive reaction or would it eventually decline?

This statement is leaning towards the idea that attaining a college education takes you in the right direction of success. Although that may be true, I have met too many people who have gotten their degrees, yet end up at a job that you often see high schoolers or college students at, in other words, a temporary job. Many people spent their time and money into getting a degree, yet didn't end up moving forward in their life. How is that? How can we change that? Is it up to the person or should there be more opportunities? I feel like the possibilities are endless when it comes to this. And for every person there are special circumstances, whether they could or couldn't have been prevented.

This highlights how people are set up for success or failure at birth, in a more light-hearted way. It states that "the success of one generation depends at least partly on the success of their parents or guardians." In other words, one of the main ways you will succeed in life is if you're parents/guardians already are. And if i'm not mistaken, the "only way" to do that is almost like you're pre-destined for it. I find this both inaccurate and accurate. Yes, I do believe that those who have parents that are successful struggle less in more ways than one--not just in their education. Specifically, it is easier to fail when you do not have the right resources and/or support. This is not to say that all of those who are less fortunate fail--it just makes it 10X as difficult.

I find this interesting. It makes me question those who believe none of the things listed above, not in validity, but in curiosity. So what is it that they believe in? If it is not education that helps us progress, then what does? I, myself do not believe in everything that is listed above. Not everyone has the "freedom and opportunity" to do and make whatever it is for their life. There are countless limitations that I can begin to list that can/may hold back many of us. Unfortunately, often times those who have more limitations are people of color, those who are a part of less fortunate communites, etc.