Use your observation skills to tell me about Mr. Hawkins. We were introduced to Mr. Hawkins in Chapter 1. Read about Mr. Hawkins in Jensen's book Teaching with Poverty in Mind on pages 5, 13, 46, 66, and 106.
Describe him. What do you think he is like?
What kind of a teacher is he?
Is he healthy in all the domains of health (physical, social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and environmental)?
Do you think he eats, sleeps, and exercises well?
Is he a good role model? Observe only from the pages listed above, and tell me a story about Chris Hawkins, the teacher.
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When I was first introduced to Mr. Hawkins in chapter 1, his work experience caught my attention right away. He has been teach for more than 10 years and made me believe that if he has been teaching for that long, he must be educating young people the right way! Just from reading a couple lines from chapter 1 about him, I think that he is an amazing teacher with high expectations, but on the other hand he seems like the type of teacher who gives up too easily on his students if they don’t meet his expectations. Mr. Hawkins is an amazing teacher who has a short tension span with his students. He was raised from a wealthy home and not once was faced with what living in poverty was all about. Mr. Hawkins is healthy in some of the domains of health but not all of them. Personally I do not believe that he eats, sleep and exercise well. I think that his body doesn’t function well because he’s constantly stressed out. He worries about his students academically because of their behavior in the classroom; the use of profanity, disrespectfulness of others, and the tolerance of them acting out. Mr. Hawkins could be a good role model simply because he wants nothing but the best for his students in the future. Overtime from the progression of him observing and coping with his students made him change his mind about retirement. He changed his thought of retiring from negative to a positive aspect.
After reading the pages listed above, I gathered that Mr. Hawkins is a person with a closed mind. At first he’s not willing to accept what is going on in his classroom and seems very negative when it comes to his classroom behaviors. I think the reason why Mr. Hawkins acts this why is because of the way he grew up. He wasn’t exposed to the struggles children face with poverty because his mother and father had successful jobs. He seems like he would be a harder teacher because he’s not willing to give his students a chance. He is seems like he is one to judge their every move because they are from poverty. He seems like he would know the material but not know how to make it relevant to his students. I think that he cares about his students but doesn’t know how to approach them without judgment. I think that Mr.
Hawkins is physically, spiritual, intellectual, and environmentally healthy because he knows the material he is teaching; he doesn’t seem physically, spiritual and environmentally incapable because he handles that in his classroom. He doesn’t seem that he is fully healthy socially because he doesn’t really know how to talk to his students to understand their situations coming from poverty. He doesn’t know how to talk to them like they are normal; all he sees is that they came from poverty. He is also emotionally unhealthy because he doesn’t have experience with children of poverty at first. Mr. Hawkins doesn’t know how to emotionally connect with his students because he never grew up around poverty because of his family life. I think Mr. Hawkins does eat and exercises well but I don’t think that he sleeps well because his classroom struggles could interfere with his sleep pattern. All he could be thinking at night is how to understand his students and what is it going to take to relate to them. Which could then make his teaching not up to standard because he isn’t getting the proper amount of sleep. At the beginning of the book, I don’t think that Mr. Hawkins is a good role model because he’s quick to judge his students and doesn’t have the experience to relate to him. Although, towards the end of the book I do think that Mr. Hawkins has the potential to be a good role model because he is finally starting to realize that it is going to take effort to make his classroom succeed.
Mr. Hawkins is described as a teacher who is easily frustrated. He does not understand his students, nor does he seem to want to understand them until the end of the book.
Mr. Hawkins is a teacher who is so overwhelmed by the social status of his students that he cannot see the purpose of his job. He has not taken time to understand where his students are coming from or why they are acting out in class. On page 13 it says that “He has learned that there’s far more behind the apathetic p All he seems to care about is retiring in six years. He seems to think that all students from all backgrounds or social class learn information at the same rate. However, he does not realize that some children of poverty may need extra help. Also, it does not seem that he approaches his students in a way that shows that he really cares about them.
Knowing whether Mr. Hawkins is healthy physically would mean that I would have to know if he exercises regularly, eats right, gets enough sleep, etc, which the book does not specify. It also does not specify is he goes to church or worships any kind of God. Emotionally, I would say that Mr. Hawkins is not healthy. He does not express his emotions very well, in fact the book says that he often becomes frustrated when his students are misbehaving. From my own experience, being frustrated all the time makes me become very stressed out. Being stressed is not emotionally healthy. Socially, I feel that Mr. Hawkins is healthy. However, I cannot be sure. I know from reading, that he is friends with his colleagues at work and that they talk about their classrooms. However, I do not know how he functions in relationships outside of school. Mr. Hawkins is not environmentally healthy. He does not seem to be able to adjust to the environment of a poverty-stricken school. He cannot seem to see past where they come from, or see that each student has potential. Intellectually, I feel that Mr. Hawkins is healthy. He seems to know the information and know that the students need more from him than just being a teacher; however, he doesn’t seem to be able to let himself be that kind of a teacher.
I do not think that Mr. Hawkins eats, exercises, or sleeps like he should. If he were to sleep, eat, and exercise like he should, he would not be so stressed or become frustrated so easily. I can honestly say that I have begun to eat healthier, exercise, and try to get more sleep. Since then, I have felt much better and began to feel less stressed. Instead of becoming upset or frustrated like I usually do, I find that after I have exercised, I feel relieved. Becoming physically active and physically healthy is a key factor to how people handle their stress.
When our journey with Mr. Hawkins begins, he is a terrible role model. He is a model for how a teacher should not act when they are teaching children of poverty. He doesn’t understand how reach his students who are struggling with living in poverty. And instead of trying to be a caring understanding teacher who the students can confide in, he is easily frustrated. He does not even seem to care about reaching his students. Instead of wanting them to succeed and striving to help each of them reach their goals, he is only concerned with having six more years till he can retire. As the year progresses, he realizes that his students need special attention. However, he still lacks the self confidence to implement his new knowledge. He is working and becoming a better more competent teacher for his students. He is putting forth a good effort to get to know his students and become more relatable to their learning situations. At the end of Mr. Hawkins’ journey he had a made a complete 180 degree turn around. He was a model teacher. He had taken his new knowledge and learned how to reach his students from different social classes. Where as in the beginning he was more focus on how long till he retired, now he more focused on how he can impact the lives of his students in the short amount of time that he has remaining before he retires.
Describe him. What do you think he is like? I think Mr. Hawkins is naïve and a bit indecisive. He’s “judging a book by it’s’ cover”. I think he is immature to the fact of poverty. He judges the student’s because he does not fully understand their background and has not ever been a child of poverty. We all are human and judge and he just fell into the trap of stereotyping children of poverty. He is a smart man, middle class family who has not been educated about the students he’s been having trouble with.
What kind of a teacher is he? He is
Is he healthy in all the domains of health (physical, social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and environmental)? No. He thinks that all the children are going to end up like their other family members who have either dropped out or haven’t furthered their education. To be distraught and discouraged about his students defines that he is indeed not healthy within. Being unhappy, tired and depressed are definitely not signs of being emotionally, socially or physically healthy.
Do you think he eats, sleeps, and exercises well? No I do not think Mr. Hawkins eats, sleeps and exercises well. He needs to get more rest, and eat better and maybe he will feel better about coming to school. If you do not take care of yourself it will show through your posture, speech, attitude and behavior.
Is he a good role model? Observe only from the pages listed above, and tell me a story about Chris Hawkins, the teacher. I do not think that he is a good role model. He states in the book one time that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”. When people make these remarks it shows that they are immature. Instead he should be encouraging and try to get to know them.
On page 5, Mr. Hawkins seems like he is more frustrated with the students than anything. I can’t tell if he cares about the students, or if he just wants the paycheck. I don’t think he is emotionally or environmentally healthy because he says, “It’s like going to war everyday”, and, “Retirement is only six years away.” This makes me wonder enjoys being a teacher, or if he would rather doing some thing else.
After reading page 13, however, my view changes just a little bit. Mr. Hawkins comes from a slightly privileged background, and he doesn’t understand the students’ lifestyles. What he has learned about their home life makes him depressed and upset to the point that he just wants to get it over with and be done with teaching.
Not only is Mr. Hawkins depressed about the lives of his students, he is also discouraged it seems. His colleagues all have stories about how they have changed a student’s life, and he doesn’t have a story like that. It’s discouraging to him.
Mr. Hawkins soon finds new hope and realizes that academic performance and IQ of low SES students can be improved, and the apple can fall far from the tree.
By the end of Mr. Hawkins’s story, he feels a pressure to do better. He realized that students can be taught to be better and to learn better. After realizing this, his outlook changed. He went from “Retirement is only six years away,” and wanting to leave to, “Retirement is less than six years away”, and knowing he has that short amount of time to help his students.
Mr. Hawkins is a frustrated teacher who teaches children of poverty. He is constantly overwhelmed by his students and their behaviors. They display inappropriate behavior, lack of motivation, and are constantly tardy. Because of the behaviors of his students Mr. Hawkins constantly reminds himself that retirement is only six years away. After receiving information as to Mr. Hawkins up bringing I see that he was brought up in a middle class, two parent home. He had never gone through or heard of some of the things that go on in the homes of his students who come from homes of poverty. After learning about many of his students he has become depressed and discouraged as a teacher.
After reading about Mr. Hawkins I believe that he is not a caring teacher. I think that he is only there for a pay check and is not interested in his students and their education. He has already given up on his students before he really gave many of them a chance, solely based on the environment that they were brought up in.
Mr. Hawkins is the type of teacher who doesn’t believe in change in one’s ability. After meeting with one of his students parent he expressed how the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He states that he has watches this continuous cycle of poverty in his students and no change in their academics or behaviors. This is another reason why he constantly reminds himself that retirement is only six years away.
I don’t feel that he is healthy in all the domains of health because he doesn’t possess the energy of that of a healthy individual. He has a negative view of his students and their abilities and is constantly counting down the years to his retirement. I feel that if he were healthy in all of these domains than he would be open and willing to help with his students instead of putting them down, because they come from homes of poverty. I don’t think that he eats, sleep, or exercises well because he doesn’t seem to be well balanced in the classroom. I think that if he was well balanced as far as sleeping, eating, and exercising he would have more energy to focus on ways to help his students instead of putting them down.
In the beginning, Chris Hawkins was not a good role model. He doesn’t believe in his student’s ability, nor does he believe in himself to make a change in his students. Chris Hawkins the teacher, only focuses on the bad of his students and never mentions any good that they may possess. He constantly reminds himself about retirement and is counting down the years.
Then, he came across information that allowed him to understand that a student’s cognitive capacity and IQ’s are not things that are fixed but can be improved. He no longer views retirement as only six years away. He now reminds himself that there are now things that he can do to help improve his students within the six years that he has left teaching. He is now being introduced to schools that have achieved success with students who were once “those kids” whom no one thought could be changed. He is now asking himself questions such as, what it is that I can do to improve the lives of my students. This was something that he had never done before and I feel that this is very important that he does this. I think that he is now on the path to becoming a great role model because his job is no longer a job. He now realizes that his students are what are really important and that if he wants to improve them he must first start by improving himself. He is now constantly reminding himself of all the good he can do for his students because retire is now less than six years away.
Chris Hawkins is a good teacher and when first introduced he is the typical old school teacher that looks down on children of poverty as those who just do not want to learn. He thinks that nothing is going to help them and that they are destined for a life in poverty just as their parents were. By the time you get to the end of the book he has made a complete turn around and now is thinking how he can help these kids succeed in life and not end up living a life in poverty. He sees that every child can learn and figures out that with the right amount of help learning can and will happen. He goes from the mentality that “the apple does not fall far from the tree” to trying to figure out how he can help these kids better their lives. At the beginning he uses the mantra of only six years of retirement to get him through the year. However, by the end he is trying to figure out how he can better these kids and his future students within those six years. Chris Hawkins starts off as a typical old school teacher that just casts low-SES students to the side expecting them not to be able to learn, but by the end of the book he has changed his mind and thought processes and wants to help his kids and wants them to learn.
Mr. Hawkins is an teacher who has been teaching for 10 years. In the beginning of the chapter is tells how he constantly reminds himself that retirement is only 6 years away! He thinks about this because of the hard time he has dealing with his students. His students are from families of poverty. They have behavioral issues. Which proves to be an problematic issue for Mr. Hawkins. His students are usually tardy & have no motivation to succeed,better yet do their work period. Mr. Hawkins is not an child of poverty so he doesn't understand the pressures & effects of living in poverty. He grew up in an middle class, two patent household.
I think Mr.Hawkins is a teacher who has not ever taught children of poverty so he doesn't know how to deal with them therefore that leads him to want to give up. I feel as though that is no excuse though as a teacher he should get to know his students & the backgrounds they come from.
Mr. Hawkins believes that his students will always just be children of poverty. He doesn't believe in change. First & foremost your students have to feel like you believe in them if no one else does. I can just imagine the type of vibe his students get from.him.
I do not that Mr. Hawkins is healthy in any domain for the simple fact that is stress & the behavior of his students very much affects him & his performance as an educator. I am for certain that he doesn't eat, sleep or exercise.
Based on the information that was giving about Mr.Hawkins in the beginning he is not the ideal if an role model. He was frustrated with his students & their behavioral issues & all he could think about was retirement & not getting to know his students. After discovering some information about students and the way they learn & develop he was able to get an.understand why his students acted the way they did. Now that he had info he was able to take what he learn & apply in helping him deal with his students. I do believe he know has the ability to be a role model. You have to create a relationship with your students something he didn't do. Now that he know a little more he will be able to accomodate his students.more & not think about retirement, but how he can make a difference in his students life.
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