Impact of poverty project

My final project for my seminar/practicum class was to create a visual model that tied into the impact that poverty has on students. This project was a culmination of reading a book by Eric Jensen titled Teaching with Poverty in Mind. This book was an extremely informative book and opened my eyes even more to the impact that poverty can have on students, and even on people in general. For my visual, I chose to create a model of a butterfly out of foam poster board; I wanted to do wood but I did not have the time, tools, or ability to create my vision onto wood. In addition to creating a visual model, we had to address different aspects of the impact poverty can have on students. The aspects included: definition of poverty, characteristics of poverty, impact of poverty on a student's academic success, impact of poverty on student behavior, personal beliefs and ideas, personal relevance, and more. We also had to detail why we chose the visual that we did. I chose a butterfly because I feel that students that begin life in poverty may feel like a caterpillar does- unwanted, helpless, and alone- but with the right education, tools, and guidance poverty stricken students have the possibility of transforming into a beautiful being- like a butterfly. Below I have written about a piece of my personal relevance with poverty so please keep in mind that this is one small part of my childhood and is very personal.

I do have prior experience with poverty growing up. However, I feel that I have overcome the negativity of poverty as much as possible over the last few years; as of now, my family and I may not have everything we want but we do have all of the necessities with a few extras. When I was born, my mother was only sixteen and ended up being a single mother, which played a big role in our poverty. I remember growing up and moving around often and having up to five elementary schools, up to three middle schools, and two high schools because of those moves. I also remember nights where my mom wouldn't eat dinner because she made sure I ate first and there wasn't enough food for us both; a pack of hot dogs could last us at least a week. However, my childhood wasn't all a struggle because there were times that I went to live with my maternal grandparents because my mom couldn't find an affordable place for us both to live. If it wasn't for my grandparents I believe that I wouldn't have succeeded as well as I did in school and life.

I did not get pictures before I turned in my project but will post them when I get the project back!