"Issues of Language, Literacy, and Power"

In this reading, the writer made some very noteworthy and obvious points about literacy in children of poverty. I strongly agreed with her thesis, that the reason most students are struggling with literacy is the result of a lack of experience to reading and writing. This mad a lot of sense to me being a future physical educator. For example, say we are starting a new lesson on baseball. Some students in the class may have previous exposure to baseball through little league, and will grasp the skills much faster. Whereas a student with no experience in baseball will have very little skills if none in the game. The reason they aren't capable of performing the skills isn't because the have a deficint or completely uncoordinated, it's because they have had little or no expereince in that sport. That is completely parallel to what the writer in the article was saying about Donnie.
Also, in the article on page fourteen, there is a italicized statement that states "children of povery are learners,have been learning since birth,are ready to learn any time, and will learn." This to me is a very powerful statement that all teachers need to internalize, but not just only for students of poverty, all students. I feel strongly about this because going through school i've seen classmates who had the potential to succeed, but slipped through the cracks. We as teachers need to realize its our duty to ensure success in the classroom and put our preconcieved notions behind us. When it came to the part in the story where the teachers had no concern for the students predicament and wouldn't act apon it, it really spoke to me and planted a seed in my head to never underestimate a students potential because of their background or lack of skill or knowledge.