Shifting the Paradigm thoughts-

 While reading 'Shifting the Paradigm from Deficit to Asset based models' I was able to think back to my own K-12 years and think about what my schools were like. I feel like for elementary school it was definitely definitely more deficit based. Almost every class I had used behavior charts which I am not a fan of whatsoever. (We talked about behavior charts in class) Adding to that though, I feel like that system wasn't very positive because it caused a lot of anxiety not just for myself but also my other classmates I noticed. By basically reducing a student to a color takes away all the creativity they have and essentially their voice. To have a child/student be punished by changing their color because they may have been having a bad day RATHER than trying to figure out if perhaps something at home happened, or maybe they just woke up not feeling well- isn't right. 

I have one specific experience that I want to share from when I was in elementary school. In 4th grade, the teacher would hand out extra breakfast at the end of the day as we were leaving. At this time, I had slight food insecurity but also was just really hungry. So, she handed out extras to kids who answered questions correctly and it was safe to say I didn't get any. When everyone had left the classroom I tried to be sneaky and take a muffin with me. (Granted, I knew it wasn't right and was- to some degree- stealing, but I just really wanted it and was hungry.) The teacher ended up finding out it had it in my pocket and made me put it back and told me that she "couldn't trust me" and that as one of her best students that I really disappointed her. I was DEVASTATED. I felt so guilty. She never let me explain myself either and she had me walk next to her while leaving for a few days/ a week after that. I still remember crying while walking next to her and apologizing and she would ignore me and talk to the other teachers and tell them what I did. Which in turn, made them all be like "oh my... not Talis. How could she." I was just so embarrassed and hated that class so much after. All of this is to say, if she would have been more asset based towards me and maybe actually had a conversation with me about why I did then I feel that would have been 10x more beneficial for us both. Cause I would have been able to tell her what was going on AND she would've been able to tell me in a more positive way that although taking the food was "bad" to just talk with her about next time and we could have came up with a solution together. 

One quote that I really enjoyed from the reading is, "However, a school that focuses most of their energy on asset development will naturally be working toward risk reduction as well." I like this quote because of how simple but also factual it is. In taking the time to figure out students' strengths and weakness, you're aiding in creating a better environment where they feel safe rather than one where they feel they may need to have their guard up, be defensive, or aggressive.