I have never felt so down and out while reading a book. The entire time I was reading "Nickled and Dimed" by Barbara Enrenreich, I kept trying to identify some solutions for these low paid workers but there seemingly never was a way our of this vicious cycle. Then I started trying to label my parents' that I deal with their children everyday to see if any of my students were going through such a rough time as this.

Test scores to these people were just seemingly a non-issue in their lives.
I was also ashamed at how I take so much in my life for granted. THis book has made me evalute each child and their homelife to see if they are falling into these horrible situations. This is a far cry from Groton.

How as educators can we impact students who are living in these type situations? Until this year, I have felt pretty good about the parents I deal with having a good job but now many of them are getting laid off from the furniture industry in our town. I feel that we will see more and more of this in the future if things don't change.