Why is that child so rude? Why does that mother let her daughter come to school dressed like that? Why doesn't he ever do his homework? That child is so lazy that he sleeps in class every day! It's not unusual for teachers to express frustration with students' behavior by making comments like these. But do these teachers really know what's behind students' actions? Beth Lindsay Templeton believes that in many cases teachers and students are drawing from different funds of knowledge. Funds of knowledge are the ideas and beliefs that people absorb as members of a particular race or social class or other group. What seems like common sense to a person with one fund of knowledge isn't so obvious to someone from a different background. A student who appears to be rude might live in a large, noisy household where she learned that to be heard she needs to speak loudly and interrupt others. A mother who lets her child wear the same unkempt outfit to school every day might be trying to juggle keeping food on the table with the onerous task of getting to the laundromat regularly. A child whose homework is never done might have to spend his evenings taking care of younger siblings, and a child who sleeps in class every day might be staying up late to spend time with a parent who works until midnight. Once teachers understand the differences between their funds of knowledge and those of their students, they can develop strategies for helping students navigate a world where expectations are different from those they find at home.