<p><a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965522/site/newsweek/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965522/site/newsweek/</a></p>
<p>The Trouble With Boys
They’re kinetic, maddening and failing at school. Now educators are trying new ways to help them succeed.</p>
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<p>Too many females dominating education. They just don’t “get” boys. My sons have been in an all-boy school since 7th grade. It has been simply wonderful, and not just because it’s all boys, but because a very large majority of the faculty is male.</p>
<p>Did anyone see the sad show on TV the other night which showed kindergarten kids trying to “write” stories? (The teacher does the writing, the kids dictate.) </p>
<p>Most of the boys wanted to write about guns, killing, fighting, pretty typical violent stuff. The girls and the teacher disapproved and forced the boys re-write their stories. They completely lost all interest in the task once they weren’t permitted to write about stuff that interested them! </p>
<p>You know what? Boys are just different than girls. Even a boy with no TV, no toy guns, no video games is still interested in guns! Every mom who hates guns has stories about the day their son made something into a gun.</p>
<p>I’m not saying education should be about fostering an interest in violence (hardly!). But I merely am using this example to point out how schools discourage boys from being boys from day #1.</p>
<p>No wonder so many of them hate school.</p>
<p>I wish they would start teaching kids who process information differently.
My daughters both have learning disabilties & while one was able to attend private school with small class sizes and experiential learning that got her through without having to hire extra help, her sister is struggling because she isn’t a sit in your desk, listen to the teacher and memorize kind of learner.
We aren’t getting these kids involved in their own education, no wonder that some of them when hit in the face with their own “failure” decide that keeping up a front of “don’t care” at least saves face.
Unfortunately- because my daughter was in a school where ( now this is my opinion) it was assumed because I was the chair of Pta and in the school everyday, because she is white and female that she would be * O K *, and they wouldn’t have to pay as much attention to her as the boys who were more likely to be behavior problems.
We had to change schools, to a school with a principal who was determined to have every child succeed to their potential, whether they be a gifted kid with professional parents, or a kid who had never been given a chance before.</p>
<p>High school English teachers expect 15-year-old boys to engage with “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “The Secret Life of Bees”? Neither of my sons would read such things without a shotgun pointed at their heads. One of them was assigned “The Joy Luck Club” in high school. He said ripping out his eyeballs sounded like a reasonable alternative until he realized that the book was available on audiotape. What are these teachers thinking? It’s almost as though they are taunting these boys.</p>
<p>um well girls and boys are both reading Hemingway, Melville and Steinbeck. Most books seem to have a male protaganist,perhaps the teacher was just trying to balance it out- although I didn’t think either Geisha or Bees were well written, but I do think it is valuable to use books that can introduce a different perspective</p>
<p>I was surprised last year when, in one of the classes I subbed for–9th and 10th grade English–<em>most</em> of the boys told me their favorite book of the year had been Pride and Prejudice. The same group is reading Catcher in the Rye this year and doesn’t like it much. My son loved Catcher and hated P&P. I think the key is to have a variety of books and hope that most kids like two or three of the five or six books taught each year.</p>
<p>It is not what the teachers are thinking regarding book selection. Books in public schools, at least in our district, are purchased as group. They buy a bundle and cannot select individually. They tend to buy classics.</p>
<p>we use classics, but also rely on parents quite a bit to supply additional books.
( btw- I am impressed by the kids who like Austen- we read S & S and Persuasion in book group, I couldnt get through either one)</p>
<p>Leonard Sax, the head of the national association for single sex schools and the author of Why Gender Matters, makes the point about reading that it is not only book selection but what you ask. If you’re teaching Lord of the Flies to a group of boys, he says don’t ask them to describe how Ralphie felt. Ask them to draw a map of the island and give the location of the mountain and the house where one of the boys was hiding. The boys will read the text like legal scholars looking for the clues.
<a href=“http://www.singlesexschools.org%5B/url%5D”>www.singlesexschools.org</a></p>
<p>my daughters school had them actually act it out!
really
In november they took a backpacking trip through the olympic ( you wont believe this it wouldnt let me say Olympic P e nis ula) in 8th grade after reading lotf
kids did all the packing all the cooking all the map reading- teachers hung way back and let them shoot themselves in the foot
( it rained the whole time- D tent fell down- they had to go in the boys tent- they couldn’t get a fire started- pulled fuel out of somewhere & dumped on the fire- luckily everything was too wet to cause burns. D actually saved the day by remembering something she learned on Star Trek, that you could use hair clippings as a fire starter!)</p>
<p>Thereby focusing on the relative trivial in the book and the core of the book remaining opaque to them.</p>
<p>I think it is a horrible book and I was glad that they changed the focus of subsequent trips to a Odyessey- they read the Odyessey several times as part of Latin in middle school and again in high school, and it pairs well with their new background novel for their 8th grade trip- Cold Mountain. Which is more about a journey both physical and emotional, appropriate for entering adolescence I think</p>
<p>( in high school they also have physical journeys- they backpacked through canyonlands teh seniors taking a slower more contemplative route through the Mazatzals- )</p>
<p>peninsula peninsula peninsula – works for me. . . . Olympic Peninsula. Reminds me of that old saying, “No man is an island,” though he may have an “almost island.”</p>
<p>LOL about Joyluck Club. It was assigned reading in my S’s 7th grade class. I don’t remember my S being upset about it. It was part of a unit of Chinese history and culture. However, asking him to read Crime & Punishment in 9th grade was like pulling teeth. He tends to read for information rather than for psychological insights.</p>
<p>For recreational reading, we never limited what S could read. By kindergarten, his fascination with dinosaurs had led him to build a formidable collection of books on the subject; he now has an even more formidable collection of sci-fi and fantasy books which he began collecting in 3rd grade.</p>
<p>peninsula peninsula peninsula – works for me. . . . Olympic Peninsula. </p>
<p>Well if I knew how to spell it would probably help but I know how to spelly Puyallup!</p>
<p>TheDad, I think that that’s an unfair remark – I believe that boys can eventually get to the core meaning of any book, but along a different path. Just as I don’t expect to have a meaningful “feelings” conversation with my sons in a face-to-face manner, we do eventually get there through some sideways route, usually while driving or doing some other activity together. I say this as the mother of 2 teenage boys, and as one of 4 daughters who grew up in a very female-oriented environment. (I was seriously into ballet, by the way, and always thought I’d have daughters!)</p>
<p>Boys and girls are different, and I believe we ignore those differences at our peril. Each gender has tendencies and behaviours from which individuals can deviate, but which remain stereotypical. It is in society’s best interest to educate and reach each student in the way that works best for him or her, and that often involves gender issues. I never thought I’d say this, but I think that there is a tremendous amout of male-bashing that starts in preschool and works its way right through high school. For this reason, I chose to send my sons to an all-male college preparatory school, and I think that the experience has helped them to grow into responsible, caring (and pretty sensitive) young men. They are not chauvinist, and I think that few books remain “opaque” to them – but they will learn more if they are interested in the topic. I also think that the actual topic of a book is not important to learning about analysis, themes or archetypes. But as a woman, who grew up thinking that I could be anything I wanted to be, and that anyone who disagreed with that was ignorant, I now see subtle forms of prejudice against boys and men. I know this might ignite some strong points of view, and I don’t feel the need to persuade anyone to agree with me. But I see lots of programs for HS girls to help them get a foot into science and engineering, and very few programs aimed at boys. Even at many colleges, I see plenty of special programs for girls to do science research, while the young men have to just persevere to find something.</p>
<p>I now see subtle forms of prejudice against boys and men. I know this might ignite some strong points of view, and I don’t feel the need to persuade anyone to agree with me. But I see lots of programs for HS girls to help them get a foot into science and engineering, and very few programs aimed at boys.</p>
<p>I have two girls but I totally agree
I am involved in our districts process to reduce monies spend on special education. Part of the problem I and others feel is that classrooms are set up for linear learners. It is easier to refer students, including boys, especially AA boys to SPED when their behavior deteriorates in the classroom, possibly because they aren’t engaged in or prepared for what is being taught.
Additionally, teachers are not taught how to teach special ed students or about inclusion when they are in college, so our schools have principals who aren’t even familiar with the federal legal requirements, and teachers who send students regularly to the principals office.</p>
<p>I have been very engaged in the classrooms at my D inner city high school. I have been on field trips for example with science classes with very engaging teachers. for this grade 10th - there are three levels- my daughter is in highest level, this class was lowest level- it was the class that had a majority of minority students and it is the class that has the least numbers of advanced students.
They were great, very engaged, the trip gave them an opportunity to see in action what they had been studying, addtionally they had an opportunity to ask questions of staff there ( we were at a water treatment facility) about the education needed, and their working conditions including pay, so they were really able to relate it to something they were interested in- namely life after high school. ( and before I get attacked for implying minority students shouldnt think about college- most of the workers we spoke to, did have a degree)</p>
<p>Just a couple other things about the all-boys schools. My sons’ Jesuit school even looks different than your normal high school. There are no cute bulletin boards (most are blank, some have random things thumb tacked to them – all strictly informational). </p>
<p>The classrooms have no work displayed. No collages or projects (other than art rooms). </p>
<p>In fact, in all the years they’ve been there they’ve never had a crafty kind of project thing to do (much to their relief - and mine). </p>
<p>And, they still have recess! Yes, it’s a 15 minute time period about 10:00 am where they can just walk around, grab a bite to eat, let off some steam. It is great and growing boys need that.</p>
<p>The reading lists are pretty boyish. Summer lists tend to be more “for fun” reading and are heavy on sci fi, fantasy, mysteries.</p>
<p>The school has a sort of messy, boyish feel to it. Stuff sticking out of lockers, backpacks, shoes, books sort of randomly left lying around. Lots of used recliners in various offices and study areas.</p>
<p>Probably more rough-housing is tolerated than in a public school. Security is a joke, the school is pretty much wide open and kids can come and go fairly freely. I worry about that, but it’s just the culture of the place.</p>
<p>There is a distinct lack of cliques or severe social hierarchies. Although you do have the jocks, the boys all seem to get along well together. There doesn’t seem to be much social drama.</p>
<p>And the boys love it. While I don’t always understand priests (clearly, there are good ones and bad ones, just like “normal” people) I think the Jesuits really do understand a few things about how to educate boys.</p>
<p>When my daughter was in 5th grade she was in an accelerated english class where all of the books were award winning books that seemed to be geared toward boys. Boys, dogs and dead mothers seemed to be re-occuring themes and we thought it was pretty weird. When I mentioned it at the parent teacher conference the teacher admitted to me that 5th grade was when boys often stopped reading and the books were deliberately picked to engage them. I guess they figured the girls would just read them no matter what.</p>
<p>now 5th grade was great
they didnt have a teacher ( her mother was ill so they had rotating subs all year- because she wouldn’t take a leave), so the classroom had a big effort to have parents come in for bookgroups every week.
I had a group of 7-8 students- unfortunately they were mixed in reading level ( both boys and girls)We read a lot of books that went with what they were studying in social studies, but I also would pick a few books that I thought were great, and they would vote which to read.
I am actually a lot more interested in books active boys might like- than quiet girls, although now that I think about it, dead mothers did seem to be quite a theme
Bridge to Terebithia, To Kill a Mockingbird, and ThunderCave were all books that we read that year</p>