Girls Will Be Girls and Boys Will Be Boys

1. Girls Will Be GirlsandBoys Will Be Boys Matching Reading Strategies to Gender Differences

2. Males • Get 70% of D’s and F’s. • Make up 80% of discipline problems • Make up 70% of learning disabilities • Make up 80% of those on Ritalin • Are 1 to 1 ½ years behind girls in reading and writing • Make up 80% of HS dropouts

3. Low Income – Less than $30,000 Percentage of Males Who Are Undergraduates Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

4. Middle Income – $30,000-$69,000 Percentage of Males Who Are Undergraduates Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

5. Upper Income – More than $70,000 Percentage of Males Who Are Undergraduates Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

6. The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006 “Thirty years ago men represented 58% of the undergraduate student body. Now they’re a minority of 44%. This widening gap, says Margaret Spellings, U.S. Sec. of Educ., ‘has profound implications for the economy, society, families and democracy.’”

7. Boys vs. Girls School Performance Source: BBC News, 2005.

8. Brain-Based Teaching “Should we keep trying to change our boys, or should we change the educational system in which they are now taught?” M. Gurian

9. The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006 “Very well-meaning people have created a biologically dis-respectful model of education.” Dr. Bruce Perry Houston neurologist

10. Brain-Based Teaching Male-Female What are the differences?

11. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls By adolescence, a girl’s corpus callosum is 25 percent larger than a boy’s. This enable more “cross talk” between hemispheres. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

12. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls Because of the greater cross talk, girls are able to multitask better than boys. They have fewer attention span problems and can make faster transitions between lessons. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

13. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls Stronger neural connectors creates better listening skills, more detailed memory storage, and better discrimination among the tones of voice. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

14. Brain Break Tell a pun or joke.

15. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls A girl’s stronger neural connectors and a larger hippocampus provide greater use of sensory memory details in speaking and writing. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

16. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls Girls’ prefrontal cortex develops earlier and is larger than boys’. Girls have more serotonin and make fewer impulsive decisions. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

17. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Teens “Teenagers are these emotionally pulsating creatures, so adults have to be ready to guide them, even sometimes doing the work of the frontal lobe by bombarding them with hypothetical situations: If a teen goes to a mall, what will happen to her homework?” Source: Johnson, Carolyn for Barbara Green “Parents get look at teens’ brains.” Nov. 10, 2005. cjohnson@globe.com

18. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Teens “Our jobs as adults is to serve as external frontal lobes.” Frontal Lobe Source: Johnson, Carolyn for Barbara Green “Parents get look at teens’ brains.” Nov. 10, 2005. cjohnson@globe.com

19. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls A girl’s brain also experiences approximately 15% more blood flow, which is located in more centers of the brain than a boy’s. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

20. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls With more cortical areas devoted to verbal functioning, girls are better at: sensory memory, sitting still, listening, tonality, mental cross talk, and the complexities of reading and writing. i.e. The very skills and behaviors often rewarded in schools. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

21. The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006 “Girl behavior becomes the gold standard. Boys are treated like defective girls.” Dr. Michael Thompson PBS Series Author of “Raising Cain”

22. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys Boys have more cortical area devoted to spatial-mechanical functioning and half as much to verbal-emotive functioning. “Honey, why don’t you want to talk about it?” Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

23. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys “Must Like Dogs” Starring Joan Cusak and Diane Lane “An emotional man? Who likes to talk? This is a mythical figure!”

24. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys Spatial-mechanical functioning makes boys want to move objects through the air, such as balls, airplanes, their little sisters, or just their arms and legs. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

25. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys Boys have less serotonin and less oxytocin, which makes them more impulsive and less likely to sit still to talk to someone. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

26. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys Boys have less blood flow to the brain and tend to structure or compartmentalize learning. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

27. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys The more words a teacher uses, the greater chance a boy will zone out. Boys’ brains are better suited to symbols, abstractions, and pictures. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

28. Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Boys Consequently, boys generally learn higher math and physics better than girls. Boys prefer video games for the physical movement and destruction. And boys get into more trouble for not listening, fidgeting, sleeping in class, and incomplete assignments. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

29. The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006 “Scientists caution that brain research doesn’t tell the whole story: temperament, family background and environment play key roles, too.”

30. Brain-based Teaching The Big Question? Based on the behaviors we expect of students in schools and on the differences in girls’ and boys’ minds, how then do they fare? Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

31. Percentage of AP Exam Test Takers Who Are Female, 2003 90 70 66 64 58 54 50 32 30 24 21 14 10 10 Art History Lit. Biology Env. Science Physics B Physics C Elec. and Mag. Physics C Mech. Comp. Sci. A Comp. Sci. AB

32. www.gurianinstitute.com

33. Brain-based Teaching Two-Part Goal for Teachers 1. Promote the expression and development of a child’s natural ability. 2. Help students compensate for areas of inherent disadvantage or fragility. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “The Minds of Boys” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

34. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Girls • Use lots of puzzles to foster perceptual and symbolic learning. • Promote leadership by using working groups and teams. • Verbally encourage quieter girls. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

35. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Girls • Play physical games to promote gross motor skills. • Take digital pictures of girls being successful at math/science tasks. • Use manipulatives in science and math. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

36. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys • Use manipulatives that require boys to use fine motor skills. • Surround the room with books so boys get used to their omnipresence. • Make lessons experiential and kinesthetic—use technology. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

37. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys • Use physical lessons so boys can work in a larger space. • Keep verbal instructions to no more than a minute. Don’t layer instructions one after another. • Use male mentors and role models. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

38. Enhancing Teaching for Boys • 1 in 9 elementary teachers are male. • Boys have almost no role models of how to succeed in school, except as coaches, which only promotes sports. • 80% of girls in Harlem talked about being doctors or lawyers someday • 80% of boys talked of being NBA stars • America leads the industrialized world in fatherlessness. Source: “Raising Cain” PBS Program by Michael Thompson

39. The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006 “One of the most reliable predictors of whether a boy will succeed or fail in high school rests on a single question: does he have a man in his life to look up to?”

40. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys • Expect healthy physicality and aggression among boys at times. • Create opportunities for boys to get up and move around. • Use brain breaks to revive boys during and/or after rest states. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.

41. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys • Use visual dictionaries and play word games, especially on the computer. • Take them to the library and introduce them to male role model readers and authors. • Link screen time with study rewards. Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “The Minds of Boys” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

42. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys • One reason boys lag behind girls in reading and writing is because teachers don’t allow boys to read and write in a fantasy realm about what is important to them—aggression, violence, and death.

43. Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys • Provide reading material that boys enjoy. • texts filled with spatial-kinetic action—sports, science fiction, thriller and suspense • graphic and visual in nature—graphic novels and comics • technical and mechanical books and articles—car, aerospace, skateboard magazines Source: Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “The Minds of Boys” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

44. Prereading Agree or Disagree • Topic: The Guillotine • The guillotine was invented by Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. • About 1,000 people were executed during the last 132 days of the Reign of Terror. • Doctors of that time believed in the guillotine because it caused instant death. • The guillotine was used in France until the 1920’s.

45. Girls Will Be GirlsandBoys Will Be Boys Whose brain would react better to that activity? Girlsor Boys

46. During Reading Read Aloud/Think AloudModeling Comprehension What it looks like: Teacher Reads Aloud: Energy from the Sun heats the atmosphere (heading of section) Teacher says: “This is a heading so I’ll turn it into a question and write it in my notes: How does the sun’s energy heat the atmosphere?” Teacher Reads Aloud: Two main things happen to the sunlight that reaches the Earth. Teachers says: “I should write down what these two main things are.” Teacher Reads Aloud: Some is reflected, or sent in a new direction. Teacher says: “There is a comma after the word reflected. That could mean that what follows is a definition. I’ll check. [rereads] Yep, sent in a new direction is a definition of reflected. This is one of the main things that happens to sunlight so I’ll write reflected down and its definition.” Teacher Reads Aloud: Some of the sunlight that reaches the Earth’s surface is absorbed. The energy from this light heats the substance that absorbs it. Teacher says: This must be the second thing that happens to sunlight. It is absorbed. I’m not sure what that means though. I’ll reread that part and this time read on a little farther. Teacher Reads Aloud: [rereads previous part] Sand can become warm or even hot as it absorbs some of the sunlight that hits it. Teacher says: “So, they give an example of absorbs. I’ve stood on a beach in the afternoon and the sand is very hot. So absorbs must mean to take in since it takes in the sunlight. This answers the original question about how the sun’s energy heats the atmosphere. It absorbs it’s sunlight energy. I’ll write this in my notes.”

47. Girls Will Be GirlsandBoys Will Be Boys Whose brain would react better to that activity? Girlsor Boys

48. Scramble Stanley

49. Scramble StanleyReview Game 1. Have class rows turn to face the teacher standing in front of a side wall. Students should be looking at the back of the student in front of them with the front student facing the teacher. 2. The students in the first row of desks across each have a piece of paper and pencil to keep score for their row. This score sheet stays on the front desk. 3. You will ask students review questions from what they’ve covered that day or that week. Before asking the question, decide how many points the question is worth. You can be completely arbitrary in this to keep the game close and interesting and based on how difficult you think the question is. 4. Only the first person in a row can answer and must raise their hand to do so. However, if someone in their row knows the answer, they may whisper it up the row to the first person. 5. If the teacher hears an answer being whispered too loudly, that row is disqualified for that question. 6. The teacher calls on the student in the front who raises his/her hand first. If his/her answer is wrong, then the teacher calls on the second person to have raised his/her hand. The winning student adds the assigned points to his or her score sheet. 7. Once the questions is answered correctly, the teachers says “Scramble” and the front row students move to the last seat while everyone else moves up a seat in their row.

50. Contact Information Bill McBride 432 Vicksburg St. San Francisco, CA 94114 Phone/Fax: 415.826.2310 E-mail: billmcbride@ionix.net Workshop Info: www.entertaininganelephant.com