Girls Will Be Girls and Boys Will Be Boys

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Girls Will Be GirlsandBoys Will Be Boys

• Matching Reading Strategies to Gender Differences

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• Males
• Get 70 of Ds and Fs.
• 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

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Low Income Less than 30,000
1995-96 1999-00 2003-04
White 46 42 42
Black 32 36 36
Hispanic 43 43 39
Asian 53 51 47
ALL 44 44 40
Percentage of Males Who Are Undergraduates
Source U.S. Dept. of Education
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Middle Income 30,000-69,000
1995-96 1999-00 2003-04
White 50 46 43
Black 48 42 42
Hispanic 46 51 42
Asian 57 48 50
ALL 50 47 44
Percentage of Males Who Are Undergraduates
Source U.S. Dept. of Education
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Upper Income More than 70,000
1995-96 1999-00 2003-04
White 52 48 49
Black 41 48 48
Hispanic 50 52 49
Asian 52 54 51
ALL 51 48 49
Percentage of Males Who Are Undergraduates
Source U.S. Dept. of Education
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The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006

• Thirty years ago men represented 58 of the
  undergraduate student body. Now theyre 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.

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

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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

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Brain-Based Teaching

• Male-Female
• What are the differences?

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Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls
By adolescence, a girls corpus callosum is 25
percent larger than a boys. This enable more
cross talk between hemispheres.
Source Gurian, M. Stevens, K. With Boys and
Girls in Mind, Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.
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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.
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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.
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Brain Break
Tell a pun or joke.
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Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls
A girls 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.
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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.
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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_at_globe.com
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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_at_globe.com
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Brain-based Teaching The Minds of Girls
A girls brain also experiences approximately 15
more blood flow, which is located in more centers
of the brain than a boys.
Source Gurian, M. Stevens, K. With Boys and
Girls in Mind, Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.
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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.
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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

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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 dont you want to talk about it?
Source Gurian, M. Stevens, K. With Boys and
Girls in Mind, Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006

• Scientists caution that brain research doesnt
  tell the whole story temperament, family
  background and environment play key roles, too.
  

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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.
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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
Env. Science
Physics B
Comp. Sci. A
Comp. Sci. AB
Lit.
Biology
Physics C Elec. and Mag.
Physics C Mech.
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www.gurianinstitute.com
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Brain-based Teaching Two-Part Goal for Teachers
1. Promote the expression and development of a
childs 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.
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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.
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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.
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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 kinestheticuse
  technology.

Source Gurian, M. Stevens, K. With Boys and
Girls in Mind, Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.
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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. Dont 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.
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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
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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?

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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.
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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.
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Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys

• One reason boys lag behind girls in reading and
  writing is because teachers dont allow boys to
  read and write in a fantasy realm about what is
  important to themaggression, violence, and
  death.

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Brain-based Teaching Enhancing Teaching for Boys

• Provide reading material that boys enjoy.
• texts filled with spatial-kinetic actionsports,
  science fiction, thriller and suspense
• graphic and visual in naturegraphic novels and
  comics
• technical and mechanical books and articlescar,
  aerospace, skateboard magazines

Source Gurian, M. Stevens, K. The Minds of
Boys San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 2005.
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Agree or Disagree
Prereading

• 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
  1920s.

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Girls Will Be GirlsandBoys Will Be Boys

• Whose brain would react better to that activity?
• Girls or Boys

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Read Aloud/Think AloudModeling Comprehension
During Reading
What it looks like Teacher Reads Aloud Energy
from the Sun heats the atmosphere (heading of
section) Teacher says This is a heading so Ill
turn it into a question and write it in my notes
How does the suns 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. Ill 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 Ill write reflected down
and its definition. Teacher Reads Aloud Some of
the sunlight that reaches the Earths 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. Im not sure what
that means though. Ill 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. Ive 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 suns energy heats the atmosphere.
It absorbs its sunlight energy. Ill write this
in my notes.
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Girls Will Be GirlsandBoys Will Be Boys

• Whose brain would react better to that activity?
• Girls or Boys

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Scramble Stanley
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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 theyve
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.

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