Food and herbal nutritional products » Stress » All-male class helping boys learn
All-male class helping boys learn
View PDF | Print View
by: Guest
Total views: 217 Word Count: 1204
Daniel Gross, fifth grade teacher at B. Everett Jordan Elementary School, reads "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan aloud to his students. Gross teaches a class of 20 boys at the school.
SAXAPAHAW - Nicole Alston was worried about her son, Donnie, being part of an all-boys class taught by a male teacher.
He'd had problems with motivation in school and worked best in response to the nurturing, closely supervised style she associated with female teachers.
"That was all he responded to," she said.
But Alston had a quick change of heart soon after the start of the 2009-10 school year.
That's when Donnie and 20 other boys became part of a fifth-grade class taught by Daniel Gross at B. Everett Jordan Elementary School in southern Alamance County.
He did well on end-of-grade tests in math, science and reading - scoring a "4," the highest possible level, in two subjects, and a "3," which demonstrates the student is proficient in the subject, in the third.
He liked school and would come home telling his parents what he and other students had done that day.
On June 9, the second-to-last day of the school year, it was clear the year was nearly over, but students were still busy.
Gross read to them from the book "The Battle of the Labyrinth," part of a series featuring Percy Jackson as the hero of fantasy-adventure exploits based on Greek mythology.
Soon students were making stress balls, filling balloons with small beans. Gross shared a history that traces the use of stress balls to ancient times, then joked the students can use them someday when they have a reason to be stressed.
One student objected during a good-natured exchange.
"It's hard doing all this work," he said.
"Wait until you start paying bills," Gross replied.
MARIAH VIGNALI, the school's principal, became interested in an all-boys class after hearing one of her colleagues talk about a similar idea.
Donna King, principal at Altamahaw-Ossipee Elementary School in northern Alamance County, said the school had an all-male kindergarten class in 2008-09. That was partly because there were so many more boys than girls entering kindergarten that year, she said.
Vignali began thinking Gross would be a good choice to teach an all-boys class at Jordan Elementary.
"I jumped at it the second she told me," he said.
The fifth-grade students are headed to middle school next year, so there's no way to keep them together.
Gross is hoping the school will try the idea again, starting with a group of third-grade boys with the idea of keeping them together through the fifth grade.
State testing of how each student is doing in reading and math starts in third grade. Gross said that would allow the school system to track a group's performance for three years.
Gross said studies suggest boys learn differently from girls, benefiting from hands-on projects and shorter, fast-paced spurts of activity. He's also taught responsibility: The boys cleaned up with brooms if they were too messy while making the stress balls.
In each case, he said, parents gave permission for their sons to be in the class. Some have had trouble with school; others haven't.
During meetings with school board members, county commissioners and others, Superintendent Randy Bridges has mentioned an "achievement gap" between male and female students. While the difference is not always dramatic, female students as a whole tend to score higher than males on state tests. More markedly, boys are more likely to drop out and have serious discipline problems.
ASK THE BOYS what they learned during the year, and as likely as not, they'll mention learning to tie a tie.
"Nice Windsor," one of the boys told Bridges when he visited the school.
Gross encouraged the boys to wear collared shirts and ties - providing them if they boys didn't have their own - which made them stand out while walking through hallways or eating in the cafeteria.
Making a late entrance to the first assembly of the school year, Gross said, they felt like celebrities.
Class members' responses varied when asked if having no girls in the class made a big difference. Some thought so and others thought not.
Gross said having only boys meant no competition to impress girls and also a different dynamic when one boy or another tried to be the "Alpha male" in the class.
One of his earliest goals - showing that "the only Alpha male in the class was me."
Nathan Aldridge, 11, saw a definite difference in the classroom dynamic without female students.
"Drama," he answered when asked what changed.
There was a lot less of it, he clarified, without boyfriend-girlfriend relationships and the resulting rivalries.
From the editor: Many of you have expressed concerns about some of the harsh anonymous comments from readers. To remedy that, we are introducing new features. You can create your own blog, publish your news and share your photos with the community. Once you fill out a simple form and leave a verifiable e-mail address, you can set up your profile page. It will display all of your contributions and allow you to track issues and easily connect with others.
We want our site to be a place where people discuss and debate ideas that foster stronger communities. We built this for you. Please take care of it. Tolerate broad thinking, but take action against obscene or hateful material. Make it a credible and safe place worth preserving and sharing.
Bio
Your bio is currently empty. Now is a great time to fill in your profile.
This profile is private.
This profile is only shared with friends.
This profile is under review.
We were unable to request friendship with this user.
We were unable to request friendship with this user. Are you logged in?
Your friendship request has been sent to this user.
We were unable to terminate friendship with this user.
We were unable to terminate friendship with this user. Are you logged in?
You are no longer friends with this user.
We were unable to ignore this user.
We were unable to ignore this user. Are you logged in?
This user is now ignored.
We were unable to stop ignoring this user.
We were unable to stop ignoring this user. Are you logged in?
This user is no longer ignored.
We encountered a problem recommending this user.
pluck_user_recommend_permission
You have recommended this user.
Hide Details
Nobody'd put up with such "motivational" techniques if they were all-MEXICAN schools to get the many kids who can't speak English locally a school they wouldn't get behind in!!!
Hide Details
I know that my son did better in the 5th grade at B. Everette Jordan when he had a male teacher.
This is an interesting idea, and I would like to know how it pans out over time.
Though, I do worry about the females, and hope that they too, get the same experiences as the males. Hands on techniques are important for everyone.
We're sorry, but the comment you are sending has been removed from the site.
We're sorry. We were unable to send the comment at this time.
Additional information:
Buy Stress Balls online
Stress Balls Stress Relievers, Printed Stress Balls Custom
Custom Stress Balls Promotional Stress Relievers, Customized
General
Amazon.com: Handstands Morf Stress Relief Balls Electronics
Color Stress Ball by Office Depot
Buy Stress Balls For Affordable Stress Relief
Discount Stress Balls
Catalog
Stress Management Techniques, Tips and Remedies
http://www.thetimesnews.com/ne...
Related "Stress":
- Herbs for Anxiety - Herbal Treatments for Stress, Tension and Work Pressure
Feeling stressed and anxious are common features i ... - Jennifer Aniston can stay away from aging and Botox through meditation
Meditation is a practice of mind. During the med ... - Difference Between Stress And Mental Illness
Stress is part of our life and we have to face it ... - How to Manage Stress at Work
Read this article to know how to control workplace ... - You could use the holiday for acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese art which has e ...
Rating: Not yet rated (votes: 0)
