TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL STRATEGIES THAT TURN UNDERACHIEVERS INTO SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS IN S C H OO L KATHLEEN PALMER CLEVELAND [...]... Name Priority During Learning ST (Sensing-Thinking) ST/Practical Doer Mastery: Motivated by getting it right and the joy of collecting and sorting information 12% NT (Intuitive-Thinking) NT/Thinker-Knower Applying Logic: Motivated by mastering knowledge and the joy of intellectual challenge 1% SF (Sensing-Feeling) SF/Interpersonal Connecting: Motivated by interacting with others, providing practical service,... see in boys who are successful in your classroom?) The descriptions of successful boys included critical academic skills such as listening, organizing, focusing, using time wisely, paying attention to details, reading and writing well, and finishing assigned tasks What I found especially interesting, though, were the nonacademic factors teachers mentioned when characterizing their high-achieving boys. .. memorizer, he may find it useful to “make sense” of procedures, facts, or abstract information by embedding them in stories or scenarios whose characters or action sequences provide a context for understanding and remembering the information 22 TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL The NF/Self-Expressive Focus: Imagining Exemplars: Dr Martin Luther King Jr., Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams At first... responsible • Inferential reading • Journals • Reading • Seat work • Sequencing • Social skills for group work • Spelling • Sustained reading • Technical writing • Writing Question No 7 What aspects of teaching boys are most challenging for you? • Aggressive behavior • Arguing • Bullying • Competition for attention • Constant teasing • Demand for relevance • Disregard for reading Source: From Boys and School: ... and community leaders; and illuminate strategies and stories shared by the teachers across the country who united in their concern about underachievement in too many boys generously shared their experiences, ideas, and successes I invite you to join me in exploring these 15 16 TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL varied resources as a way of understanding and responding to the problem of underachievement... conflicting conclusions (see Figure 1.1, p 6) Supporters of Perspective A suggest the existence of a genuine crisis in boys education that requires a major shift in American educational policy to overcome recent gains in girls’ overall achievement (which are viewed as having been made at the expense of boys achievement) Suggested solutions 5 6 TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL FIGURE 1.1 Two Conflicting... Source: From Boys and School: Challenging Underachievement, Getting It Right! by K Cleveland © 2008 by TeacherOnlineEducation com Reprinted with permission Framing the Issue of Underachievement include increasing boy-specific teaching strategies in coed classrooms (to counterbalance a presumed overabundance of girl-friendly pedagogy) or separating boys from girls altogether and offering the former instruction... Introduction In recent years, I have watched with concern the steady increase of claims regarding a crisis in boys achievement Magazine covers, television programs, and books paint a grim picture of “a stunning gender reversal in American education” (Conlin, 2003) that is characterized by an alarming decline in boys scholastic prowess in every grade level, kindergarten through... every day • Everything • Grades • Homework • Inconsistent teachers • Learning useless stuff • Negative teachers • Reading uninteresting books • Sitting still • Studying • Taking notes • Taking tests • Too many rules • Unfair grading • Writing • Writing essays Question No 5 What would boys in your classroom say they are most successful at? • Class discussions • Debates • Doing things with their hands... boys These factors fell into three general categories: social confidence (e.g., “has 9 10 TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL FIGURE 1.2 Survey Responses Question No 1 What characteristics distinguish the struggling boys in your classroom? • Afraid of failure • Apathetic • Attitude that school is stupid” • Can’t stay on task • Careless • Confrontational • Disinterested in school • Disorganized • . they were buy- ing into claims of a crisis taking shape in our schools, despite ample evidence to the contrary. I wondered what those “truths” were. 8 TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL Perspective. overcome recent gains in girls’ overall achievement (which are viewed as having been made at the expense of boys achievement). Suggested solutions 5 6 TEACHING BOYS WHO STRUGGLE IN SCHOOL FIGURE. suc- cessful boys included critical academic skills such as listening, organizing, focusing, using time wisely, paying attention to details, reading and writing well, and finishing assigned