1. The Brain and Learning……
Boys vs. Girls
The Brain and Learning……

2. The Reason – The Brain Analogy

3. Simply put…..we are wired differently!

4. Objectives:
Explore and discuss the differences between boys and girls, in terms of brain function and development.
Begin to explore teaching and learning strategies to address those differences.

5. “Are you listening to me?”
Translations for Men
“Maybe”
Translation: No
“Are you listening to me?”
Translation: Too late, your dead.
“Was that the baby?”
Translation: Why don’t you get out of bed and walk him until he goes to sleep.

6. “Nothing”
Translation: Everything
“No, nothing…really”
Translation: It’s just that you’re such an idiot.

7. Translations for Women
“It’s a guy thing”
Translation: There is no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical.
“That’s interesting dear”
Translation: Are you still talking?
“Oh, don’t fuss, I just cut myself a little…it’s no big thing”
Translation: I have actually severed a limb but will bleed to death before I admit that I’m hurt.

8. “I’m not lost. I know exactly where we are.”
Translation: No one will ever see us alive again.
“Uh-huh”, “Sure Honey”, OR “Yes, Dear”
Translation: Absolutely no translation – it’s a conditioned response.

9. Gender and Achievement
Think about the students in your classrooms. Picture both genders in a learning situation.
What can you say about the boys?
What can you say about the girls?

10. Activity: Think/Pair/Share
List 4 statements about differences in learning.
Partner with another and narrow your list to 3 that you agree on…prioritize…
Narrow the list to one, where you can agree on one common characteristic for which you could include examples.

11. What other teachers say...
Boys are more active than girls
out of their seats
kneeling in a seat
lying across a desk
want to use the bathroom
fidget--squirm in a structured situation
Group of Elementary Teachers

12. FEMALE BRAIN FACTS
Develops earlier: Myelination/insulation
Left hemisphere develops earlier and is larger than the right
Larger Corpus Collosum & Cerebellum: Highway between the spheres, take in more sensory data, decision-making…
Spreads thinking function over wider area of the brain = greater coping = fewer learning disabilities
20 to 30% more serotonin = shyness, low self confidence…
Hormones Rule: fluctuations = differing academic abilities…
Uses higher level brain structures to solve issues…
Speaks roughly 8000 words a day…

13. A BOY’S BRAIN
Right hemisphere develops earlier than in females = discipline & sports
Testosterone levels aid in abstract manipulation, spatial, math, and so on
More compartmentalized brain use, narrower corpus collosum = “Narrow lane in the woods and wins on Jeopardy!”…overload = nag, nag, nag…
Less Serotonin = impulsive (quick hands up!), suicide, rage, suicide…
Boys move emotive material down from limbic to brain stem (fight or flight!)…
Resting brain less active than female brain
Hormones Rule: Males receive seven spikes of hormone a day on average making their mood vacillate…testosterone level vary…
Boys can take hours to process emotion – crisis at home in the AM could mean little learning all day!
Speaks 2000 words on average a day…

14. The Reality of Boys
--Boys earn lower grades and participate in fewer advanced-placement classes than girls.
-- Boys make up two-thirds of learning-disabled students.
-- Boys represent 57 percent of high school dropouts, reversing a trend from the 1970s.
-- Seventy-five percent of Ritalin prescriptions are given to boys, and an estimated 1 in 6 boys is diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.
-- Boys commit 85 percent of school violence and commit 9 out of every 10 alcohol and drug violations at schools.
-- Boys, several studies show, feel less self-assured, have lower aspirations and feel less emotionally connected to their families and schools than girls.
--Greater # in jails
--Lower percentage in Graduate Courses (59% Women)
--Higher % of Reading Difficulties
--1.5 Years Behind Girls on Average (NORMAL!...BUT…)
--Feeling Greater Pressure of Standards Push

15. Implications for Instruction?

16. We are efficient!

17. What we know about boys... Boys prefer to work independently
Boys get bored easily and need stimulation
Boys are not good listeners but enjoy abstract conversations…debates
Boys tend to use up more space while working
Boys need to be able to move
Boys like controlled expository text that have diagrams and charts
Boys are visual

18. What we know about girls...
Produce more words and process words more quickly
Are more sensitive and less competitive
Think inductively
Take in more sensory data than boys
Brain secretes more serotonin causing passive behaviors
Brain is never at rest creating a learning advantage
Brain produces more “cross-talk” between hemispheres

19. Connections?

20. “Does teacher gender have an impact on student achievement?”

21. First things first….
“No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship” Dr. James Comer

22. How do I build relationships?
Call on students equitably
Provide individual help
Give wait time – 3.9 seconds
Provide specific praise
Gets within an arm’s reach of the student each day
Shows personal interest
Build classroom communities
Desist – little negative attention
USE HUMOR!!!!

23. What do we know….
Female teachers are more sensitive than their male counterparts to students setbacks.
The quality not quantity of interaction differs among male and female students and teachers.
Male teachers interact with males students 2/3 of the time while Female teachers interact 51% of the time with male students.
Male students receive more criticism from both male and female teachers.
Both male and female teachers interact with males simply because males initiate and respond to teachers more often.

24. Strategies for Girls…. Smile and make eye contact
Sit in the back of the room, lower tone
Add more role plays
Use inductive reasoning, teach deductive reasoning (general to specific)
Group it, try same sex grouping when the boys are around
Use manipulatives to teach math/spatial skills
Create group problem-solving activities
Integrate “hands-on” experiences and journaling
Avoid confrontational style
Increase “face” time
Use cooperative learning frequently
Focus girls thinking on the big picture
When providing feedback, be discreet and specific

25. Strategies for Boys….
Use “shoulder to shoulder” approach when possible
Do not confront boys directly…walk with OR approach slowly and sit or stand slightly to the side.
Sit closer to the front of the room and you
Competitions and games with time constraints are great
Use illustrations, graphs, pictures, and symbols to highlight content
Encourage debate about abstract ideas- especially moral
Use manipulatives when possible
Wait-time, wait-time, wait-time….
Plan movement into activity/lesson (1 min X age)
Lists, codes, and jargon is cool
Have lots of things for boys to touch, listen to and smell when reading and writing are being taught
Use boy only groups when needed
Allow physical movement in the classroom
Make available lots of space for learning
Offer opportunities for storytelling and other activities that develop imaginative and verbal skills

26. Discussion and Reflection..
Can you see the rationale for each of the strategies based on what we know about the differences between girls and boys?
What’s an idea you will take away, apply, and then come back to be prepared to share?
Questions I still have?

27. Next Session….
The “Fidgety” Boy…….