James-AM

March 15-17, 2012
-Home-

with Dr. Abigail Norfleet James
//**Dr. Abigail Norfleet James**// ([]) taught for many years in single sex schools and consults on the subject of gendered teaching to school systems, colleges, and universities. Her area of expertise is developmental and educational psychology as applied to the gendered classroom. Prior to obtaining her doctorate from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, she taught General Science, Biology, and Psychology in both girls’ and boys’ secondary schools.

Her publications include research examining the effects of single sex education and gendered basic skills instruction. She is the author of //Teaching the Male Brain: How Boys Think, Feel, and Learn in School// and //Teaching the Female Brain: How Girls Learn Math and Science//. Together with Sandra Allison and Caitlin McKenzie, she is the author of //Active Lessons for Active Brains: Teaching Boys and Other Experiential Learners//. She has presented workshops and papers at educational conferences around the world and works with teachers and parent groups in interpreting the world of gendered education.

Her professional affiliations include the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Gender and Education Association, the International Coalition of Boys’ Schools, and the Association of Choice in Education (advisory board member).

Presentation ( - for notetaking) //Please note there will be no handouts distributed. Any handouts provided by the speakers and additional resources will be posted at this site.// //Addiitonal presentation materials:// //The Gendered Classroom (pptx) (pdf)//

__**Notes**__:

Single gender schools are created to negate or diminish generalities

Steven Pinker (2002) The Blank Slate "Equality is not the empirical claim that all groups of humans are interchangeable; it is the moral principle that individual should not be judged or contsrained by the average properties of their group."

We know...accepted knowledge girls are more verbal -- fluency does not equal intelligence boys are better at spatial relations -- connections to SOME math skills (no reason girls are not) boys are more active -- expectations NOT biology/puberty brings activity boys are more aggressive -- TRUE cross-culturally and there is a need to roughhouse males who roughhouse as children, they learn boundaries and have better social skills as teens/adults -- when it is not appropriate

no resident male in the household....don't know how

...wrestling team from one school teaches another partner school (primary/intermediate) wrestling to engage in appropriate modeling

Male and Female Brain Differ???? educating separately develops a freedom to find out what is key, interests, etc.

Male brain -- larger, fewer connections, compartmentalize (push worry aside) differential development

Amygdala (emotions develop first, but unable to tell you about this) vs. Hippocampsus (memory develops last) --provide opportunities for developing and exercising emotions ("Use your words.") Pre-frontal lobe develops more slowly (20, 25, 30 years old) - impulse control Female brain -- ruminate more (worry) Hippocampus (memory develops first) vs. Amygdala (emotions) --provide opportunities to manage emotions

Open pre-frontal lobe by doing things more impulsively

Alcohol -- balance and pre-frontal lobe binge-drinking "kills" the pre-frontal lobe and unable to "grow up"

Teaching boys....charts, graphs, tables.....

Verbal differences between girls and boys Acquisition: Earlier for girls in both grammar and vocabulary

Fluency: Girls more fluent than boys

Intelligence: No difference in adults

Spelling and Grammar: Boys continue to have problems so need exposure later than girls

Girls more sensitive to sound than boys - girls need to learn to manage listening to "loud voices" Boys have problems with phonemic awareness - may be the source of reading difficulties Boys also have more inner ear infections...
 * Sensory differences:**
 * Hearing:**

Phonemic awareness is KEY to learning to read. develop programs to make sure boys have opportunities to develop phonemics "Earobics" -- computer games that provide noise as feedback or engagement []

GameGoo - []

Boys have more acute vision than girls and see objects in motion better -- reading issues/saccades (side-to-side movements) Use pauses -- find the way on a page Follow reading lines with a ruler
 * Vision:**

Girls see objects close up, better perceptual speed (ability to choose one item out of a group that is different) -- good proofreaders

For learning, boys are hands-on, girls may be content to observe, boys need to move for memory Teaching is about getting the students to work, not the teacher
 * Touch:**

-- boys are better at rotation and spatial-temporal --may supply boys' advantage i mathematical problem solving --traditionally little training in early school --girls need exposure to practical applications
 * Other Cognitive differences**
 * Spatial:**

--Verbal/auditory --Kinesthetic/iconic
 * Learning Modalities:**


 * Differences in Learning Issues**

--More males DUE TO SOCIAL BIAS? --Cause of inattention may be something other than learning problem
 * ADHD**

Help students who are restless manage themselves in class...provide interventions that are self-regulated Use a voice that the student can hear Insure students enjoy what is going on in class....most of the time

--More males -- but is it a developmental problem? Do boys need a bit more time in reading and awareness? more exposure to good reading strategies?
 * Dyslexia**

Provide tools, special instruction, opportunities to learn and manage....

[]

--more males -- but is it due to social expectations? Is handwriting important? Need to learn handwriting....students need to learn to write things
 * Dysgraphia/Dyspraxia**

Actually a problem with memory -- no gender difference
 * Dyscalculia**

Fight of Flight (adrenalin) --increase in heart rate, breathing, blood sugar -- movement
 * Emotional Differences**

Tend or befriend (oxytocin) decrease in heart rate, breathing -- cause of academic anxiety

YOGA -- managing the body - breathing

The problems with global praise --without specific references, failure results in boys getting angry -- girls become anxious --what is seen as bad behavior in boys may be impulsive

Classroom Behavior DIifferences --teach boys how to ask questions --teach girls how to ask appropriate questions --girls are responsive to teachers --boys not responsive enough --boys need to believe that ability us all that is needed to achieve --girls believe effort is more important than ability

Girls -- use Rubrics/Scoring guides Boys -- use with questions

Girls -- will share

Girls -- obsessed with RIGHT answer/grades/what is on the test provide methods to insure success

Emphasis on success can lead to school anxiety/test anxiety/math anxiety Girls downplay academic success -- especially if male friends aren't doing as well

Planning managing and regulating behavior (making decisions)
 * What characteristics of girls should make school easy?**

Attention Successive processing Self-disciplined

Girls learn to deal with stress a supportive environment helps girls cope with need to have the right answer focus can be on content and not on appearance (or cover) content of coursework can be tailored for girls' interests learn to work with peers with whom they may not get along
 * Single Gender classrooms**

ability is more important than effort -- image is most important motivation suffers
 * Boys' Academic Attitudes**

overestimate their academic competence --even in face of failure --due to competition

math, science, sports are male domains --in spite of gains in STEM for girls

influence of home environment --parents support (do the work) for boys --send home assignments where there is no outside help required for work

Failure develops "growing up" in boys

Characteristics for "easy" school for boys Natural inquisitiveness -- taking things apart Emphasis on details/facts - boys know lots about subjects they like Competitive in nature -- need to focus on INDIRECT and COOPERATIVE not on direct competition -- inner reflection...doing it better than THEY did it before -- learning from working together toward a common goal

Learn FOLLOWSHIP as well as LEADERSHIP

Ability to work in groups -- do more work

Hear voices and music...not noise boys who manipulate something in their hands -- improves memory focus on acquiring study strategies -- aimed at kinesthetic and iconic learners develop verbal skills in supportive environment -- need more space and time in production of words become part of a school-oriented peer group and identify as students (not girls and not parents)
 * Single gender classrooms for boys**

Cognitive difference (brain based) Adapt teaching strategies Accommodate learning differences (not teacher...student oriented) Equality is achieved when ALL students have a chance to learn
 * Summary**