Posted on 01/21/2006 11:25:45 PM PST by neverdem
First lady Laura Bush and a growing number of physicians, educators and psychologists say Americans need to wake up and see that boys lag far behind girls in school, and then demand that something be done.
Mrs. Bush, mother of two grown daughters, speaks at conferences and in interviews about the declining status of boys in today's learning environment. She has charged that boys are being overlooked.
"I think we need to pay more attention to boys. I think we've paid a lot of attention to girls for the last 30 years ... but we have actually neglected boys," Mrs. Bush told Parade magazine early last year.
William Pollack, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, agrees.
"Boys are suffering. They are sitting in classrooms where they can't perform at the same level as girls and so cannot compete with girls," he says. "As a result, they have lower self-esteem. The bottom line is that they are suffering both academically and emotionally."
Mr. Pollack, who also serves as director of the Center for Men and Young Men at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., points out that both upper-class Caucasian boys and minority boys are failing.
"All in all, most schools across the country today are boy-uncentered," he says.
Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens, co-authors of "The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Life," back up claims that there is a "crisis in male education" with data from the Department of Education, the State Department and other sources. They point out that boys:
•Receive the majority of D and F grades given to students in most schools, as high as 70 percent.
•Create 80 percent of classroom discipline problems.
•Account for 80 percent of high school...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Don't forget OldProfessor somebody or other. Amelia is one class act though as are many here at FR.
4 teachers, I was an art teacher until having my daughter. Taught mainly at the HS level but was also in a few elem. schools. You have to be a very, very, very patient person to teach elem. The little ones drove me bonkers!!!
Brave woman you!
4 teachers, I was an art teacher until having my daughter. Taught mainly at the HS level but was also in a few elem. schools. You have to be a very, very, very patient person to teach elem. The little ones drove me bonkers!!!
Who said I'm patient?:) Actually, you have to be patient to be a MOM. Moms are #1 in my book and I consider it to be the highest "paying" job one could ever have. I have some good little "buggers" in my class. I'm proud of them.
Tell me about it:). I like to have 4 or 5 artists come in and do something with the students. It's pretty neat to see what they come up with.
Go figure this poor teacher turned gray by the end of the year. I still see her from time to time and she still remembers this incident! Mind you, this is 14 years after it happened!
Now THAT was funny. Yeah, I've had similar things happen, but ESPECIALLY to myself. You'll have the kid half-covered in black come in and say, "Teacher, the pencil sharpener stuff is all over the place." Half the time I feel like Homer Simpson banging his head. But that's all part of the beauty of teaching. They make you tear your hair out, but at the end of the year, you couldn't be more proud of them.
You have visited EVERY school? You know all about EVERY school in the entire state?
What a ridiculous statement.
You know that makes me think of something my mom told me about when she taught primary gradeschool in the 1930s (way back). She said she always preferred the little boys. When I asked why, she said the boys were more straightforward and honest while the girls could be......catty and underhanded, I guess you might say (I can't remember her exact words, but that was the gist. How things change, eh?
Everytime I meet any kid in H.S., I tell them to "Be nice to the nerds, because you'll likely wind up working for one, someday."
My son's middle school sent home a notice that they were going to start separating boys and girls for some classes. That was 2 years ago and I never heard another thing about it. My son has certainly never mentioned being in a class of all boys. I never think to ask what has happened with that.
Everytime I meet any kid in H.S., I tell them to "Be nice to the nerds, because you'll likely wind up working for one, someday."
Good advice. :)
You hit it. I think that girls conceal their feelings better than boys. Boys are more inclined to say what's on their mind (appropriate or not....)
I'm speaking from personal experience here. One of the toughest things for me to deal with - particularly in Jr. High, but also in High School - was the realization that I was smarter than a significant % of my teachers. Being the arrogant little snot that I was, I wasn't afraid to correct them when they were wrong (often) and when I disagreed with their analysis of something (more often). Not a good way to get good grades.
I'd still like to see the English teacher that told me I'd never amount to anything. Last I knew, she was still teaching in a crummy little nowhere H.S. and was working on her 3rd divorce. Schanfreude is a guilty pleasure of mine, I guess.
It's a lot harder to plan lessons, and gather the materials necessary, which let children participate more and have something active to do.
That's part of it all right.
In college, I was often the only guy in a class (being an el ed major). It was wonderful when I was single, but not so good when I wasn't. :)
I'm not there to tell parents how to raise their kids. That is their job. BUT I can work WITH them to help their kids learn something and to hopefully make a positive difference in their children's lives and to have a positive experience in school. That's my approach, not saying I'm right.
HOWEVER, maybe I am there along those lines. I have said over and over and over and over again that I do work to try to convince parents on how important it is to be involved with their kids. I do especially encourage dads to be so. I MAKE SURE I compliment and THANK parents when I see them really trying and supporting their children. So yeah, maybe I do try to "influence" parents if that's the road you're going down.
But then parents like yours and you and my own didn't need to be told that. They did it on their own. Remember, I'm only saying this about myself and not about any other person. Certainly others have different approaches (and I learn from others too--if you can't learn from others, you can't learn). My concern are the ones whom I am charged with--my own students and their parents. I do love the kids and appreciate them for their efforts and also their parents. I seem to get blessed every year. Giving compliments is something we all could work on. I really do appreciate good parents and I will say that over and over again. Hope that you have a great MLK day and a great Presidents' Day. Keep up that Christmas "spirit." I hope that I can throughout the whole year. For that is really when we should remember the Savior, IS throughout the whole year and always.
Thanks again for being a good mom. Again, if I had your opportunity to raise such fine children, I would never have any need to complain about anything again.
Getting back to the same thing again are we? :)Nice that you like to rehash it again and again. Yep, I've stated that too. Sometimes things don't turn out the way we would like them to--sure don't for me. But I do the best to learn from my experiences. Heck, even one of Ronald Reagan's sons went the "other way" so to speak. There's that thing called freeagency. After a while, we are responsible for our own choices in our lives. Sometimes we make bad ones and sometimes good. Consequences will happen with those choices. Nice to see that you ALWAYS make good choices.
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