Welcome to today s webinar!

Transcription

1 Welcome to today s webinar! We will begin at the top of the hour. The.pdf of the slides & recording of today s webinar will be available soon

2 Is It a Gender Thing? A Look at Preschool Social/Emotional Development Mary Mazarky and Rebecca Blanton

3 Coralwood School

4 Guiding Questions Why focus on boys? Why are boys and girls brains different? What does a boy friendly environment look like? What can we do to make a difference?

5 Why Focus on Boys? Research has increased in this area during the last 10 years. Gender matters in the classroom. Debate are gender differences innate or learned?

6 For every 100 girls: 250 boys are suspended from public schools. 335 boys are expelled. 217 boys are diagnosed with a SE disability. 324 boys are diagnosed with emotional disturbance. 189 boys are diagnosed with multiple disabilities.

7 Why Focus on Boys? Boys are expelled from preschool 4.5 times more frequently than girls. Boys vocabulary is 40% less than girls at 24 months % of the population diagnosed with ADHD or ADD are boys.

8 Why Focus on Boys? Age differences for readiness to learn: Girls 3 to 5 years old Boys 5 to 7 years old Finland ranks #1 on international education tests, but it does not start formal education until children are 7 years old.

9 Why Focus on Boys? Girls Have stronger neural connectors in their temporal lobes. Facilitates better listening and response to tones of the voice. Boys Tend to pick up less of what is aurally going on around them when it is said in words. Require more sensorytactile experiences.

10 Why Focus on Boys? With more areas of the female brain devoted to verbal functioning, sensory memory, sitting still, listening, tonality, and neural cross-talk, the complexities of reading and writing come easier, on average, to the female brain than to the male. The Minds of Boys, Michael Gurian If true, how does the pushed down curriculum effect the way boys learn?

11 Brain Differences Human brains versus male/female brains? Nature, nurture or culture? Brain differences

12 Brain Differences At 4 days old, girls spend twice as much time as boys maintaining eye contact with adults Infant girls pay closer attention to words of caregivers than boys Girls watch people, boys watch objects

13 Brain Differences Hearing in premature babies differs according to gender. (Caine, 1989) Interpretation of facial expression. (McClure, 2000) Language development and spatial relations differ in boys and girls.

14 Today s Classrooms: Gender Friendly? The world has gotten more verbal; boys haven t. (R. Whitmire) Keys to social/emotional success in preschool. Language skills are not developed at the same time. Preschool expectations have changed.

15 Challenges for Boys They want to be outdoors..

16 Challenges for Boys They want to be active.

17 Challenges for Boys They learn from doing, not talking.

18 Challenges for Boys They are visually oriented, yet schools are very verbal.

19 Creating Boy Friendly Classrooms Talk less, show more early in the lesson. Focus more on what boys could do in a lesson. Use humor in lessons. Praise always works.

20 Creating Boy Friendly Classrooms Challenge boys more competition works. Reduce writing demands. Read literature that appeals to boys. Be clear, simple, and have visual directions and rules.

21 Creating Boy Friendly Higher sound volume. Classrooms Picture schedules. Boys learn by touch so hands-on learning. Boys socialize differently.

22 Creating Boy Friendly Classrooms Boys respond to: Nonfiction books Stories with action in the story Stories about competition Feeling valued in the classroom

23 Creating Boy Friendly Classrooms Lots of physical room Books about how things work or grow or about heroes Blocks of all sizes to exercise their spatial-mechanical brains

24 Creating Boy Friendly Classrooms As always, teachers are the key to creating effective gender friendly classrooms. Some teachers already do many of these things, but as evidenced by the failing rate for boys, most do not. Additional training and appropriate materials are needed.

25 Boys and Testing What behaviors are beyond gender differences? Are typical boy behaviors seen as challenging behaviors? How does this fit into the current RTI process?

26 Boys and Testing Are we testing too many boys? Are we testing for the right reasons? Do gender friendly classrooms or schools make a difference?

27 What About the New Standards? Are boys benefitting from academics being pushed earlier and earlier? Are schools designed for verbal girls? What will happen to boys when the new Common Core State Standards are introduced next school year?

28 What Can I Do? Learn more about gender differences through additional professional development. Explore your areas of expertise and see where changes can be made. Gender matters..make a difference!

29 High quality preschools coupled with gender science are a winning combination for both genders!

30 Questions

31 Suggested Reading Why Boys Fail Richard Whitmire Why Gender Matters Leonard Sax Boys Adrift Leonard Sax The Minds of Boys Gurian/Stevens

32 THANKS.. We hope you enjoyed today s presentation! Our Contact Information: Mary Mazarky: marycs12@bellsouth.net Rebecca Blanton: rebeccaleeblanton@gmail.com