Gender Goals Subject of TES Nov. 4 Parent Coffee TELLURIDE – The Telluride Elementary School will focus, during the 2009-2010 school year, on becoming “more boy-friendly,” says Principal Trish Greenwood, while staff studies brain-based differences in how boys and girls learn.

“Much of the staff’s interest stemmed from a one-day district-wide training,” Greenwood says, that focused on “structural differences in the male and female brains” that affect how students learn, with a session on teaching strategies that target male students, but prove beneficial for female students, as well.

“At the top of list of goals is the desire to make sure we are providing our male students with literature that is of interest to them. We understand that girls often prefer to read fiction while boys would like to read ‘to learn something,’” she says.

“Reflecting on the literature selections in our classrooms,” many teachers voiced concern that fiction was too dominant. By the time students leave begin fourth grade, she says: “The majority have decided if they are good at school or not. We strongly feel it is our duty to provide a wider selection of reading materials in order to help nurture a love of reading with our younger male students.”

A second area of focus is on more movement in the classroom, where boys tend to be more fidgety than girls. After learning more about the differences in the male and female brain, the faculty plans to allow more movement, and to integrate specific movement activities into the school day, as well. “These brain breaks can take from one to two minutes,” says Greenwood, and they “can be as simple as standing and spelling your first name with your left elbow and your last name with your right elbow.”

These “brain breaks” are fun for students, and they make a difference, physiologically, increasing the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain, enhancing attention “when they sit back down to work.”

Boys, Greenwood reports, “often learn better when they are moving. Sitting for too long can be frustrating and as boys look for ways to keep their attention focused (tapping a pencil, tilting a chair back, and frequent trips to the bathroom). In contrast, girls are often able to sit for longer periods of time and attend. By building in frequent brain breaks we aim to level the playing field for our male students and provide a short, fun break for all students.”

Already, TES teachers report, when boys start fidgeting, taking a quick “brain break” helps students stay on task – as does allowing students choose between standing to complete their work, sitting on the floor with a clipboard or just choosing a preferred location for completing assignments.

And, finally, she reports: “It is no secret that more boys than girls are referred to the principal’s office. After learning that boys can have as much as 30 percent less serotonin than girls, we began to discuss how this applies to what often occurs on our playground each daily playground issues. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that affects mood, anxiety and helps one calm down during conflict. The faculty agreed on the importance of providing students time to deescalate before expecting them to discuss the cause of the physical conflict.”

Greenwood will discuss the book, Strategies for Teaching Boys and Girls at the Elementary Level, at a Wednesday, Nov. 4 parents coffee meeting at 8:15 a.m. in the TES cafeteria. for our year-long book study.