Does anyone on here teach single gender classes? My school has been looking into it and a few of us teachers are Piloting it. I am working with the ELA teacher on my team with a single gender section. SHe has Boys while I have girls then we flip. Today was the first day in combination of Halloween and the boys class was terrible. I had a really hard time getting them to stop talking and pay attention. I know they were excited about the change in schedule and the holiday but it was beyond that. Does anyone have any classroom management for boys tricks they can share????? :help::help::help:
Yes I know lots of movement would really help but I need to get them quiet and their attention for explainations and directions before we can even start anything. As soon as I would get them quiet someone would do something silly and they would all crack up! I couldn't make ANY progress until i finally just stopped and made them do bookwork. hopefully that helped make a point!
I will take boys ANY DAY over girls! I've had a few all-male classes over the years, and one year I taught all boys all day long. It was my best year ever. For me, they really never had any issues above and beyond issues I saw in single-gender classrooms. For the most part, they were LESS squirrelly without girls in the room.
I have had all boys for the last 3 years (not by choice but it is just the way it turned out) and I absolutely LOVE it!
Do either of you have any classroom management advice? I did a little research and found that structure, structure, structure is important and to put a time on everything they do.
Structure, consistency and knowing when to "nip it in the bud". I use a lot of facial expressions and tone of voice is very important -- I don't yell or raise my voice, but my tone tells them I mean business. I am very strict but I love to have fun and tease, but I know how much "fun/teasing" each student can handle. I know which students are followers and make sure to acknowledge the "followers" when inappropriate behavior is going on -- I cue them on making good choices for not copying before they do and if I don't get them in time, I let them know that what the other student is not appropriate and they are causing problems that will lead to a consequence. I then remind them by choosing to copy the behavior that they are making the problem bigger and big problems mean big consequences... My consequences are pretty well what other teachers use - miss 5 minutes of recess, not being able to play in the field during recess, teacher choice during "free choice" time, having to stay with the teacher during recess, etc... I'm also not one to argue with a student over not doing work. I give them 3 prompts and then I let them know that they can choose not to do their work but by choosing not to do it, they are choosing not to have fun in my class -- they are choosing not to have recess, participate in free choice, sit with the students during lunch, sit with the other students during stories (they have to sit on a chair beside the group), etc... until their work is complete. I do goal bucks in my class. I talk with students and we set up a goal for them (i.e. raising their hand when they need help, staying in their seat, stopping what they are doing when asked, not tattling) and I do check ins 3 times a day. They can earn 3 bucks a day. On Friday's I open my store and they can buy Dollar Store toys or computer time (they usually buy computer time, lol).
I teach in a Girls school and have done so for 16 years. Before that I taught for 5 years in an all Boys school. In fact the only time I ever taught Co-ed was when I was training.
I'm a big fan of high structure and routine, so I teach all of my classes like that, no matter the gender. The boys liked writing less, and they preferred shorter readings and non-fiction. They talked a lot more . . . in a good way.
I teach all boys, and I read a great book that validated a lot of what I was doing and also gave me some new strategies. It's called Teaching the Male Brain by Abigail Norfleet James, PhD. She has a book about girls, too, but I haven't read that one. She had lots of great ideas that I now use in my class.
Remember too that boys do not hear as well as girls. Whatever voice you were using with the girls does not apply with most boys. I know from single gender classrooms I've witnessed that the teacher would use an FX system with the boys.
I would love to try this! When I student taught, I had a class of all boys. It was my favorite class of the day! I looked forward to it all day. I think a lot of my behavior issues would disappear if my kiddos weren't in a room with the opposite sex...
I don't believe I would want to try this. I understand the research in regards to the academic impact it can have on boys and girls, but the social is what would concern me. I love interacting with both groups at one time and seeing them learn how to work with one another. I also do not know how you could handle working with just one group all the time.
I understand what our job is, but with as much time as students spend in the classroom, socializing happens. They learn how to work in pairs, in groups, they learn how to lead and how to follow. School is a natural place for that to happen. And overall socializing with the students, is probably my favorite part of the job. I love just talking to them, about anything.
I'm not sure what I'd think of it in elementary or high schools, but it takes the "hormone factor" out of middle school . . . which is WONDERFUL. Plus, ours were only gender grouped for math and English. They were mixed for everything else. Still plenty of time for socialization.
I teach in an all-boys urban public middle school. It is great. This year I know how to educate the boys based on their needs. Also, it does take the hormonal aspects of trying to impress girls out of the equation.
