tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16768178.post8282740531587218153..comments2023-10-16T07:40:38.179-05:00Comments on Hear me Roar: Go ACLU! Sue Sue!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16768178.post-61488445455038307652008-12-21T02:14:00.000-06:002008-12-21T02:14:00.000-06:00Learning style isn't determined by gender,it's bra...Learning style isn't determined by gender,it's <I>brain dominance</I>. Left brained people "the logical side"is considered to prefer doing book-work, while the Right brained people,who are considered to be creative,prefer doing things that are active.I don't think it's got anything to do with gender.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16768178.post-45046500184820766062008-10-02T10:03:00.000-05:002008-10-02T10:03:00.000-05:00Gotta say, whenever I see a comment from an anonym...Gotta say, whenever I see a comment from an anonymous, I get nervous. But that was an amazing point. Very excellent *claps* and yet... depressing :(Tobeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04766767971739035215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16768178.post-31478251655852259442008-10-01T21:06:00.000-05:002008-10-01T21:06:00.000-05:00I wonder if part of the issue may be that original...I wonder if part of the issue may be that originally, only boys were allowed to study (inside, at desks) because girls "weren't smart enough" to do so. Except then, when women started to go to school as well, they found they had to do twice as well to get half the recognition, and they learned to be better than the boys at everything required by formal schooling (just as women do in all male-dominated areas).<BR/><BR/>Except, of course, that it's unacceptable for girls to outperform boys! Up until now, we've responded to girls' "disproportionate" success in formal schooling by writing increasingly-frantic news stories about our "boy crisis" and how boys are falling behind (since the girls raised the standards). It happened in professional piano playing-- female pianists began playing from memory in order to be competitive with male pianists (twice as good for half the credit) and essentially forced all professional pianists to play from memory lest they admit that they couldn't do something a GIRL could do.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, it seems our "boy crisis" is so immense that we cannot convince boys to outperform girls by enough (perhaps since they know they'll get handed the better jobs and better pay no matter what their test scores?) and so we've gone the alternate route-- because girls are so good at learning in a formal environment, clearly that is not a valuable way to learn. Our boys are too good to learn cooped up at desks-- we have to let them outside to play!<BR/><BR/>If only we could just focus on education, instead of monitoring who is "winning" at education, I suspect we'd all be a lot better off. Girls do better than boys in a classroom setting. They have to. It's still not enough to get them equal pay for equal work. That's the real problem. Not "saving boys" from their own "unacceptable" underperformance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16768178.post-9698375905562344742008-09-30T19:40:00.000-05:002008-09-30T19:40:00.000-05:00As an educator, I can pretty safely say that this ...As an educator, I can pretty safely say that this is a confusing issue, and you will probably get a different response from every educator you ask. My kids are YOUNG.... 18 months to 2 1/2 years old... so I'd LIKE to say that they are not yet 'socialized' to do anything and are still within their 'purest' personality. I have read an article that said that boys have a hard time sitting still, so if you give them a stress ball or something else that they can transfer their energy to while they are listening, then they will do better at sitting still. <BR/><BR/>However, the issue here is broader than you think. The REAL problem is that schools are competing for rank among the district (thank you NCLB) and are also crippled by poorly trained teachers and crumbling facilities and overcrowding. What these schools are TRYING to do is find the best way to educate to the largest group possible for the least amount of money, time, and effort. And the sad reality is that that is what is NECESSARY in our schools right now. <BR/><BR/>What would solve this problem is to pay teachers what they are worth (so that qualified educators don't have to leave the field in order to provide for their families), build facilities large enough to accommodate for growing communities and drop the ratios: one teacher to a class of 30 (even 25, I'd say) is STAGGERING. I have a class of 12 and I can honestly say that if it were JUST me in there, there would be no way that I could give those kids the individualized, on their level, one-on-one attention that they need. This school is probably SO frustrated that they are being sued, because they were just looking for something-- anything-- that would WORK. Our education system is totally broken.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16768178.post-1578784080607712712008-09-30T14:21:00.000-05:002008-09-30T14:21:00.000-05:00If they are so hell bent on teaching in a way that...If they are so hell bent on teaching in a way that caters to different learning styles, why don't they do both for both? Too many schools are eliminating curricula that get kids up and moving and out from behind their desks. Ten years ago my HS only required one semester of PE. Elementary schools are cutting recess and music and art.<BR/><BR/>Teach the kids at desks, teach them outside. Get them in as many different learning situations as possible. Just do it together.<BR/><BR/>Thanks, Tobes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com