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My boys are in 6th and 7th grade. Last week there was a ceremony for the National Honors society. It is a small school. But I was curious about how many boys made the list.
Out of 44 kids in 6th grade, not one boy made national honors. there were at least 10 girls.
Out of 42 kids in 7th grade, only 1 boy made national honors. Again, there were a few girls.
Out of about 40 kids in 8th grade, only 2 boys made the list. I dont know about the girls.
Now before anyone says ; I am just mad that my kids didnt make it, I am not. I am just wondering how and why so few boys made it and so many girls made it.
One son says that some teachers only ask the girls for answers and never call on the boys. Others only call on the girls that will give the correct answers.
My kids do well in school ; A,B and C's. We are about to move to a different district. But I was just wondering if we are shortchanging the boys and concentrating on the girls?
SOP for at least the last 3 decades (likely longer). Our Val/Sal at the school I'm at have been 95% female in the 22 years I've been here. Even thinking back to when I was in high school (C/O 1972) the upper levels were majority girls. Even in the Sciences and Math.
Is it short changing? I don't know. I will tell you that middle school is a wasteland for most students. They go to it liking school and by the time they're 9th graders, when I get them, the vast majority are turned off. Some never snap out of it.
The OP is probably referring to the Junior NHS? In our school, the Junior NHS is open to 7th/8th graders and entry is based only on 1.) GPA and 2.) service hour requirements.
Some female teachers hate male humans after many years of being taught that men were the source of all problems. Some female teachers unintentionally favor female students over male students. Also, I wonder how many fidgity boys were put on Ritalin type drugs mistaking their normal energy levels for ADD when what they really needed was a change in their diet and recess exercise? There have been studies that show male students learn better from male teachers and vise versa. However, certain legal groups have fought against such classes tooth and nail.
Must have been the junior honors ; sorry, but I didnt go to school here so am going thru it with my kids now.
One son definately learns better from a male teacher ; but also a teacher no matter what its sex is, as long as it is organized, fair and respects the students.
I wouldn't freak out about it. Girls mature before boys. When I was that age, I would rather be out exploring the world or playing with my friends than doing my homework.
There are some schools of thought that say that boys learn differently than girls, and that various modes of instruction favor one gender over the other due to these innate differences. While I agree that different students learn better from some modes of instruction than others, I don't necessarily think it's a gender difference, just an individual student difference. I don't buy "boys learn this way and girls learn this way." It's not that easy to categorize students' individual strengths. All boys don't learn a certain way, and all girls don't learn a certain way. All students have unique sets of needs and strengths that, in an ideal world, would be best served by the individual instruction they receive.
As the world is not ideal, and as relatively few students get individualized instruction, this means that no one teacher with 20-35 students in a given class is going to be tailoring his/her instruction to suit everyone's optimum needs 100% of the time. It's just not possible. The most one can do within the limitations of a traditional classroom model is to differentiate one's instruction so that you're hitting the way various kids work best at least part of the time, and not always teaching using the same models, methods, strategies, and styles. Mixing it up allows more of a chance that you will be conducting things that really hook different students in at different times...a little something for everybody. It also keeps your class from getting stale for all parties involved.
Not every student is going to have his or her particular learning preferences catered to 100% of the time, and this is fine. It doesn't do anybody any type of service to set up their environment so that everything is always their individual preference; it's not reality. Yes, some kids (many of them boys, even, but many girls, as well, of various ages) work better when there is, for instance, a movement component factored in. It's not always going to be possible to tailor every lesson for every student with that in mind. Sometimes, that need will be served, sometimes, other needs may be hit.
I am not freaking out, but just wondering about the stats.
I don't see any stats... just an incomplete anecdote about your school.
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