Since I started teaching in 1958, the topic of boys and their behaviour and success in school has always been a topic. The topic was very likely discussed long before 1958.
Yesterday I listened to an interview which covered the topic. Yes and the interview was of someone who has just written a book on the topic. One wonders how many books have been written on this topic.
Many suggestions have been made about causes and solutions and nothing seems to make much of a difference.
So some boys seem to have trouble sitting still. They get up and wander around disrupting other students. Sound familiar? I attended a one room country school from gr one to nine. I remember being out of my seat and going to an older student's desk and just watching. I didn't know what they were doing but it was interesting to watch. In my teaching experience I have had boys get up and chase each other around the class room.
Some boys have more difficulty learning to read. Many reasons have been given for this problem. Many suggestions have been made for a solution.
In the days of retention most were boys who repeated a grade.
One o the good things on this issue is that most boys seem to have caught up to girls in the later teen years.
So when I listened to the interview I thought, well, I have heard this for many years. It's a familiar topic. How much longer will we hear this same topic.
Every generation discovers anew the problems previous generations experienced. There's nothing new under the sun, as the saying goes.
ReplyDeleteEverything repeats itself again and again...
ReplyDeleteI taught high school, so this was not always so evident.
ReplyDeleteOne of my grandsons has had issues with sitting still and following rules but his teachers and school administration have been so good at helping him work on solutions. He still has his moments but there is a "calming corner" in the classroom where students know they can take a moment to settle themselves. He just finished 2nd grade and has shown much improvement.
ReplyDeleteProbably as long as there are boys in school. I agree they seem to have troubles sitting still for long periods of time but maybe teachers are at fault and could teach some subjects with children standing or moving around:)
ReplyDeleteNew generations repeating what their predecessors behavior was.
ReplyDeleteIs it really only the boys, I remember the saying "boys will be boys".
ReplyDeleteI do not envy the teachers that have to deal with disruptive students.
Take care, have a great day and a happy week ahead!
Some kids have to wiggle. All kids need to be able to get up and move, especially young ones. When I was a reading specialist and taught a 90 minute reading block with first graders, I incorporated lots of movement in the instruction. And there is always that little boy who is expert at "chair gymnastics". I seated him in the back and kept my eye on him that he didn't crash and burn.
ReplyDeleteI think reading is one of the keys to behavior. My parents never had a television in the house and so we were expected to read for entertainment and read we did every evening until I graduated and went to college. All the boys who seemed disruptive were all ones who never read. Their sole entertainment was television.
ReplyDeleteBoys will be boys, as they say.
ReplyDeleteI always hated having to sit still in school for hours on end it seemed, but I was far too timid to get up and walk around. I lived inside my head, day dreaming, or surreptitiously reading a book.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, ants-in-the-pants is what I heard being tossed around about some.
ReplyDeleteMy niece was a teacher in a rural school, grade 4 of 5 I think, and the boys were always disruptive. So she changed the daily schedule to take them out for phys ed in the first hour of the day, running them around til they were ragged. After that the problem largely disappeared, and the boys did better in school too..
ReplyDeleteI am finding that genders are blurring, as we learn more about it all. It is a continuum. Behaviour isn't as gender-based as it was.
ReplyDeleteI think even girls are like that,I mean they differ in their behaviour just like boys do,some talkative and restless some shy and calm ,some active and smart some naive
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with first comment that each generation faces same challenges in their times and deal with them their own way, they are few repeated behaviours actually
Kay of Musings: I taught 1st grade. Yes, some boys tended to be more antsy. But I had some girls with behavior problems too. But I can’t say boys were harder to teach at all. I really thought all of my students wanted to learn and do well and I loved them all.
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