A New Homogeneous Gender Group

Tomorrow I begin a new group of female students. This group needs to work on the reading/writing connection, so we will begin with the book by Ann Renaldi, The Fifth of March. Renaldi's focus is a girl the age of my students (13-14) who is in love with a British soldier, circa 1770s. The soldier becomes involved in the "Boston Massacre", which happens on March 5. The goal is to engage the students in the story first, then the history, and finally, to be able to write in/about the time period. The "hook" is the plot, the content is the precursor to the American Revolutionary War. I have not worked in a small group setting with these girls before, grouping them was based on their writing/ reading comprehension and needs. The personalities of the girls is a major component- they tend to be very "social" and not highly motivated. I have added two students (of the 5) who are more focused, to keep it from being homogeneous/ ability grouping- the homogeneity factor in this grouping is gender related, not ability, for the most part. I am interested to see, if away from their social group of peers, if these girls will seek a relationship with me, the teacher, as my other groups have- my conjecture is that they will, all groups to date have, this will be a completely new experience- for the most part, they have been more peer, that teacher motivated.

The Research Goes On...

I have been back to work with my group of 5 girls after spending 3 weeks working on writing with 5 boys. The boys wrote mystery stories with settings they were interested in as well as the characters. Some had never completed a piece of writing before, and they all want to be in the next "boys" group. One  boy said after each daily session- are we done? It doesn't seem like we have even started.

Through the research I have been conducting and the reading that supports the research, it seems as though personal relationships at middle school are important to both genders. What has surprised me and what I am finding to be true, is that girls need the relationship with the teacher, and middle school boys need it with their peers. The teacher needs to mitigate boy groups, but the dynamics are very different, between boys and girls in gender groups. My teaching partner, who teaches math and science, also uses gender grouping for small group instruction has found the same to be true- boys need the approval from their peers, and girls want a relationship from their teachers, gender peers are secondary. This indeed would make an incredible  action research project.

The girls I am now again reading with are trying to finish The Secret Life of Bees. They (and I) truly love the book, and find it hard to read and discuss and fit it all into the 45 minutes per day that we have. I have been absent twice and have had to have a male sub read with the girls- he found me at break last week and asked if we were all going to go see the movie- we told him we were trying to finish the book before we went to see it. I thought it amazing that he would connect with us and the book- that is the power of good literature and reading it together. The girls I have read with from 2 prior years plan to come to see the movie with the others and myself- this is quite a community we are building. I don't know where it will lead us... this is what teaching and learning is all about.

 

Peer reactions to single gender grouping

Friday, Sept. 19, our staff was encouraged to collaborate with fellow teachers on areas of interest that are different than our daily struggles and conversations. I worked with two other teachers (7th grade) who are also doing homogeneous gender grouping during our tutorial sessions. I asked if they were seeing any differences, the reactions were both surprising and- with hindsight very acute- not so surprising. The more veteran teacher was working with female students-reading a chapter book the girls found engaging from the first page. Although not fully convinced of the future benefits, the teacher was positive and motivated to continue. The second teacher, who has not taught for too long, but is innovative, smart and very caring, wasn't having as much success. She found it difficult to keep her boys engaged and they weren't pushing themselves at all. When I shared that I have had more success when I concentrate on building relationships with the students, she responded that when she did that, they felt she was their "friend" and showed no respect. I understand her dilemma- she is small, cute and 25, they are 12-13... I explained that I didn't try to befriend them, but to show interest in their ideas, and interests by designing lessons that focus on what they like- if they like soccer, we use that as a setting for their writing, etc. I found that my assumptions were very broad in how teachers conceptualize what you discuss. I am thankful to her, not only for her willingness to give it another try, but in helping me understand where I need to be more specific- this should help with the writing for my action research. She is going to take a math concept they will be using, and having the boys write a story that teaches the concept to 5th graders. By personalizing the content for each student's work by the individual stories they write, and by giving a clear purpose and audience for their work, she may find more success. I am interested in how this develops!

Sept. 16, 2008

My son is married (!) and I hope that I am now able to concentrate a bit better! I had an interesting question from my first blog about what happens to the rest of the girls in my classes- do they have equity in access- great question! Usually I switch between male and female groups every three weeks, and I work with different students each time. My Master's project advisor suggested working with the same students for a second session in three weeks, to continue to collect the data from these students- the girls are very excited! I am now working with five boys on writing skills. I chose them based on the writing they have done, and on personality- trying to work with students who can work together- not necessarily friends. After day one, the boys did not want to stop after 45 minutes, couldn't believe how time and flown; today they had the same reaction. We are working on plot development of a mystery, involving elements that they are interested in. I truly believe that it is in the relationships you are able to build in a 1-5 teacher-student ratio that makes the difference- they know you care about THEM!

Today is the first day of my action research blog. I am working with five middle school female students, during what we- at our school- call IIT (Individual Instruction Time). The girls were selected the first week of school, based on their first writing, teacher observations of their classroom habits, interactions, and personalities. We have been reading "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, for the past week and a half. My goal when we began was to help the students feel more confident in their reading abilities and encourage them to volunteer more in class. What I am finding is that they are becoming a cohesive group that is participating more in oral reading and conversation, during our small group time. What I am also seeing, is the need to continue the group  past the three weeks that are usually devoted to one group. I have spoken to the girls about this, and they are very excited to have more time together and with me. When I discussed my MAT project, they were thrilled to hear that I was in the MAT, to become even better at teaching, and that my goal was not to become an administrator, but to become the best teacher I could possibly be. They are a joy to work with!