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Materials for Class
Useful Links for Class
- No Dentist Left Behind
- Standardized Testing- Simpson's Episode
- Assessing Students through Different Methods
- Spelling Assessments/Games
- Rubric Maker
- Discipline- Simpsons Episode
- CHP 12- Article 2
- CHP 12- Article 1
- Mr. Holland's Opus Movie Clip
- ChP 10- Constructive Classrooms
- CHP 10- Detailed info on constructivism
- CHP 10- Hyptermedia with constructivist approach
- CHP 10- Constrasting direct and constructivist approaches
- CHP 10-High/scope program for teaching
- CHP 9- Master Theater
- CHP 8- Youtube clip
- CHP 8- Memory Forum
- CHP 8- Memory Games
- CHP 8- Memory Games (NEMO)
- CHP 8- Boosting Student Memory
- CHP 7- Article about Difficult Child
- CHP 7- Management Scenarios
- CHP 7- Samples of Reinforcement
- CHP 7- Management Inventory
- FREE MUSIC
- Citation Machine!
- Library - for Research Articles
- APA Style guidelines
- Girls and Computers Video
- Links for Chapter 4
- Web Sites for Chapter 3
- Sample Video from EDPS 530 Student
- Possible topics for Video Presentation
- Article: Standards for Good Teaching
About Me
- Dr. Pratt
- Office Hours: Wednesday 1:00-4:00 TECH 206 (Education Office) Phone: 785-5578 email: dpratt@pnc.edu
I think that the first step to determine the extent of gender bias in my classroom is observation and reflection. I would like to invite others in to watch me teach and to point out the times in which my planning and responses seem biased. Of course, I would invite people in who don't know me and who have not formed opinions of my teaching capabilities or feelings toward my students. Once my own bias analysis is complete, I'd like to do the same with the students. I think that using this data to guide a community circle would prove very insightful for all involved. I'd like to at this point ask the students if they have ever felt that they were treated differently because of their gender. Again, I think that role-playing in addition to discussion and reflection would bring out many meaningful comments. I would then begin to journal each day about times when gender bias was noticed in the room and possibly even keep track on a chart in the room. Bringing the concept out into the open is the most important thing in overcoming this problem in our classrooms. Giving my students an opportunity to express their thoughts on the subject is key.
ReplyDeleteThere are various ways to check for gender biases in my students and myself. I can begin with student observation. Through this observation, I can keep track of what gender of students are called on for particular questions. I can ensure that I am calling on females just as often as males in mathematics and science. I can also ensure that I call on male students as frequently as females when we are completing language arts activities. If I notice a bias, either in my own instruction or that of my students, I can address that with the class. This will allow me to get feedback with from my students and I will be able to provide my perspectives to them. An example of a strategy that can be used to eleviate gender biases is to enourage females to be group speakers as well as males. I can also present various career choices to both males and females without stereotyping the gender of the person who occupies the job. I can invite community members into the classroom that are not the "typical" gender of a particular occupation so that they can share their experiences with my students. I also need to strive to improve all students self-efficacy to ensure that they have confidence in themselves and don't feel that their opinions are wrong or not worth sharing. For students who do not like sharing aloud, I can encourage them to share more often, but not expect that their hand is always in the air. I can also allow students to submit written responses. I feel that after careful observation and class discussion, I can reduce gender biases in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find most interesting about gender bias in the classroom is that in most countries, this bias does not exist. Why? What are we doing that other countries aren’t doing?
ReplyDeleteBreaking the cycle of traditional roles for boys and girls, women and men is a difficult task, because noticing the bias is difficult. Like Liz Long said, the first step is observation and reflection. Using cooperative learning groups and utilizing hands-on activities will help bridge the achievement gap between girls and boys in math and science. Also, encouraging boys to read more books will help them cover more ground in language and reading scores to help them catch up to girls.
Besides these concrete examples for instruction, teachers should be sensitive to all students’ needs and feelings, and treat all children according to his/her needs, not gender.
I think one of the first steps in reducing or eliminating gender bias, as is mentioned in other blogs, is to recognize and reflect upon how it may appear in your own clasroom. I agree that tallying the number of times you call on boys versus girls, or having another adult in your classroom do the same, may help make you aware of times when there is gender imbalance in discussion participation. Another idea could be to video tape several lessons in different content areas. Watching these videos can be helpful not only in further analyzing effectiveness of one's own lessons but can also give teachers more time to reflect upon how gender bias may be influencing classroom decisions. To help make students more aware of possible gender bias, I think teachers can provide a structured environment for class discussion or may simply help create an environment in which individual strengths are recognized and appreciated, regardless of gender. Studying about, or better yet, speaking to individuals who have chosen career paths that defy certain gender stereotypes also seems to be a great way to get kids thinking past possible gender bias.
ReplyDeleteI would hope that my students come to me in first grade with very little gender bias. Ideally, they would come from a home in which parents encourage boys and girls to partake in similar activities and explore similar interests. Since that may not be the case, it is likely that they come to school with some preconceived ideas about what boys are good at and what girls are good at. I think that observing them "in action" would reveal some interesting conclusions about the gender bias concern. An ideal setting for this type of casual observation would be a small group project. I always carefully mix groups to include a balance of high, middle, low achievers, as well as boy and girl ratio. There is typically one student who emerges as the leader. It would be interesting to note whether it is a boy or girl and whether the task involves math or science, or a language task, such as reading, writing, etc. As for specific steps that I would take to avoid this gender bias, I think that I would just want to make gender a non-issue. If I treat boys and girls the same, with the same expections for all, that should set the stage for the students to feel equality between the two sexes. It's important to avoid the stereotypes like "Boys will be boys!" and "Girls are more nurturing." Give boys and girls the same opportunities to explore math and science concepts, expect boys and girls to be good readers and writers. Choose read-alouds that spotlight both boys and girls. I think it's also important for students to see men and women in non-traditional careers. I want my students to know that gender does not have to limit or dictate their roles in life.
ReplyDeleteWell, seeing as how I had 18 boys in a class of 27 this year, I am sure that anyone walking into my room would see me catering to boys. But even without those lopsided numbers, I don't need to do anything specific to determine if I am ever biased, I know that I am sometimes guilty of this. I went to drawing popsicle sticks at one point so that I didn't call on any one person, boy or girl, too often. I think I sometimes cater to boys because they seem to be off task more often than girls and doing so helps alleviate the off task problem. Obviously I need to stop that. I believe that more interesting non-fiction better books need to be available in the classroom. These types of books often appeal to boys, and as Kym said, reading more will help male scores catch up to female scores in language. The reading books in classrooms seem to lack in interesting reads, although they are getting better. All girl and all boy classes should be looked at seriously. This would encourage girls to build confidence in themselves and to see that girls can lead, whether it is reading or science. As teachers, we need to encourage ALL students to do the best that they can at whatever they choose.
ReplyDeleteIn order to determine the extent to which gender bias exists in my classroom I need to actively listen to conversations and observe what is taking place. I have always tried to make sure that I do not model gender biases for my students, but when I find myself showing bias, I must stop and admit I made a mistake. That was the primary reason I started pulling sticks to call on students. I have heard my students say things like "only boys can play football", "boys are faster than girls", and "girls have better handwriting". When I hear them making biased comments, I like to pause what we are doing and address the comment. I feel that this is a helpful way to reduce any gender bias. Another way that can help limit gender bias in the classroom is by assigning identical roles to both male and female students. The children see that boys and girls are capable of doing the same things. When mentioning jobs, make sure that doctors are not always referred to as males and nurses as females. Discuss how females can be police officers and scientists and males can be homemakers and secretaries. Try to address and eliminate any peer pressure on your students to exhibit "gender-type" behaviors. Encourage all students to value all subject areas. At read aloud, be sure to read some books that appeal to boys. Emphasize the daily usefulness of math and science, so females see it as important in their own lives.
ReplyDeleteI feel that I'm in somewhat of a different situation because I only teach math. This past year, our team went to single gender grouping for our periods. I was not there at the time, but our staff was involved in workshops that focused on the differences in learning styles between males and females and the distractions that each sex experience when members of the opposite sex are in the room. Two main differences are that during math instruction, for instance, male students typically stop listening after about 8-10 minutes. They want to dive in and do. They need to then be guided along the way when they encounter stumbling blocks. Females are more likely to share responses, both more frequently and more in depth, when there are only females in the group.
ReplyDeleteThis year, however, I will have mixed gender groupings because of scheduling issues with the math classes. I plan on inviting our curriculum coach to come observe with the task of paying attention to any bias that may exist. Together we can then strategize solutions.
Gender bias in band: I tend to have more male students leading sections in which males are the majority or equal share holders in the section. (i.e. If there are 2 boys in a saxophone section of 4, the boys tend to lead that section.) If the section has a majority of girls, the girls tend to lead the section. My girls are a vocal majority, but will yield musically to boys every single time. In chorus, my girls are by far a majority, but only because there are so many more of them than the boys.
ReplyDeleteI try to eliminate this by "randomly" picking students to do different tasks and roles. I'm very big on having a combination between students volunteering for things, and me assigning students to tasks.
I also don't allow competitive section leadership or 'chairs' in band class. I think there'll be a lot of time for that in high school, and frankly, it seems to be boy-dominated. I avoid it, and try to foster a more nuturing class, not so much of a competitive situation.
Observation and reflection will be key in determining if there is gender bias in my classroom. In our modern world, I feel our students have the ability to dream to be whatever they want to be. Hopefully parents and previous teachers haven’t focused on tasks they can’t do, but rather say that they can do whatever they want. As cliché as the quote is, it is absolutely true. We had a woman almost get elected as our President! To ensure that I am not acting on gender bias, I can simply alternate calling on boys and girls to get a 50/50 response. I also use the “fair and square cup” which is a cup where all the students’ names have been placed on popsicle sticks so it is absolutely random who is called on. When pairing my students up, I could pair them up with the opposite gender so that way they can interact with each other. With cooperative learning, making sure there is each gender in a group could be crucial because they will have different background information to add to discussion. More outgoing students will obviously volunteer to be the leader, however; I haven’t noticed if those self appointed leaders are boys or girls. Also to eliminate gender bias, again don’t place pressure and competition on grades or activities going on in class. Realize that each student is an individual. In my room I have over 1,000 children books. There is something for everyone to read, boys and girls. There are several bins of non-fiction, space, history, and more. These topics appeal to boys and this way they can have ownership over their reading and not be forced to read another novel or story. Since I teach fifth grade, I think I could simply ask my students if they ever felt they were treated differently because of their gender. If it was anonymous yet gender specific, I think the information could be useful in my instruction. Overall, I hope my students feel confident with who they are while they are in my classroom and after they move on.
ReplyDeleteWow, I think all of the above comments were so well said. I couldn't agree more that gender bias is a relevant topic in education and that we, as teachers, do have the power to try to eliminate this in our classroom.
ReplyDeleteTo determine the extent to which I am gender biased, I could ask my principal to take note when she is doing my required evaluations, of the times I call on a male or female, my tone of voice when speaking to each gender, and the random tasks that I assign to each gender. I also like the idea that Kristen Saler mentioned of videotaping myself in action! (as difficult as it is to watch ourselves sometimes....)
I use playing cards labeled with student names very often when assigning students to groups or to work with a partner. I also use the cards to decide the order in which students share projects, etc. I find that this keeps me from picking and "favorites" or at least leading students to believe so.
When I was in school, it always seemed that the boys were chosed to do the "tough jobs" like moving classroom furniture, or carrying boxes. I resented that, and that experience forces me to leave these tasks open to both boys AND girls!
I also had 18 boys and 9 girls in my class this year, so looking in from the outside, I would appear to be in more favor of the boys than the girls. I try to call on students equally and provide them with equal time, but that is very difficult when you have some children that require more attention out of you than others. I know I am guilty of asking the boys to carry out heavy boxes, and sometimes I will catch myself and ask some of the girls. I know I handle situations differently depending on if it is boys involved or girls. For example, if two boys are fighting, I can usually resolve the issue quickly by calming them down and discussing a better way of handling the problem. The girls on the other hand will be mad for days and no matter what I say or do, I will not resolve the problem. I think you have to be aware of the difference in boys and girls to survive teaching.
ReplyDeleteSelf-reflection is an excellent why to determine if you are being bias or not. I try to keep track of who I assign jobs to and I make sure I rotate the boys and girls equally. I also use popsicle sticks to keep track of who I have called on, but this isn't always practical.
The whole issue of gender bias in today's day and age confuses me a little. I remember clearly learning about it in undergrad school. It is one of those things that I have consciously made an effort to control. Most of the time when I need student responses I draw from my popsicle sticks so that it is random. When I don't use them, which is rare, I make sure to call on boy, girl, boy, girl. (Or vise versa!) Also, I have always provided wait time to questions, to give most a fair shot. I don't recall seeing gender bias in my students, but I am now curious and will be planning to conduct a discussion on this topic, like someone else said, ask them if they have ever felt they were discriminated against because of their gender.
ReplyDelete