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Today my students divided into groups to begin a huge research project that will take them several weeks to complete. The first thing students had to do was to organize themselves into groups of four and then select a controversial topic that they would like to research.
Many people might assume that 17 and 18 year olds would prefer to work in groups composed of both males and females. While this is indeed true for some students, most students prefer to work in all boy groups or all girl groups. As I watched them work in class, it was so obvious why they segregate themselves by gender.
As we all know, boys and girls work differently, organize differently, and play differently.
I sat at my desk this morning and watched kids get started. I provided a four-page handout of the project requirements and asked students to review it together. Many of the boys grabbed beanbag chairs and sprawled out on the floor. They talked and played around more than the girls, but they got their work done. Usually, one person in the group read the assignment aloud to the group or each boy read the assignment silently with little discussion about the assignment.
Girls, on the other hand, sat at their desks and almost always rearranged their desks so they were facing each other. Usually, one person read the assignment aloud as the other girls followed along on the sheet. Repeatedly during the reading, the girls stopped and discussed various components of the assignment. Most girls also took notes and highlighted important information.
When they finished reading and discussing the assignment, boys sat around and talked about a variety of topics. Most of the girls, however, started organizing the project and determining when they needed to meet to work on the project and who would be responsible for each section of the project.
From a distance, it appeared that the girls worked much harder than the boys. I’ve taught years and years and years, however, and I know that appearances are deceiving. Whereas the boys appear to be goofing off, when we gathered together again as a class, the boys asked many questions about the project and exhibited that they had read and understood the assignment. They just process, discuss, and organize the information in ways they are so different from girls
And female teachers.
Sometimes I think it would be easier to teach only girls (at least girls over the age of 15).
Oh, but what I would miss if I didn’t have the humor, insight, and entertaining work habits of the boys!
