Enhancing the School Success of Boys of Color

Grades PreK-3Train-the-Trainer Summer Institute

Lansing Public SchoolsJuly 20, 2011

Dorinda J. Carter Andrews, Ed.D.

Agenda• Module 5 Activities– Discuss Chapters 10 and 11 from Minds of

Boys• BREAK• Module 5 Activities (continued)– Teach Like a Champion – Chapter 2

(Planning that Ensures Academic Achievement)

– Reflection and Practice– Teach Like a Champion – Chapter 4

(Engaging Students in Your Lessons) text

Module 5

Using Instructional Approaches that Motivate and Engage Boys of Color

Causes of Undermotivation for

BoysThe boy’s brain itselfThe school systemFamily dynamicsEnvironmental social stressors

(e.g., poverty, peer pressure, violence, etc.)

Lack of positive “male motivators”

Gifted Underachieving Boys

• Many students go unnoticed as high-ability non-achievers. The nonachievement and undermotivation usually stems from:– Low academic self-esteem– Negative attitudes towards teachers– Low motivation and self-regulation skills– Negative attitude toward school– Negative attitude toward course offerings– Low goal-setting/self-evaluation skills

What Teachers Can DoTen Effective Strategies for Motivating Boys (of Color):1.Formally check in with boys of color daily2.Target BOC for in-class activities by using specific strategies to engage them in topics of interest3.Sit them near the front of the class4.Modify teaching methods to include less verbal instruction and more hands-on activities while letting nonverbal-, non-writing-type students do more work on the computer than you might otherwise allow

What Teachers Can Do

5. Let boys move around physically while they are reading, writing, learning, and even using the computer

6. Give boys soft objects to squeeze in their hands constantly so that they can keep their brains stimulated physically and thus avoid the rest state.

7. Design school and/or class schedule to fit the student brain.

What Teachers Can Do

8. Make physical education a priority for student motivation – especially for underperforming males

9. Provide smaller schools and classroom sizes when possible; it helps motivate boys.

10.Provide all undermotivated boys with a mentor

Brainstorming/Strategies

In your building teams, use 15 minutes to identify strategies at the classroom level and building level for identifying and addressing the needs of undermotivated/underperforming boys of color

Planning that Ensures Academic Achievement

Teach Like a Champion Techniques#6 – Begin with the End#7 – 4 M’s#8 – Post It#9 – Shortest Path#10 – Double Plan#11 – Draw the Map

Planning that Ensures Academic Achievement

• Golden Nuggets/Insights– Consider as a learning objective: “As

adults my children will . . . (Begin with the End)

– Double Plan technique: knowing what you will say as well as what the child will learn and do is critical

– Begin with the end in mind– Connections to Stephen Covey’s ideas– Teachers need to really know what the

standards mean for today’s lesson– Post-It requires the visual reminders. This

is very important

Reflection and Practice

• Activity 5.1 – In building teams, choose one of the

questions (1-4) on pp. 69-70 in Teach Like a Champion, and work as a group to answer it.

– Task Time: 25 minutes– Report Out to follow

Engaging Students in Your Lessons

Teach Like a Champion techniques #22 – Cold Call#23 – Call and Response#24 – Pepper#25 – Wait Time#26 – Everybody Writes#27 - Vegas

Engaging Students in Your Lessons

• Golden Nuggets/Insights– With Cold Call, there must be a

classroom culture where kids feel safe; similar to Socratic method

– Stay positive! Scaffold!– Cold Call/Pepper: allows for involving

more students in the conversation/engaging more students

– Call & Response: movement and music can be used with this strategy

Reflection and Practice

• In small groups, answer questions 1 and 5 on p. 144 in Teach Like a Champion.

• Task Time: 15 minutes• Report Out to follow

What Stuck?

• An ‘Aha’ moment• A pleasant surprise• Something that you had to struggle with to

understand• Something that you don’t agree with• Something that you agree with strongly• Something you thought was particularly

interesting• Something you didn’t expect• An insight or solution• Something you want to know more about/A

question that you have