The disclaimer for this post is that if you are a male, are married to a male, have male children, are friends with males or have taught males…you are, by obligation, expected to post a comment. Or 4.

‘Cause I need help.

I have a very full and anticipatory heart when I think of  my job starting in September. My full heart, however, is an anxious one as I am contemplating teaching my boys. I have 21 girls and 6 boys in my class. Overwhelming ratio? Absolutely. I have ideas about teaching and nurturing and remembering them as I go, but I could use more insights.

What kind of books do your boys like to read?
How do they learn best?
What are some of their passions?
Any world issues they gravitate towards?
What subjects in school do they have the strongest aversions to?
What do they dream about?
How do they spend their spare time?
What has their favourite part about past teachers been?
What discipline tactics do they respond to the best?
Introverted or extroverted?
At 12 or 13, how much responsibility did they have for themselves? What did you expect of them?

The list goes on and on and on…

I think my biggest concerns are engaging the boys in a meaningful way…and the discipline. I want the boys in my class to be valued for being boys and I don’t want them mentally and emotionally outnumbered and suffocated by the absolute physical outnumbering of the ladies in the room.

YES this is a generalization and NO do I not expect any of what you tell or share to be 100% applicable to my boys, I am just curious about this — I’ve been reading a lot of literature on the nature of learning styles and engagement for young men but having never been one myself, your experience…even if your boys are just little guys, and observations are important to me. I crave some input as I get more and more focused on creating an awe-some learning environment for September (which is coming very fast)!

Cheers!! (And thanks…in advance…for your thoughts, please share them)