Do I hear harps?

The spring semester began a couple of weeks ago and I was gifted with...girls!!  Yes, my fourth period elective is comprised of 25 sixth grade girls.  I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but it has been a real game changer. 

Now don’t get me wrong.  I like my boys with all their ebullience and insouciance (hey--I am an English teacher after all!).  Their energy and fearlessness is invigorating and inspiring.  But it’s also exhausting.  The girls are different.  They’re still just 12 of course, and they’re lively enough, but they are easier to guide and work with.  They take less energy to direct, and so I can put more energy into the actual instruction. 

Fourth period comes in the middle of my two days without a conference period, and the more relaxed atmosphere with the girls has given these days a new character.  I feel more confident in the boys’ English 7 classes on either side and less drained at the end of the day. 

The elective with the girls includes practice for the CST (California Standards Test) in May and also a project for Women’s History Month.  Our smooth movement into the project has made me think that I should be able to do this with the boys as well, notwithstanding the qualities mentioned above.  Of course I have been told by the teachers on the third floor that other kinds of problems arise with girls that are equally challenging, but so far it’s a welcome change of pace.  I would almost recommend that everyone get to teach one class in the other academy.

I’m still puzzled as to exactly how teaching girls is different.  Certainly the majority of boys are equally cooperative and agreeable.  At most a third or so of the boys fuel most of the resistance to order and progress.  I can also see that there are a few girls who are very lively and might need more managing.  I also see that, as with the boys, many of the girls have a lot of other things on their minds with a higher priority than standardized tests or even women in history. 

I can see right away the reality of one oft-cited distinction between most girls and most boys, namely that the girls move easily and eagerly into a collaborative mode.  In this class they immediately began to work together on their Women in History projects.  The boys have had a harder time working together.  Many groups don’t gel and never get focused. 

At the same time the boys really are more competitive. I’m trying to enlist that quality in their attitude towards their measured reading grade levels.  The intersection of collaboration and competitiveness is, of course, the team, and I’m trying to create that environment in class.

Anyway, it’s too soon to draw sweeping conclusions, and I don't want to over-generalize.  I’m sure I’ll comment more in the months to come. 

Until then, is that harps I hear fourth period?