Effective Instructional Strategies for
Teaching Boys
Callie Bambenek & Mead Ploszay
"Boys in a classroom should be one of the most fun things in life. Boy energy
can be contagious, after all. But in my school, we talk mostly about difficulties
we're having with boys. We need help understanding and teaching them.”
Teaching boys requires knowing that the male brain is better suited for
symbols, abstractions, diagrams, pictures and objects moving through space.
Session Overview
Boy Culture
Dynamics and Interactions
The Male Brain
Architecture
Processing
Chemistry
Neural Activity
Teaching Boys
Management & Culture
Effective practices for male instruction
10%
Boy Culture
“Standards of
Masculinity”
75%
10%
• Conform to what’s “cool”
• Good at one “Boy World Sport”
• Parents highly invested in their social status
• Social image is not a constant worry
• Have plenty of peers to hang out with
• Parents not concerned about social status
• Aware of their social position; fine if they have one friend
• Little pressure to prove themselves to anyone
• Adults tend to worry about this group being lonely,
depressed and the subject of bullying
Roles in “boy culture”
- As defined by Rosalind Wiseman
“The Mastermind”- typically charismatic; makes/upholds the social rules
“The Associate”- helps the mastermind determine what he has to gain from others
“The Bouncer”- has physical presence; can be convinced to take the blame for
something the mastermind or associate insist on
“The Entertainer”- makes others feel comfortable with humor; makes fun of himself
to divert attention/tone
“The Conscience”- follows the rules; at risk for “doing the work;” often the front
man for adult interaction
“The Punching Bag”- the butt of jokes; protected by his social group
“The Fly”- the individual who hovers outside the group; brags out of desperation to
fit in; does not realize how annoying he is
“The Champion”- the individual who is not controlled by social norms/rules but is
respected by others
Roles Continued
Mastermind
Strategic
Grouping
Champion
Success
Associate
Fly
Success
Entertainer
Punching
Bag
Disaster
Parietal Lobe
The Male
Brain
Architecture
• Males form more connections from back to front
• Male brains activate gray matter (localization)
while female brains use white matter (networking)
• Males dedicate more cortical area to spatialmechanical functioning; less to verbal-emotive
functioning
Somatosensory cortex and occipital lobe develop earlier than
other areas of the brain!
⇾ visual spatial processing and gross motor skills come first
The Male
Brain
Language development comes later
Verbal-emotive connections mature later
Executive function- frontal lobe development comes later
Development
& Processing
In general males speak
half as many words a
day; use half as many
gestures
Wernicke’s
Area
Vision and Hearing
Implications of Processing
Male vision systems activate and rely
more heavily on M cells
M cells detect movement, not color
(connected to rods)
Males process visual information at a
higher level using spatial relational
analysis
Males can localize sounds well but
they have weak auditory acuity
Males rely on motion and physical
discovery; they have an easier time
verbalizing when doing
The Male
Brain
Chemical/
Behavioral
Implications
TestosteroneAggression
SerotoninSelf-Regulation
OxytocinBonding
Hormone
Male response to stress- fight or flight instinctshut down or become argumentative
“Male brains are set to Renew, Recharge and Reorient.
They do so by entering a rest state.”
When a male brain gets bored, it shuts down
Managing neural rest states can involve fidgeting, tapping a pencil, physically
touching something/someone else
Teachers see this behavior as disruptive when in fact it is the male brain trying to stay
awake in a classroom that is not suited for their kind of learning.
When designing your lessons include strategies to manage the 3R’s: Renew,
Recharge, Reorient
Effective Strategies Designed for Male Learners Management and Culture
1. Mixed-gender classrooms: offer grouping as boys-only and girls-only
1. Teacher moves around classroom as they teach during transitional points
1. Use boys’ energy bursts in between their “rest states” - this is where
impulsivity can be a plus
EXAMPLE- strategy for studying for assessments should be in short
chunks before their brain goes into a “rest state”
Effective Strategies Designed for Male Learners
- Management and Culture
4.
Chunking: Lesson is always broken down so that there isn’t anything
longer than a 10-15 minute chunk.
Aids in single-task focus, impulsivity.
EXAMPLE- break main contents of lesson in half and offer a formative
assessment in between OR partner debriefing or summarizing activity, BUT
begin planning with the end of your lesson (product)
5.
Directions: fewer directions given or more condensed. Always use four or
less directions at any one time.
*when you can, put them in list/numbered format as it helps the brain
single out each step.
6.
Time limits. Use a timer. Last team back can give 5 push-ups.
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
1. Design your lesson so that it ends in an actual product: colored Post-It,
summary paragraph, 3-D Design
2. Draw It First! : male learners often struggle with communicating written
thoughts. I give my male learners a space for the written response
questions to draw out what they want to say first. Creating pictures help
activate vocabulary or key events in male brains. Helps learners
brainstorm their thoughts.
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
Draw it First! Example:
First:
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
Draw it First! Example:
Second:
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
Draw it First! Example:
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
Draw it First! Example:
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
3.
Focus on Visual Cues: pictures in text to help with retrieval
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
4.
Frontloading a key idea: helps limit their impulsivity because they are on a
hunt for the answer or the parts to make the solution.
EXAMPLE- with video in the classroom, give them words to look for or give
them the question ahead of time.
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
5.
Prove a statement false- helps channel natural boy aggression
6.
Vocabulary Comprehension Challenges: index cards of vocabulary or key
words (7-10) and students work in teams to:
A) put the cards in themes for the lesson.
B) Write about the theme or use a guided essential question on the board.
C) Give vocab words and ask students to develop a question that would
include those words as answers.
7.
ABC: Activity Before Content for increasing engagement (another
strategy
that is similar to “frontloading a key idea”)
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
8.
Think Pair Share: pretty standard strategy, but for my boys:
Think (sitting down)
Pair (walk to partner and remain standing),
Share (return to seats and then stand to share)
9. Language Arts specific- Teachers should de-emphasize detail. Why?
First- focus on action in the reading material,
Second- conflict development (plot before theme? Battles before politics?)
General affinity towards novels with strong male characters who take action
Effective Strategies Designed for Male
Learners- Instructional
10. Timed Relays: Time is optional, especially with high-anxiety students.
(use this strategy any time we are working on something with multiple steps
or formulas) -helps with single-task focus
Put the question or task in a sealed envelope
EXAMPLE- multiple-step math, writing evidence-based or summary
paragraph
*key is that you give multiple turns and positions rotate (4-5 students in
group)
11. Brain Breaks: one or two minutes, staying the classroom, just enough for
the 3 Rs -helps males manage their “rest state”
Works Cited
“Brain Differences Between Genders: Do you ever wonder why men and women think so differently?”
Psychology Today, February 2014.
Gurian, M & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind.” Educational Leadership, Volume 62, 3. Nov,
2004.
Jensen, F.E. “The Teenage Brain.” Harper Collins, New York, NY, 2015.
Sax, L. “Why Gender Matters.” Random House, New York, NY, 2005.
Wiseman, R. “Masterminds & Wingmen.” Random House, New York, NY (2013)