Tuesday 4 February 2014

First Thoughts



This article by Margaret Wente suggests what she thinks that boys want.....

http://motivatingboywriters.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/what-boys-need.html

  1.  Boys need to have a good relationship with the teacher.
  2.  Boys will only stay engaged as long as the work interests them.
  3.  Boys need purpose, to make a difference, to know they measure up.
  4.  Boys need challenge, above all, a need for a meaningful vocation.
  5.  Boys need purposeful work.
  6.  Boys want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
  7.  Boys love rituals, trophies and tradition.
HERE IS WHAT I AM THINKING...
  1. I will spend the first sessions trying to get to know the boys and for them to know me. Sharing the things that I am interested in, particularly around writing- books I have written- the journey to creation, the feeling about that work being done. Finding out the sorts of things the boys want to talk about, to write about? 
  2. Leading from #1 finding out what the boys are interested in as a starter for writing. Things like.... sports, cars, farting, being grubby, family....
  3. Needing a purpose- share what we are being out together to achieve, how we are learning together with eLearning tools. Finding out about them, base line data.
  4. Challenge- find the goals that are achievable, not aspirational.
  5. Purposeful, authentic work- the commitment to publish and get feedback through blogging/ quadblogging
  6. I'd love to see a collaborative book published in iTunes written by the boys- updated each term- with photos.
  7. Structure each of the writing sessions, the golden pen award for the best sentence/ piece of writing of the day.

1 comment:

  1. Hi. I'm a literacy leader at another Henderson North School and am really interested in what you're doing with this group of children. I'll certainly be back to read this blog and would love to follow your work on twitter. I'm someone who is always willing to try new things to get my class writing (it tends to be the boys). Best of luck in your journey.

    ReplyDelete

Hi team

Your suggestions and feedback are very much appreciated.