Boys and Girls Learn Differently

I thought this presentation was really fun and interesting. First of all, the site where all of the information was posted was unreal, such a good job putting together a website that everyone could easily access and refer back to. The quiz that we took in the beginning served a really cool purpose and got me thinking about the brain and the way I thought and what not! It was a little bit tedious, but things like that just are, so overall I thought it was a good way to get things started and there was plenty of positive encouragement in the room which I thought was helpful of the presenters. The Rite of Passage activity was my favorite (especially because I got to color). It was an interesting way to learn about what was going on with each station, have social interaction, and like you guys said it was a cool little feeling of accomplishment in the end. Each of the presenters did a great job sharing their parts of the book in their own ways and I thought all together the presentation came together really nicely and in a perfect order!
I felt like I learned a lot about the complication, differences, and similarities that come with teaching girls and boys from the presentation. The entire concept was interesting and it got me curious about the book for sure. The group did a great job! Thanks Guys!

Involving Parents and Communities (Ch.9)

Abstract
This chapter, like many others, alludes to the importance of involving the community in the classroom and in the educational efforts of students. The beginning of the chapter explains that this type of involvement has immense efforts for students including higher grades, better attendance, fewer special education placements, better attitudes, higher graduation rates, and greater post-secondary education enrollments. As for the school, the benefits mentioned are improved teacher morale, more support from families, better school reputations with the community, and even high ratings of teachers by parents. All of these benefits encourage student success within the educational system. The chapter includes multiple suggestions for including community in the effort of the school and classrooms and ways to get around the difficulties that tend to arise in the beginning efforts of involving parents and families. Getting students involved in the community is also a large portion of this chapter, encouraging teachers to help the students really connect with the people involved in their community. These types of connections and involvements can further the students education immensely and help them make similar kinds of connections in the future on their own.

Reflection
A lot of the suggestions in this chapter were incredibly useful. I felt like a lot of it would be really helpful for a principal making these types of plans, or for teachers to plan together to put plans in place for large community involvement efforts. A lot of it felt like it would be too much for one teacher to handle, but could be easily implemented by the efforts of more than one or two teachers. I think the community involvement is such an important part of education. Students can learn so much by speaking to someone outside the classroom, or taking a course that helps them learn a lifelong skill or trade. Sometimes this type of thing is overlooked, and I think it never should be. Because students learn so differently, it is so important to have this type of program within the community incorporated into the curriculum to ensure the success of all students. The benefits of community involvement and successful implementation of parent involvement and support are truly endless.

A Safe and Healthy School Environment (Ch.8)

Abstract
This chapter focused on the influence that a healthy school environment can have on students throughout their education. There was a lot of stress on the idea that students who feel more connected to their school, teachers, and community have much lower risks of submitting themselves to self harm, drug use, alcohol use, or early sexual activity. All of these behaviors can be caused by (or made worse by) a disconnected feeling in relation to the school environment. The chapter gave many suggestions for classroom management and discipline policies, supportive group efforts, dealing with multiple cultures, conflict resolution and management, as well as basic efforts for healthy school environments. Health education for students is a huge part of all of these suggestions and efforts. The chapters explains that at this middle school age, many students will choose their future health standards and efforts by beginning those lifestyle changes now. The emphasis in the chapter lies on the importance of supporting health efforts within the school systems to make students and their families well aware of the risks and dangers of an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as the benefits welcomed by a healthy lifestyle.

Reflection
I actually really enjoyed this chapter! I was very interested to see how health education was worked into the curriculum in a way that involved the community and inspired healthy lifestyles for these young adolescents. I particularly liked the idea of a "health club" in the middle school that allowed the students that were uncomfortable participating in after school sports or physical education classes to come into the school a couple nights a week for aerobics classes and gym nights! The fact that those students were able to get involved in a way they were comfortable with was very cool and the fact that their parents were coming also was an even better improvement. I think health education at this age is incredibly important. I feel like if we can reach the students at this age and assist them in developing healthier mindsets, that will only improve throughout their lives, and hopefully cause enough of a health-kick wave that the nation's unhealthy numbers and statistics can decrease dramatically. At this point, anything we can do to encourage healthy eating and exercise is an incredible feat!

Designing Instruction to Improve Teaching and Learning (Ch.4)

Abstract
This chapter focuses on the importance of building a successful curriculum to ensure the learning of all students. The idea of "all students" furthering development, understanding, and really learning the content in a way that can be used in the future is stressed throughout the chapter. It encourages the setting of high expectations to assist in the encouragement of students. The focus on instruction throughout the chapter showed three main types of instruction: Authentic Instruction (construct & produce knowledge, deep thinking/questions, more than grades); WHERE (Where are we headed, Hook the students, Explore the subject and equip the students, rethink our work and ideas, evaluate results; and Differentiated (changing product, process or content based on students needs/abilities). These three forms of instruction are meant to further understanding and support all learning styles and abilities of students. The chapter also incorporates the importance of using technology in the classroom as a tool for learning among a few other specific teaching ideas and strategies.

Reflection
The majority of this chapter felt like review. It was really interesting to see these three particular methods of instruction sort of measured up to each other in a lot of ways. I am not sure which teaching method I feel is most effective for the results being discussed in the chapter, but I feel as though it must change according to each class. In a lot of ways I feel like I will base my methods of instruction off my students and the ways they learn best and respond best to the new information. If something works for one class or one topic or lesson, it may not work the same way for the others. The incorporation of all three of these methods, among others, seems important to me. A variety is always good when in doubt and this chapter reminded me of that with it's many ideas and philosophies.