Background Information and Purpose

Have you noticed that over the past decade the media spotlight has been focused on the phenomenon of the poor, under-achieving male student? The notion that girls outperform boys in both reading and writing seems to have become embedded in the popular consciousness. So many (perhaps too) many people have chosen to focus on the results reported in many standardized tests that highlight this under performance. Countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States have spent a substantial amount of money and time researching and searching for the answer to this phenomenon. (Blair & Sanford, 2003; Booth et al., 2005; Millard, 1997). But based on my own personal and professional experience as a mother and teacher, I find myself questioning whether this under performance in literacy is purely gender related or whether there are many other factors are at play and that need to be looked at when trying to engage boys and girls in writing. I know in my own classes I have had boys who love to write and whom are quite talented and girls that won't write for one reason or another.


The purpose of my blog is to provide an alternative lens for parents and teachers to look through. Parents and teachers need to recognize the importance of the lives our children live both inside and out of the classroom. Popular culture influences everyone in some manner. Recognizing and taping into this influence is one way of gaining our children's interest, engagement and excitement for in-school writing activities. A number of my posts and ideas will be targeted towards getting boys engaged in writing but realistically are applicable to all students. For a closer look at some of the research on boys and literacy and what some of the experts say, please visit the links on the side of my blog.