DH>Hi Sheila,
DH>  PMFJI but I thought I'd add my unsolicited 2 cents worth :)
Hi Dale,
Glad to have someone else jump into the fray, and though I've been
around the FidoNet echos for some years now, you must enlighten me with
respect to PMFJI....I can't decipher that one...
Putting Mouth to Foot and Jumping In?
Pressing My Finger Just In case?
Please May Friends Just Interrupt?
Your turn...
DH> I've always been interested in how well we
DH>prepare our children for "the real world" and consequently the area of
DH>life skills has always interested me.  The discussion of same sex
DH>classrooms sort of falls into this area in the context of preparing
DH>young people to handle themselves in various social settings.
I agree that teaching social skills is part of the schooling process,
and certainly adults need to be able to function in a co-ed environment
for a normal life (except for monks, et.al, and that isn't what I'd call
an exactly _normal_ life). However, is it necessary to teach students to
be comfortable in a co-ed situation in every course they take in order
for them to function as a normal adult? With examples such as P.E.
classes, the sewing classes and woodshop classes of yesteryear, I'd say
"no". I would guess that the more integrated situations the kids can
handle successfully, the better.
If young girls are apt to opt out of math and science careers, because
in a coed setting they are less likely to pursue math and science
careers, maybe it would be appropriate to have a year or two of
girls-only math, just until they begin to feel comfortable enough with
the subject area, and then bring the guys in? (This really isn't some
issue that I feel strongly about, and personally I was never affected by
the guys in my class to perform to a lower standard. I don't really
understand why some girls apparently choose to do so, but according to
certain studies, this is the case. I just thought that the article that
I crossposted to this echo to start the thread was pretty interesting.)
Maybe just for Algebra I and Geometry separate out the girls, then
starting with Algebra II mix them back in with the boys.
DH>I do believe that while there can be many "distractors" present in a
DH>co-ed classroom, that it is important for the student to learn how to
DH>deal with those distractors.  After all we are preparing them to work,
DH>live and survive in a co-ed world.  Understood that teens face an
DH>incredible challenge dealing with all the physical and emotional
DH>changes that accompany adolesence, but wouldn't it be great if we could
DH>teach them skills to help them handle these situations?  I feel that
DH>the classroom instructor can use various experential activities
DH>throughout the academic term to focus on self worth, communication,
DH>team building and trust to help the students work with each other and
DH>get past the giggly-note passing stage.  The outcomes could be a better
DH>understanding of who they are as people, who their classmates are and
DH>how they can rely upon each others strengths.
I agree with everything you write above. Certainly teachers should
strive to teach these types of social skills. Just out of curiousity,
what about instructors who themselves feel awkward in social situtions,
who don't get on well with the opposite sex and so forth? I wonder if
you might start a thread in which you share some of your ideas for
activities of this type, and please, not the one about someone jumping
off a table and the other people in the class have to catch them and
hold them up. I WON'T do that and would never recommend to anyone else
that they do so either.
DH>co-ed training environment and it is rough.  A great many are
DH>testosterone time bombs waiting to explode and they are ill prepared to
DH>deal with females in either a social or a work environment.  To me that
DH>is both sad and preventable.  But hey, that's just me :)
That's a completely different issue, I believe. I wasn't suggesting
anything that extreme. A year or three of single-sex math is hardly
going to create a problem like that in a co-ed school where kids are
taking other classes that are gender-integrated.
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