Reply to I'm an MCPS elementary school teacher...AMA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Thanks for reaffirming our decision to move DD from a W-area elementary to an all-girls private. It's costing us $50k+/year, but she's in  a class of 18 kids and no behavioral issues.[/quote]

BS BS BS BS

Every school has behavioral issues
And privates do not have good counselors in case there are bigger problems.

All girls private LOL bullying and mean girls hello[/quote]

It's more nuanced than either you or the PP are making it out.

Yes, girls engage in misbehavior, in both public and private school. Critically, though, the original comment from the OP about 99% of behavioral problems coming from boys is obviously looking at this from the perspective of behavior that is *disruptive* in a classroom environment. For a teacher, this is the behavior they care most about. So kids who won't pay attention, distract other kids, refuse to do assigned work, talk back, etc., are going to the ones whose misbehavior teachers notice. The teacher is trying to teach, this behavior makes that much harder. And you see this behavior much more often from boys, especially in elementary and MS.

The misbehavior I see most often in girls is relational aggression. If you are a parent or a teacher, please look up what this is. Relational aggression not only tends not to be disruptive in classrooms, it can sometimes appear to a teacher to be helpful behavior. For instance, I've seen 3rd grade girls compete for their teacher's good graces, compete over who has the best handwriting, who is the best reader. To a teacher, this will mostly look like a positive because the girls involved will work extra hard in the classroom in order to attract positive attention. What the teacher might not see is how the girl who excels in the classroom will gloat about the teacher's praise at recess, how girls who struggle with certain academics might be teased or even ridiculed by the more successful girls for struggling. They won't do this in the classroom because it will attract negative attention from the teacher and girls know this. The teasing, exclusion, and gossip will occur outside the classroom and away from parental eyes when possible (except for the parents who encourage and participate in these behaviors, which is sadly not uncommon).

All of this sucks, and you will absolutely find it in private all girls schools. However, from the teacher's perspective, it's not relevant to classroom management, which is what is being discussed in this thread. It's a social and behavioral problem and can happen at public and private schools, but it's not likely to bring math class to a grinding halt the way a kid who refuses to participate and protests loudly will. And that kid is likely to be a boy.

Parents have to worry about both kinds of misbehavior. Teachers will be focused on the latter. That's what is happening here.[/quote]

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