(Following is the first page of Tim's action research. For the complete
paper, click on the red button on the right.)
Boys
are engaged at lower levels than girls in all subjects,
but most of all in the English Language Arts.
Growing up, I loved nothing more than to read. In
grade school, I felt much excitement when the Troll
book club forms were passed out by my homeroom teacher.
I would rush home at the end of the day and flip
through the colorful pages and counting the change
and dollar bills I had collected from my measly
allowance. I budgeted my money and figured out how
to buy the most books with the least amount of money.
(A skill that is useful now as a teacher!) I put
my money and my order form in an envelope every
month and waited impatiently for the new books.
I loved the local library and bookstore just as
much.
When
I entered high school, I was in Honors English classes
and took AP Literature during my senior year. These
were my favorite classes and I excelled at them.
I wrote stories in my free time and longed to be
a published author. I continued to buy books and
read them in my free time. I became obsessed with
the horror and mystery writer Dean Koontz. My desire
to be a writer continued and because of Koontz became
specific to wanting to be a mystery writer. I began
to also buy books for mystery writers, wanting to
know everything I could about writing the stories.
My
story is not unique – but it is uncommon in boys.
I did not dream of sports and while I did play video
games with my brother, they were not the focus of
my life. I did well in other subjects in school,
and even performed better on the Math portions of
standardized tests. My passion was reading and writing
and for a boy – then and now – this is not typical.
To
the full paper.
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