Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School

Your game plan for getting boys on the path to higher achievement You′ve seen it in your school: boys struggling to master basic literacy skills, sitting outside the principal′s office, collecting labels like "hyperactive," getting failing grades. Checked out, kicked out, or dropped out, they′re benched when they should be scoring goals on the academic playing field. As a school leader, Kelley King has walked the talk: she successfully led her own staff to close the gender gap in reading and writing in just one year. In her step-by-step, research-based leadership plan for jump-starting boys′ achievement, she shares: Critical insight into the brain-based differences between boys and girls First-hand leadership and classroom experiences Ready-to-use activities and resources for leading a successful gap-closing initiative With tips, anecdotes, and more, Writing the Playbook provides educators in all roles with a blueprint for creating schools where boys (and girls!) thrive. "Finally, some practical advice from an experienced educator on how to make boys into successful students. King′s credentials—mother of both a son and daughter as well as a principal who successfully addressed gender gaps at her school—are unbeatable." —Richard Whitmire, Author of Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That′s Leaving Them Behind "Kelley King is both impassioned and level-headed, and she starts a conversation that we desperately need to have in our country." —Michael Kimmel, Author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology "This is a highly practical and highly relevant book. Two thumbs up!" —Eric Jensen, Author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Michael Gurian Preface Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Making the Call: Is There Really a Boy Crisis? Final Buzzer 2. Getting Your Head in the Game: "Need-to-Knows" about the Male Brain Laying the Groundwork Why Do These Sex Differences Exist? Our Beginnings Does That Mean That Our Abilities Aare Fixed? The Male Brain 101 Is There Such a Thing as an "Extreme Male Brain"? The Male Adolescent Brain It′s Nature AND Nuture The Final Buzzer 3. Chalk Talk: A Game Plan for Moving Your Team down the Field School Climate and Culture - What′s the Difference? Activities for Your Professional Learning Communities Got Data? Getting Teacher Buy-In SMART Goals Developing an Action Plan School Improvement and Teacher Growth Developing a Yearlong Professional Development Plan The Final Buzzer 4. Leveling the Playing Field: School Policies and Procedures That Don′t Squeeze Boys out Expectations and the Stereotype Threat Discipline Time, Place, and Manner Grades and Homework Banning Aggression Themes The Final Buzzer 5. Touching Base: Relationship-Building to Guide Boys on Their Journey The Social-Emotional Lives of Boys Forging Positive Relationships With Boys Male Mentoring and Role Models The Final Buzzer 6. The Ground Game: Setting up Classrooms That Help Boys Succeed Physical Arrangement of the Classroom Classroom Procedures The Final Buzzer 7. Hitting It out of the Park: Game-Winning Instructional Strategies for Boys (and Girls!) Lecture Strategies Movement Strategies Student Interests Strategies Real-World Learning Strategies Student Choice Strategies Visual-Spatial Strategies Technology Strategies Competition Strategies Single-Gender Grouping Strategies Music Strategies Test Preparation Strategies Test Administration Strategies The Final Buzzer Afterword Sticky Teaching Graphic References Index

About the Author :
Dr. Kelley King is a Corwin author and has been a Visible Learning consultant since the North American launch in 2013.  With over 35 years of service in K-12 schools, Kelley has worked in both public and private schools and in regular education, special education and gifted education. As an award-winning school principal, Kelley’s success in leading initiatives to close gender achievement gaps has been featured on The Today Show, in Newsweek magazine, on National Public Radio, in EdWeek, in Education Leadership and more.  Kelley’s book with Corwin Press is titled Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School and is a K-12 “how-to” guide for raising boys’ achievement, reducing discipline and fostering a sense of belonging and relevance for boys at school. Kelley has written two other books that take a brain-based approach to addressing gender gaps for girls in math and science and boys in literacy. Kelley holds a Doctorate of Education in Educational Administration and Leadership and a Masters Degree in Special Education.

Review :
"This is a highly practical and highly relevant book. Two thumbs up!" "Finally, some practical advice from an experienced educator on how to make boys into successful students. King′s credentials—mother of both a son and daughter as well as a principal who successfully addressed gender gaps at her school—are unbeatable." "Kelley King is both impassioned and level-headed, and she starts a conversation that we desperately need to have in our country." "This book isn′t just theory—it provides the answers for why things work and how to lead a change process collaboratively. Principals, superintendents, and teacher leaders should pick up a copy of this book if they are interested in engaging their communities in leading change, getting results for all students, and making teaching fun." "This book contains profoundly creative and engaging approaches to looking at equity in new ways as part of staff training and attaining school improvement goals." "This book is well written, timely, and filled with practical examples and suggestions for school leaders to create a school environment conducive to educating both male and female students. It is a great book for use by a professional learning community and should be required reading in all educational leadership courses." "Writing the Playbook provides an in-depth look at the gender differences found in schools. It provides a plethora of strategies aimed at leveling the playing fields between the sexes." "This is a must-read for school leaders and teachers. Based on both research and the ′wisdom of practice,′ it offers a wealth of teaching strategies to boost the achievement and happiness of boys in school. A new contribution is how to use the Web to find ′boy-friendly′ activities. If you can only read one book about how to reach boys, this is it." "Writing the Playbook is an incredible resource that students love, teachers appreciate, and administrators are learning from. It provides the solutions that school systems globally are desperately searching for regarding the behavior and academic performance of boys. It is written in a way that is engaging, empowering, and inspiring to those in all levels of education. If you′ve ever desired a positive educational atmosphere, this book provides the blueprint!" "Boys and girls can differ vastly in how they most effectively learn. As educational leaders, it is critical that we create school environments that clearly reflect and demonstrate this understanding. This insightful book will inform, guide, and transform the way you lead in schools. This is a great resource that will definitely produce results!" "As I read this book, I am thrilled Kelley King is speaking out on behalf of our boys! While they sit motionless in the traditional classrooms and feel abandoned by education, she makes the case for justified changes. We owe it to them to acknowledge the differences and to design an educational experience that honors them. No longer can we, as citizens of this country, allow those so-called experts to claim that boys and girls are the same, and ask our schools to ignore the obvious differences. Enough! Bring on the strategies for our boys that will allow teachers to inspire them to greatness!" "This book should be required reading for every teaching credential candidate and educator. Its neurobiological approach to learning and behavior is not rocket science; it′s long overdue common sense. Bravo!" "As a lifelong feminist and the grandmother of three boys just starting school, I am passionately interested in boys being taken ′as they are′ and taught in ways that will help them develop. For a long time we worried about girls, who are presently thriving in school and beyond. It′s boys′ turn now! Yes, men still ′rule′ out in the world, but in school many boys are falling behind. For a strong America, we need both genders to thrive and to lead. King′s book will help us get to that America." "This is a must-read for school leaders. King, an expert on bridging the gender gap in schools, asks them to try to see things through ′the boy lens,′ which is absolutely necessary today when so many boys aren′t coming close to reaching their full educational potential. She offers practical advice for making schools ′boy-friendly,′ which works just fine for girls too. I applaud her passion, dedication, and expertise. Here′s a book that can truly make a positive difference for our society and its future." "In my heart, I believe that our husbands, sons, and brothers can write and read as well as their female relatives. They all have the ideas and the brilliance. Kelley′s book is a guide to support all educators in making those ideas become reality. If we collaborate as educators and as parents, we can make sure that both boys and girls are challenged and supported in schools so that their dreams all become reality." "There is widespread consensus that our young males are not achieving to their full potential. We know the problems. It is time we tackle them, and it is time we foster leadership among those in positions of authority who can make change happen. Kelley′s book is an important step in this direction—by calling on school leaders to become engaged and by giving them the tools to make change happen."