At Northfield High School’s SSC, gender clearly plays a role in the way students approach their work and ask for help. Overall, I have not noticed any substantial differences in motivation to do work between male identifying and female identifying students. Most students typically do some amount of work during the period but end up chatting with friends or sitting on their phone for some portion. However, there are some subtle differences that seem to highlight the effects of gender expectations on student behavior. First, it seems like male students I am paired with try to embody certain qualities society imposes on men like confidence, emotional reservedness, and a general aloofness. Receiving assistance on important things, like assignments, can also be a source of insecurity. When I worked with one male student on his math homework, a subject he clearly struggled with, I felt like I had to circumvent the gender norms by changing my teaching style and tone of voice to make him not feel patronized. It is always good to make sure you are not accidentally coming across as patronizing, but it was clear that he was resistant to showing any signs of caring about the assignment he was working on, whether that emotion was concern, frustration, or excitement. Of course, his reservedness could have simply been shyness, but I cannot deny feeling as though being a male presence in a position of (somewhat) authority makes male students treat me different than female students.

I have also worked with female students who have been reserved or disinterested in their assignments, but it feels like they are more inclined to open up with me. To me, it is striking that most of my best “teaching moments” have been with female students. I cannot help but feel this is connected to the different ways female and male students behave around male teachers. I have bonded with many male students at the SSC, but usually over time. What I find difficult about these observations is that all of these cases have strong exceptions. One male student, for example, opened up to me on the first day, while some female students don’t want to talk with me. My observations are certainly not truth but hopefully highlight the relationship between students and gender expectations.

My gender has always played a big role in my educational experience. According to my parents, my Kindergarten teacher disciplined boys in the class much more than girls. I was not exempt from this– I had received a whopping total of 40 checkmarks (not a good thing) in the “log” at the end of the year. This represented much of my elementary school experience, always one step away from getting in trouble from having too much energy or messing around with my friends. Since then, however, identifying and being identified as male has certainly shaped my perception of myself and my role in school. Overall, I would say being identified as male by other people has led me to feel more comfortable in my place in school and my ability to succeed if I try. The same can be said for other factors about my identity, such as my race.

I only went to the high school one day last week due to the conferences on Thursday and Friday, but I was able to continue my streak of staying busy during class. I edited one student’s from the TORCH room college essay and helped a student with his (difficult) algebra assignment. I must say, I enjoy working with students on math assignments, but it can sometimes be so difficult to know how to help them. Different teachers can have (seemingly) very different methods of approaching the same problem, so I sometimes feel like my own intuitions don’t make sense to them, so they don’t comprehend/don’t think I know what I’m talking about. I think my plan in the future is to ask more questions about what they know.