What happened at the second book club meeting?

Just wanted to give you a quick update about the goings-on of the Salk staff book club...

Patti, Cherith, Katherine, Jake, Sheila, Sonia and I had a great meeting this past week to discuss Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. We discussed the book in terms of our own lives, the lives of people close to us, and -- of course -- the lives of our students. The funniest part of the book club was when our waitress said she was ending her shift, so we asked her if she wanted to join our discussion. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "Boys," we said, gesturing to the book. She looked at the cover, which features a young boy of perhaps nine or ten years. "That's not really my kind of boy," she said, and walked away.

On a more serious note, we had some interesting discussions about how we could apply some of the ideas we got from the book. We talked about ways to be more proactive, rather than reactive, with our male students. This might entail finding more opportunities to interact with students in the halls in positive ways as they make their way up the stairs and to classes, taking time in grade team meetings to cycle through discussing all students and their needs (not just the same ones who always make it to the top of the list), and identifying staff members who can form bonds with particular students to help meet their social-emotional needs (several teachers commented on the positive change they noticed this year in one particular eighth grade boy thanks to the connection that boy forged with Jim regarding computers). We also discussed ways to learn alternate "scripts" for dealing with difficult student behavior. Both Jake and I suggested the books by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish ( How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk, How to Talk So Kids Will Learn) as great resources for this, and the eighth grade teachers in attendance came up with the idea of possibly using one of those books next year as a grade team resource. So, yet again, our book club session was both enjoyable and highly productive!

Which brings me to the next order of business: inviting all of you to take part in the next meeting of the Salk staff book club. On Monday, August 28th (time TBD), we will meet to discuss Beverly Tatum's book, "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity. Please consider putting the book on your summer reading list and marking your calendar for the 28th. (This time you have two months to read the book -- although, as always, there's no homework involved, and you're more than welcome to come to the discussion even if you don't have time to read the entire book.)