Walk and Talk Strategy

We are  proud to feature one of our certified trainer’s, Rosemarie  Engman, and her class at Sacred Heart School in Bellevue, Washington.   If you read this newsletter, you may remember that she and her class are  making video clips of Gurian strategies they use in their classrooms  and buildings.  Rosemarie’s class created an instructional clip for the  “Walk and Talk” strategy earlier in the fall.  Now she has created a  clip for “Hallway Work.”
Please join Rosemarie and her school by sending us video clips of  your strategies in action!  Boys and girls learn differently–you might  well be revolutionizing classrooms on a daily basis.  Thanks again,  Rosemarie, and many thanks to your students, and Sacred Heart School.

Chattanooga Preparatory School in Chattanooga, TN

Chattanooga Preparatory School is an all-boys public charter school that opened its doors to sixty 6th grade students in August 2018. Located in the Highland Park area close to downtown Chattanooga, Chattanooga Prep is positioned to provide a unique and impactful educational opportunity for the young men in our urban communities.

KACIE DRAKE,

ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY

​Hi, my name is Kacie Drake, and I have the privilege of teaching math a the Army and Navy Academy.  I want to take a moment and talk about some of the Gurian Strategies we use across our campus. One of the most important strategies in my opinion are the “Brain Breaks”…

Watch the video to hear more about Brain Breaks and other useful implementations of Gurian Institute strategies!

From Day Long Trainings with Michael Gurian, Eva Dwight, Dakota Hoyt, and other GI Trainers

“So many ideas and strategies to use when I go back to school!  What a day of learning and inspiration.”

“The Gurian Institute promises both science and strategies and you always deliver.  I have practical ideas to use in my classroom tomorrow and love the credibility of the research behind them.”

“Loved the brain science and strategies together.  A unique training.  Never boring, lots of movement and exercises, lots of knowledge, and depth of ideas and science.”

“A great combination of graphics, interaction, science, trying things out, and deep conversation about how to best teach boys, girls, and everyone on the spectrum.”

“I came with so many questions and got them answered.  Thank you.  I appreciate my hard-to-reach students more than ever because of this training and I understand much better how to reach them.”

From Day Long PD with Michael Gurian and Dakota Hoyt for 150 Faculty/Staff from Six Schools Sponsored by St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Dallas.

“This was such powerful training!  Thank you for all the resources and tools.”

“A fabulous training!  Great speakers, very informative.  Eye-opening.  This will change the way I educate.”

“This training was not just PD but insightful about all of the relationships I am in.  They all involve boys and girls and now I understand them so much better.  I can alter my practices and principles to serve all of their needs.”

“Amazing.  An experience.  Everything explained and presented was also shown visually for us visual learners.  Thank you.”

“The fact that I stayed awake and also walked away with more energy, in fact, makes me living testimony to the brilliance and effectiveness of this training.  Most PD is boring.  This was definitely not!”

“It was so interesting to see and hear the SCIENCE behind what we are all seeing in the classrooms.  It makes so much sense.”

“This was an amazing training.  Six hours flew by.   All of the movement, brain breaks, and modeled SEL strategies were so well done.”

From Certified Trainer, Dr. Glynetta Deshon Fletcher’s two day training with Michael Gurian at Head Start, Phoenix and at Gus Garcia Academy in Austin, TX

“Great ideas and great content.  A great training!”

“Good information presented with lots of movement, strategies, important ideas.”

“I can’t say enough how great this training was.  Not the usual stuff I get sometimes at trainings–this was really exciting and helpful.”

“This training was attention-grabbing, really great!”

“Two days were not enough!”

From Master Trainer Rob Kodama’s All Day Professional Development at North Valley Military Academy

“This was an eye-opener!  Amazing!”

“One of the best PDs I have ever been to.”

“I want to thank you for all the strategies and the science.  I can implement these not just in my classroom but in my life.”

“This was a great combination of science, his decades of classroom experience, and personal anecdotes.  Great PD!”

“A powerful combination of theoretical and practical ideas.  I especially appreciated engaging in learning strategies on the spot that I can take into my classroom tomorrow.”

“Great energy and love of teaching!”

From Executive Director Emeritus, Dakota Hoyt’s All Day Training at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill

“This was a fabulous training!

“This training provided a comprehensive list of strategies I can apply immediately.  Thank you!”

“Thank you, Dakota.  This was one of the best PDs I’ve ever had!”

“Really great.  The brain science was informational and effective.”

“Wonderful!  I’m leaving with a lot of strategies.  Very enlightening!”

From Master Trainer, Eva Dwight’s Strong Schools Jefferson Elementary School, and Buckeye School District trainings in Phoenix

“Eva Dwight was knowledgeable and passionate! I can use this information for reflective lesson planning and explain the “why” behind children’s behavior.”

“The entire training was amazing. I really enjoyed all of the brain development information.”

“Eva was OUTSTANDING! She is incredibly knowledgeable and professional. Further, she extremely engaging and our counselors really enjoyed the opportunity to work with her.”

“Fascinating.  This is the first time I have stayed awake for a whole training.  This was the best training I have been to in all my years of going to PD.”

“Eva is very knowledgeable.  There was a lot of movement, interaction, and brain breaks.  Great training!”

“This provided lots of learning tools I can use to reach struggling kids.  Very worthwhile.”

“I found this topic very informative and useful for my professional and personal life!”

“As a result of this training, I will consider the science of the brain and encourage parents to engage children in appropriate activities, both in education/development and discipline.”

“Excellent presentation with concrete examples to use with girls and boys! Very powerful!”

From Certified Trainer, Dr. Lakeva Barnes’ two day PD at Therrell High School in Atlanta

“Thoroughly enjoyed this workshop.  Very informative and interesting.”

“Time well spent.  Two days but still wanted more!”

“Very useful!  Ideas and strategies I can apply right away.”

“Dr. Barnes was very effective and so knowledgeable!”

From Calgary, Canada, Sacred Heart School

“When Sacred Heart School started their journey into Single Gender Education in a co-educational building, we needed a foundational resource that would apply to both an all Girls class and an all Boys class. Michael Gurian’s book “Successful Single-Sex Classes” was the perfect place for us to start. Once we learned about brain research in relation to how boys and girls learn differently, we really started to see a change in pedagogy with our teachers. They just could not un-know what they learned and treated their students in the same manner.

We invited Michael to come and help us grow in our knowledge and skills in year 3 of the program. He was so open to creating the most appropriate workshop to meet our teachers needs that we felt like he was more a member of the staff by the time the session was done. He toured each classroom and spent time with each individual teacher, offering suggestions and providing great positive support to them. The teachers felt very comfortable talking with Michael about any and all Single Gender issues they were experiencing. After the individual sessions, Michael came and spoke to questions that we, as a staff, had created and sent to him earlier. The discussions that followed were very valuable and the teachers wished we could have spent more time with him.

Michael then presented to a group of teachers, administrators, parents, trustees and senior administrators. His presentation “How Boys and Girls Learn Differently’ was highly engaging, very entertaining and incredibly informative. He was able to get members of our school community, at all levels, to see something new in their students, their child and even their spouse. The response to his presentation was very positive and the group would have listened to him for many more hours.

Michael Gurian, his books and his personal relationship with us, has helped us create an unique school environment by providing us with factual information that we could rely on and visiting us in person to provide critical, positive feedback on what was happening at our school. We hope this relationship will continue into the future.”

Leanne Timko, Principal
Sacred Heart School (K – 8)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

“Relevant research and real world ideas and connections to use in my classroom—as well as at home with my own two children. This was the best workshop/training I’ve been to in twenty years!” – 3rd grade teacher

“Terrific information—Kelley knows it well, and it was presented in an interesting way. I loved that we tried things we can use.” – Kindergarten teacher

“I was drawn to this seminar by the fact that you included girls—as the mother of a daughter I don’t want her education to take a back seat!” – Middle school language arts teacher

​”Thank you again for such a wonderful presentation!  You energized me to think about brain research around gender again and have caused me to think critically about some areas around this topic.  I have already used many of your ideas into writing training that I have been conducting and it has made it that much stronger – thank you again!” – Literacy & Social Studies Coordinator

​“I find myself thinking about and talking about things learned during your training.  What a terrific way to frame the teaching I do to ALL my kids, boys and girls.  It was the perfect energy boost as we start a new school year.” – Middle school teacher

​”I wanted to thank you for the excellent presentation.  I found it to be one of the most useful seminars I have attended in my 38 year career.  Great job!  How worthwhile!  Regardless of how long I have taught, I keep on trying to do it better.  Your seminar has already impacted the way I teach boys. I went right back to school and taught the helping verbs by making my kids march the helping verbs outside to a military-style cadence.  The kids loved it and learned them quickly as a result.” – 2nd grade teacher

“This is one of the best PDs I have had after 18 years of teaching. So much of it is repetitive ‘how-to’ information with new names to old ideas. This PD was fresh, new information that will be helpful and quickly instituted in the classroom. Hopefully, our whole school and parents will be able to receive this information.” 10th grade teacher

“Make it two days. Great day. I generally do not like in-service because after 20+ years of them I’ve seen it all. This was eye-opening and made me want to know more. Thanks for making today fun instead of frustrating, while providing ideas that will help me change my classroom experience in positive ways.” 11th grade teacher

“Introduce this workshop to everyone in the schools.” 9-12th grade teacher

“The Gurian Institute has helped us to bring our faculty and staff to new heights in educating young men. By giving the new faculty members this training, we are able to facilitate their transition to teaching boys. By providing it to our seasoned veterans, it affirms why certain lessons and approaches work with our students. It also has encouraged collegiality amongst our faculty and has encouraged them to share best practices. If your school is looking for professional development that is truly teacher and parent-friendly, I encourage you to contact The Gurian Institute.”

Rob Kodama, Dean of Admissions, Crespi Carmelite High School, Los Angeles, CA

“We greatly enjoyed the insight and observations Michael Gurian shared with us about raising, relating to, inspiring, and educating boys and girls. His dynamic talk left us with much to discuss — just what a speaker ought to inspire!”

–Christie Henry, President, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Parent Association

“Michael was a pleasure to have in our school community! We had representatives from thirty schools and school districts at his talks. Both the parents and teachers were inspired to learn more after hearing his presentation. He has a knack for making information on the minds of boys and girls both interesting and entertaining by keeping his audience laughing out loud.”

Meredith Bloomberg, Chairperson of the Parent Engagement Network and Graland Parents Association, Graland Country Day School, Denver, Colorado

“As an administrator, teacher, coach, and father I am always looking for opportunities to guide boys toward lives of purpose. Ultimately, I believe, lives of purpose reflect more than academic success. Above all, a purpose-filled life reflects a balanced spirit, mind, and body. This philosophy is shared by Michael Gurian and The Gurian Institute. If your school is looking for innovative professional development and support that can positively affect your mission, outreach, and student enrollment, I encourage you to make contact with them.”

Frank Lazarek, Assistant Principal, O’Dea High School, Seattle, WA

“I am a naturopathic physician and author in Boulder, CO in private practice for 18 years. I saw you speak at Dawson School and read your Saving Our Sons book which was great. I was extremely impressed by your holistic viewpoint regarding underlying causes and contributors to learning and behavioral problems (genetics, toxins etc). I never see this topic discussed in books by colleagues. Its very naturopathic and I agreed 100% with everything you said.”

–Steve Parcell, Physician, Boulder, CO

From An Early Childhood Training in Washington State with Michael Gurian and Dakota Hoyt

This was one of the most valuable professional development experiences my staff (infant-toddler teachers, home visitors and content managers) and I have been involved in. Michael’s keynote was captivating. He brought together information from neurobiology, anthropology, education psychology and sociology to provide a solid science-based foundation for thinking about child development. The two-day training was a perfect follow-up to the keynote. The staff response to this training was overwhelmingly positive! They immediately put the information they learned to work in their parent meetings, socialization events, classroom experiences and home visits. This training has increased the capacity of our program to provide meaningful, individualized services to girls and boys alike.

– Director Carolyn Sola, Early Head Start, Eastern Washington University

From a Staff Member at Crespi Carmelite High School, a Gurian Institute Center for Educational Excellence

CJ Kruska is Crespi’s newest Gurian Certified Trainer (joining Dr. Alan Swaney, Mr. Rob Kodama, and Mr. Daniel Parlato).  Because this Trainer Application Statement provides an in depth portrait and testimonial, (as well as Gurian strategies that work with boys, we are publishing it here.

From Mr. CJ Kruska:

Even before joining the Crespi Carmelite High School community last summer, I was aware of the Gurian Institute and Dr. Gurian’s research and instructional strategies for boys and girls. As an elementary school principal, I had my staff attend a professional development event with Mr. Robert Kodama as the Gurian Certified Trainer. It sparked many conversations among our school’s staff.

I have spent over 20 years as an educator in a classroom and on the field. As a head football coach, I was responsible for teaching, training, and motivating players. My goal was to join them on their journey to become the best football player they can be, and to become an even better young man. It was very challenging at times because I was trained to coach in a certain way that was not the most effective when considering the learning styles of the boys. If I had the Gurian training at the beginning of my coaching career, I might not have felt the burnout and left coaching. Some of the struggles included raising my voice (in anger at times) and challenging them; which only resulted in confrontation without learning. Another struggle was expecting the players would understand schemes and scouting reports that were heavily explained through words (in “chalk-talk” classrooms), rather than walkthroughs on the field. Film study was probably the worst as most players would be completely zoned out after about 20 minutes, and then they would get in trouble for not paying attention. It was exhausting coaching my players without the knowledge of the Gurian Institute.

About 10 years ago I redirected my main focus from coaching into the classroom, and then to school administration. Teaching was frustrating for me due the same reasons mentioned above, but I had more control in a classroom environment. It was when I began teaching Psychology that I began to focus more on the meta-cognition of my students. I was teaching my students how they personally learn themselves, and that is when I began to see that the way many teachers, including me, were teaching was inefficient and more challenging than it should be. I did not have the Gurian Institute’s training yet, but I was beginning to look for better ways to be a better teacher and leader.

Covid was difficult on all of us and my own son really struggled. He was not a pleasant person to be with and my wife and I were desperately looking for some ways to help him cope. After listening to Mr. Kodama’s presentation and after reading Dr. Gurian’s book Boys And Girls Learn Differently, I began to see some clarity and hope. Since parents are the primary educators of our children, I began communicating with my son differently (more listening, less talking, and more doing together). His anxiety dropped almost immediately and my wife and I were seeing our son begin to smile and laugh again. I have taken what I learned from my interactions with my own son to the classroom at Crespi, and the boys seem to be benefiting from a more Gurian approach to learning.

It has been challenging at times as I made the return to the classroom and to a single sex school like Crespi. However, with the multiple Gurian Institute’s trainings (with Mr. Kodama a few years ago and the Summer Institute last summer) and the experience with my son, the transition would not have been as smooth as it was.

Here are just some strategies I have already begun instituting based on Dr. Gurian’s research in our classroom; no lectures longer than 10-12 minutes (with a timer the boys can see), clear agendas displayed for the entire class period, students “stand and deliver” when answering questions or reading to the class, mini-games (cup stacking, spoon flip, cereal box puzzles, etc.) halfway through the period with the winner getting to sit in the comfy sofa chair for the rest of class, lesson notes available in advance, classroom desk set-up with two sides for quick competitions, stress ball toss for vocabulary reviews, very little computer screen time, etc. I believe these have been successful strategies as many of the boys still hang out in my classroom through lunch because the environment is a comfortable and boy-friendly space.

Contact the Gurian Institute at info@gurianinstitute.com for information on how a professional development plan can be designed to meet the needs of your organization and the families you serve.