It's a Boy Thing

Christopher Waugh and Gena Bagley
It's a Boy Thing

Heads of Department for English both, Gena Bagley (Otago Boys' High School) and Chris Waugh (Christ's College) share their experiences, insights, dilemmas and triumphs in their work in these iconic South Island boys' schools.

  1. What actually happens in an English classroom?

    NOV 30

    What actually happens in an English classroom?

    As a coda to last week's episode about the harm AI is doing to boys' learning in English classes, today Bags and Chris offer some discrete and specific examples of what actually happens in their English classrooms.

    29 min
  2. AI has no place in a boys' English classroom

    NOV 15

    AI has no place in a boys' English classroom

    We may be in the minority, but Bags and Chris are in full accord on this one: AI is going to do until damage to boys' learning in English. Only this week, articles in the Christchurch Press "Number of illiterate uni students ‘at crisis level’" and the Otago Daily Times article "Despair over Literacy Levels demonstrate that the literacy of University students in the towns where we teach is falling off a cliff–and we already know that this is even worse for boys. This conversation explores exactly why AI is such a disaster for the classroom, what we're doing about it, and why we thing it should go the way of "Whole Language" teaching of reading and Modern Learning Environments - to the dustbin.

    29 min
  3. Good Chat

    SEP 13

    Good Chat

    Bags explores how she creates rich discussion in her English classroom.

    19 min
  4. English Scholarship

    AUG 30

    English Scholarship

    Bags and Chris compare notes on how they tend to approach the preparation of students for the Unfamiliar Texts section in the New Zealand English Scholarship examination.

    20 min
  5. Push Through the Tears

    AUG 17

    Push Through the Tears

    Bags relays an experience she had recently with a student who was struggling to speak in front of the class and then Chris grabs the microphone and talks for too long in order to attempt to explain how Grammar for Writing actually works in the context of a Year 9 classroom.

    29 min
  6. Open Evening

    AUG 2

    Open Evening

    Around this time of the year, across the Motu, teachers in secondary schools crack out their very best craft skills and upgrade the displays in their classrooms and departments in readiness for the school Open Evening. Bags and Chris talk about this phenomenon (and the many things you find yourself responsible for as a teacher) as well as the Structured Literacy pedagogy that is now mandated in New Zealand primary schools. What have you been asked to do for a school open evening?

    24 min
  7. Thriving after Loss

    JUL 19

    Thriving after Loss

    9 Years ago, Bagley's daughter Scarlett died, age 7. We take some time in this episode to examine how this deep loss strengthens her work in the classroom. Rarely does anyone gain an insight like this into the privacy of another person's grief. As a listener to this podcast perhaps you'll get a sense of the honesty and inner strength that makes Bags such a successful classroom teacher of English. Shakespeare features too. Of course.

    34 min
  8. Appendix 6

    JUL 5

    Appendix 6

    23 years ago Chris wrote an entry in his online journal that described his time at Otago Boys' High School. This was subsequently published in a history of Otago Boys' High School that was published for its 150th. We'd been searching around for a text to analyse on the podcast and Bags suggested that Chris read it. So here it is.

    35 min
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About

Heads of Department for English both, Gena Bagley (Otago Boys' High School) and Chris Waugh (Christ's College) share their experiences, insights, dilemmas and triumphs in their work in these iconic South Island boys' schools.

Information

  • Creator
    Christopher Waugh and Gena Bagley
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    It's a Boy Thing

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