David O'Halloran, Headmaster - Saint David's School, New York City

Research conducted for the International Boys' Schools Coalition, of which Saint David's is a member, is clear. Strong teacher-student relationships are essential to effectively reach and teach boys. Studies conducted by Dr. Michael Reichert, a renowned researcher on educating boys and our in-house Visiting Scholar for this school year, have found that the relational dimension – where a boy knows and feels that he is valued, cared about, and understood by his teacher – is vital. In fact, "establishing an affective relationship is a precondition to successful teaching and learning." Sharing common interests or experiences, having high expectations for classroom conduct and work quality, and responding to personal interests of each boy are a few of the ways that teachers can forge strong connections with their students. For even the best teachers, however, there come times when connections might be strained, causing frustration for both teacher and boy. When this occurs...

Music's connection with math is apparent: beat, tempo, chord progressions, time signatures, all involve mathematical elements. Furthermore, music and math are both universal languages that break barriers among and between cultures. But what of math and art? If these two spheres are related, can that relationship be leveraged to further comprehension and deepen thinking in students?  Art is about shape and line, contour, and shading. It turns out, that this is exactly what algebraic functions and equations can produce: works of art. Using the Desmos graphing calculator our boys are able to produce artworks that not only act as a check to their mathematical knowledge,  but also result in deeper understanding of underlying mathematical concepts.  In seventh and eighth grade algebra classes at Saint David's, boys learn how to graph straight lines (linear equations) and parabolas (quadratic equations). Boys input their formulas and the program draws the resultant straight or c...

My opening letter noted how “kindness,” found in our mission’s third paragraph, speaks to the core essence of a good man, a man who is gentle and respectful, humble and giving, selfless and thoughtful.  In our world today, we hear so much, so regularly, about violence, aggression, and disrespect. This can lead to a hopeless sense of helplessness, a feeling of a breakdown in fundamental civility. Kindness, though, is a powerful antidote. Kindness begets kindness. It is contagious. The kinder we are to others, the more we experience it ourselves - and the effects of that kindness ripple outward and touch others in ways we can't even imagine.  Last week, an alumnus from the Class of ‘08 visited Saint David’s and gave Chapel to the eighth graders. In his talk, he reflected upon the events of 9/11 and the feeling of absolute chaos, fear, and violence that surrounded him—except when he was within the walls of Saint David’s where he felt safe, cared for, and protected. He was in seco...

At first, the boy was a bit disappointed. The vehicle that he and his partner had designed to meet a challenge had collapsed under the weight it was taxed with carrying. With determination, however, he and his partner went back to the drawing board. They would employ their new-found knowledge of what didn’t work to uncover a solution.  Effective teachers know how to reach boys in ways proven successful by research. Certain elements of instruction engage boys’ attention, sustain their concentration, result in superior performance, and resonate with the unique ways that boys best learn: Boys need to move. They like competition when it’s friendly. They enjoy teamwork. They love to create products that serve a purpose.  The Wheel and Axle project in fifth grade science is a great example of how Saint David's faculty incorporate these elements, called transitive factors, into their lessons. For this challenge, the boys must design and construct a vehicle out of a variety of materia...

  The following article by Lower School Science Teacher Allie Laird appears in the current issue of Saint David's Magazine:  Engineering and science are deeply integrated within the Lower School curriculum at Saint David’s. As boys deepen their knowledge of scientific concepts, they are also exploring new ways of thinking. Working through engineering tasks builds many of the same cognitive skills used in the laboratory sciences. These skills include problem solving through trial and error, collaboration, and perseverance. Children have a natural desire to build and take things apart to discover how they work, and we are able to take advantage of this curiosity while helping them enter the mindset of an engineer.  In the earliest grades, boys are encouraged to approach engineering in an exploratory manner. This allows them to observe, practice, and play without the pressure of completing a specific goal. As they get older, boys are tasked with more goal-oriented challenges...

  It’s not always easy to raise a boy. There is seemingly a constant concern about the crisis in boys’ social development, mental and emotional health, and scholastic achievement. The cultural winds can batter and worry even the most optimistic parents among us. However, there’s ample evidence that boys can be successfully reached, can learn, grow, and be taught using proven pedagogy and an approach that focuses on the relational dimension of teaching and learning.  We focus on this relational dimension at Saint David's and, guided by our founding faith, we ground that dimension in kindness. As I wrote in my opening letter, kindness speaks to the core essence of a “good man” or a gentle-man. In fact, and in practice, going against a broader popular culture that does not always celebrate kindness is the work of our school.  Kindness does not necessarily equate to being "nice" or "cheerful." Acts of kindness can very well be keeping expectations for behavior high,...

The energy in Price Gymnasium soared last month as our faculty exhibited their professional development work to each other in a Summer Grant Showcase.  One faculty member researched boys' sense of self-efficacy in art—exploring how the integration of visual language prevents rejection of oneself as a competent artist, another anticipated employing her travels in Central Asia to incorporate a new art workshop in conjunction with fourth graders' Silk Road study, still others revised music and science units to deepen learners' understanding, according to our Teaching for Understanding framework. And there were so many more.  In total, during this past summer, 44 Saint David's faculty honed the art, craft, and science of their chosen profession, participating in professional development opportunities that varied widely in scope and type, but all with a common purpose: to advance their work in teaching and learning for boys at Saint David's School. In addition, two membe...