Kathryn Meseberg - Certified Trainer
E-mail: ckmeseberg@comcast.net

I am a ten-year veteran of teaching middle school in the Mead School District in Spokane, WA. Over the course of the past ten years I have seen learners change and my need to adapt to them increase. My desire to gain more expert knowledge on the way students learn and how to best maximize their learning with the goal of sharing with others brought me to Michael Gurian’s work along with the Gurian Institute.

In these past two years while trying to develop a conferencing model for kids that will help engage them in their learning and get them directed towards their future, I began exploring the learning and achievement gap between middle school boys and girls. I read “How Boys and Girls Learn Differently and “The Minds of Boys” and it resonated with me. I have applied the knowledge gained from reading those books into my classroom.

I have always been passionate about the learning of both boys and girls, but since having my own kids, who are boys, the learning of boys has become much more important to me as a parent and a middle school teacher. I have found I am a better teacher because I have children, especially boys. However, the teaching of boys does pose real challenges. After attending the weeklong Gurian Institute I decided to become a certified trainer. I am looking forward to providing professional development to help teachers understand the vast differences in the brains’ of boys and girls while also providing them with application strategies to best achieve the optimum learning environment for all learners.

In addition, I want to help parents understand their children. Parents are a key partner with educators in understanding their children’s brains and learning. I hope to help the parent community in the Mead School District in getting a better awareness of their kids, especially at the middle school level, to help all kids succeed.