Kelley King

Kelley King is a 20+ year veteran of the public school system, an international speaker, an author, and the mother of both a son and a daughter. As a Master Trainer for the Gurian Institute, Kelley travels widely to deliver keynotes, teacher workshops, and consultation to educators and parents.

Additionally, she develops cutting-edge training curricula for both on-site trainings and online coursework and supports the development and marketing of GI certified trainers around the world.

Kelley’s education background includes licensure in special education, regular education and school administration. She has worked at the elementary, middle and high school levels in regular education, special education and gifted and talented programs. Kelley has worked in schools serving diverse racial, linguistic and socioeconomic student populations, as well as schools ranging from rural, one-room schoolhouses to large suburban schools. Kelley has provided teacher training in a number of inner-city, Title I schools across the country.

For the past ten years, Kelley has been a school administrator. Kelley and the staff at Douglass Elementary School in Boulder Colorado gained national media attention for their notable success in closing the literacy achievement gap between boys and girls in just one year.

Kelley’s husband, Chris, served as the Superintendent of the Boulder Valley School District. Currently, they are sharing the remarkable journey of parenting a middle school daughter and a high school son.

Kelley writes: "I have engaged in intensive study of the gender-based brain differences and nature-based strategies for teaching and learning since 2004. As a school principal, I led my school through an improvement process targeted at closing the gender gap, including the analysis of the data, professional dialogue and training, and the identification and implementation of effective strategies. Through action research, I have been able to demonstrate the effectiveness of 'Minds of Boys' and 'Boys and Girls Learn Differently' theory to enhance the achievement of all students.

"In 1994, I became the mother of a son (and in 1995, a daughter) and have been drawn into the foreign and perplexing world of the male brain. Long before I read about Gurian’s work and the neurology of the boy brain, I was inventing motherhood-survival strategies like having my son do push-ups while practicing multiplication tables or having him hold a chin-up while trying to recite his spelling words forwards and backwards. Without understanding the science behind it, I was instinctively using a nature-based approach when I tapped into his unique and inherently 'male' biological design.

"As a certified trainer, I am somewhat unique in that I am currently engaged in the daily work of schooling and parenting. I am neither a retiree nor an empty-nester. My stories are a rich tapestry of first-hand, in-the-moment testimonials (the kind that start out with, 'This actually happened in a third grade class last week…') about the theory that can yield extraordinary results in classrooms and at kitchen tables across this great nation. I can tell the stories with the happy endings – that my son lived to learn his multiplication tables and that my very own school landed on the cover of Newsweek.

"I AM the audience. I have walked in the shoes of the regular classroom teacher, the special education teacher, the teacher of the gifted, and the school administrator for 20 years. I walk alongside many others in the journey of parenting. I have immediate credibility with both educators and parents as a result of both my professional and personal roles and the national exposure that my school and I have received. I understand the competing demands, the distractions, the mindsets, the politics and the resources of public education. I live the everyday ups-and-downs of school life from board policy to playground rules, high-stakes testing to skinned knees, over-extended resources to Pajama Day. I understand the push-pull relationship of mounting pressure to increase test scores, and the need to foster playfulness and joy in learning. I walk in these shoes. I can speak from the head, the heart and the hands. This is my life work and those in the audience are my trusted partners and colleagues.

"I bring energy, intelligence, a sense of humor, the ability to read a crowd, home-grown personal and professional stories, strong oral communication skills, on-my-feet thinking and wit, and an ongoing commitment to adult learning. I deliver a dynamic, engaging, relevant and practical training to both large and small audiences and am comfortable tailoring presentations to meet the needs of the school or organization. I began seeking trainer-of-trainer roles very early in my career and now, as the Education Division Director, speak regularly in front of groups, facilitate meetings, deliver trainings, and craft presentations for many different audiences.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I believe that this work is urgent and compelling. It is an incredible time to be in education. Societal evolution has far outpaced biological evolution and, at the same time, our scientific knowledge base is exploding before our eyes. The confluence of these events creates awe-inspiring and unprecedented opportunities. I am a strong proponent of supporting all children and I also recognize the difficulties that our boys, in particular, are experiencing in schooling and in life. The nature-based approach that helps girls - and is absolutely essential for boys - must be shared broadly so that teachers, administrators and parents can help their students.

"Through speaking engagements, membership on The Boys Project board, and professional writing, I am helping to spread the word that boys and girls learn differently so that all children may benefit from best practice in their classrooms and in their homes. It is my sincere desire to fulfill this important mission in schools and communities across the country."

Ideas we can use immediately
Permission to think “outside the box” because we have become so tunnel-visioned about getting all the curriculum crammed into a day, we’ve forgotten to have fun and smile throughout the day
Brain breaks don’t have to be elaborate—just implemented!"

"This session helped be keep in front of my mind what I enjoy most about teaching boys & girls!"

"It was great doing the activities, not just reading about them. Great presenter with a lot of ideas!"

"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 two years!"

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

"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!"

"Kelley was an amazing speaker, always keeping me engaged in the useful information she had to offer. She was a clear speaker and her slides were relevant to the text we were given."

“Kelley actually used the strategies she was talking about. Sadly, this happens all too infrequently.”

“The overall presentation: pacing, appropriateness, relevance of content, activities – they were all great!”

“The emphasis on ‘relationship with students. WE need to hear this more…”

It was awesome!! The presenters used the techniques and strategies the entire time to engage learners!

I really like how we actually did many of the activities so we know how to implement them. Overall the training was great!

The presentation was excellent—the presenters made my “rubber band expand”