"Honestly, I think this changed me more than my students." This reflection from one of our faculty members captures the true heart of the CCBE’s pilot Learning Lab. A Learning Lab brings together a small group of faculty to explore a research-informed idea, test it in their classrooms, and return to reflect on what they observed. The goal is not simply to learn about a strategy, but to investigate how it influences teaching and learning in practice.

How do we make French matter to boys beyond the classroom? How do we help them see language not simply as a subject to study, but as a tool to connect, lead, discover and grow? Over the past year, these questions have guided our reflection as French teachers at Crescent.

If you knew there was a severe drought and we’d run out of water in the next hour, what would you do? Now, what if you had known about the drought a year earlier? Or maybe even a decade in advance?

Discrepancies between the sociological structures in the educational system and the biological maturation of boys result in academic challenges in school that persist into adulthood, putting their health and well-being at risk (Reeves, 2022). As teachers of boys, it is incumbent upon us to determine the changes needed in our classrooms to help boys develop executive functioning skills and achieve academic success.