Chess in Education

I started teaching chess about a month ago, and I see it as a good motivator for student achievement. The children are very excited about chess academy. Students who were not the best behaved during the school day are working harder to behave during the school day to avoid detentions that would keep them out of chess academy. Some students have expressed their excitement of chess academy to their homeroom and other teachers in the school. I think it's great that students are finding more reasons to want to come to school. I wish we had implemented the chess academy program sooner. I am especially interested in the gender disparity in chess academy. I have noticed that more boys seem to be interested. I would like to know what others think. I have created my own blog:Chess & Gender. Please post comments for me.