Teacher Derek Tully has been asked to speak at a US conference attended by thousands of educators for the second year running.

The deputy principal of Clearwater Middle School will lecture on how boys often need to be taught differently to girls in order to tap into their preference for physical activity.

Dr. Tully is taking part in the National Middle School Conference in Denver, Colorado, in October after receiving an invite following his appearance last year at the event in Houston, Texas.

He told The Royal Gazette: "Make no mistake, this is an honour not just for myself but for Bermuda as a whole. I feel really chuffed about it."

Dr. Tully said his lecture last year, which included slides on middle school boys learning on board the educational sloop Spirit of Bermuda, generated a lot of interest.

"The boys were learning mathematics via navigation, science through their observation of the sea and the stars at night, and English through the diaries they kept of every aspect of their voyage," he said.

"In fact, the boys were learning according to their own individual learning styles, by working tactually and kinesthetically in real situations and not merely sitting behind a desk in a classroom.

"School administrators from a variety of states were very interested in Spirit of Bermuda and I received many favourable and envious comments from school districts who would love to have such a fabulous teaching tool as a sail training ship."

This year's conference will be attended by about 8,000 middle school educators and Dr. Tully, the co-author of two books on learning styles, will lecture to more than 100 people.

The Scotsman, who used to work at St. George's Secondary School, is one of 500 presenters chosen from about 4,000 who applied to teach at the conference.