Listening & Media Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom

I have always been impressed with the way foreign language teachers infuse the enhancing of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills with their content on a day to day basis.  The combination of differentiation, utilization of technology, active learning, and content acquisition in well run language classes is truly remarkable.  I have worked hard this past school year to actively promote and grow the skill set of my students, rather than simply "give them information." A site that I have found great value in is Vocaroo, an easy to share voice recording platform.

"No man ever listened himself out of a job"-Calvin Coolidge

To culminate our final unit on Political Philosophies and Media Literacy, I created sample audio clips for class analysis that highlighted a political philosophy's views on a particular issue within the American political scene.  Students were able to practice applying context clues and key words to the identification of a given philosophy and position. In the age of infinite access to information, I reckon the ability to identify and recognize bias is of the utmost importance. Also, instead of listening to me (again) read the statements in front of the class, the playing of the different audio clips give students natural transitions and miniature breaks throughout.

Freedom of Speech According to a Statist

Voice Recorder >>

I have blogged before about the need to use technology and digital resources as a medium to more effectively promote the critical reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills that have separated the successful from the rest of the pack for scores of generations. Something as simple as utilizing a free voice recorder can take a traditional type of activity/skill like listening and enhance the delivery and results.

Corporate Welfare/ Bailouts According to a Libertarian

Record and upload voice >>

Student Loan Interest Rates According to a Liberal

Voice Recorder >>

How else can we utilize the infinite resources around us to better promote and enhance listening skills? What tools do you use? 

Summer Reading List

We as educators ought not to continue to think of summer as a vacation, but rather as "professional time." I have always used my summer professional time to read and reflect as much as I can, and this year is no different. As I begin my first leadership position in the fall, I will target key points of interest and concern to better my chances of being highly effective from day one. I look forward to a professionally lucrative summer of reading, tweeting, and blogging in preparation for a great school year!

1. Why Don't Students Like School? - I watch my one year old everyday get so excited every time he learns something new while he is playing with his flash cards or watching Sid the Science Kid, and I've lately been wondering when and where the excitement for learning and curiosity stops. The title of this book certainly makes it seem like it will be a fine resource for me in this regard. I am also excited to use this book and the corresponding Twitter chat #sschatbookclub to reconnect with other social studies teachers across the country that I've lost touch with this school year.  It will be like killing two birds with one stone.

2. Pathways to the Common Core - There are certainly political issues that are yet to be totally resolved with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) but the reality of the situation is that state, including my home Massachusetts, departments of education are adopting them as the new "frameworks." Knowing that the key to any kind of positive results with CCSS rests in the hands of teachers and classroom implementation, I must be a resource for teachers in my building. Without the support and knowledge of the leadership team, classroom application on a large scale won't happen. I hope to use the knowledge from this book to help teachers in my building be able to visualize how their instruction and assessment will change as a result of the Common Core, and what inevitable effects they will have on the curriculum moving forward.


3. How to Create a Culture of Achievement in Your School and Classroom - Culture starts at the top; I want to model and promote the learning environment that will best produce active, reflective, and curious students who celebrate success by working harder for more of it. The title of the book says it all, and I'm excited to save 15% using a social media coupon code!

4. Harvard Business Review's 10 Must Reads on Leadership - Along with many others I have written before about the need for educators of all varieties to think of themselves as one part teacher and one part leader of people if they want to have the greatest impact. I am very interested in the perspectives of educational and non-educational leaders alike, and love the idea of essentially 10 miniature books in one. This will be fine companion to any beach day this summer!

What are you going to do with your professional time this summer? Don't waste an opportunity to get better at whatever you're trying to get better at!

Sweet Advice For the Graduating Seniors

My wife and I have been the advisors for the Class of 2012 in Hopedale, MA since they were in seventh grade in August, 2006.  I have learned many things both directly and indirectly from my six years working with this class, ranging from how to manage an accounts with thousands of dollars in it (never have to worry about that with my personal checking account) to properly taking thorns and leaves off of hundreds of flowers for Prom. I also learned the value of saying yes to things and stepping outside of my comfort zone; I never saw myself as having the skills and qualities for class advising, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. After all, I ended up with a wife and son! Last night at Class Night, we presented our last words of wisdom and advice to the graduates in a unique and interesting way. Aside from the novelty of seeing candy bars and treats substituted for some words, please pay careful attention to the advice itself. It has been a wonderful journey with the Class of 2012, and a true pleasure to work so closely with my wife in a professional way. We are proud to share our finished product with all the graduates around the country/world. Good luck!

Admissions Tips for the Class of 2013

As juniors in high school across the country/world prepare for the college search/admission season, I want to draw upon my former years coaching and recruiting collegiate rowers and offer 5 tips for any student looking to improve their applications and resume. These are all actions anybody can begin taking immediately to improve their prospects, regardless of current academic standing.

1. Market Yourself- You don’t want your dream school to have any other choice but to say yes to you, and with that comes some salesmanship on your part.  Do not lie or even embellish, but you must aggressively market your character, accomplishments, and potential. Use action verbs when describing your activities and responsibilities, and don’t be hesitant or bashful when they ask you what you bring to the table! You know what you’re capable of and you know what you want, and it’s up to you to make sure you articulate and communicate that to as many people as you can.

2. Utilize Technology- Whether it was FDR with the radio, JFK with the television, or Barack Obama with social networking and web 2.0 tools, history has fared well for folks who utilize the latest technology to create some of the most impressive campaigns of their time. Use the tools around you at your disposal, and take full use of your Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. accounts to achieve the marketing mission discussed above. With the extra scrutiny that may be coming, take this opportunity to begin reflecting on your digital footprint, and what someone like an admissions rep would think if they were to stumble across your Instagram.  Instead of having accounts that you hope schools and potential employers do not find, create a presence that you can encourage recruiters to go to for even more reasons why they should invite you on board.

3. Be Visible- You can gain an incredible feeling for a what a school is all about with online research, interviews, webinars, etc, but you must actually spend time on the campus and visit/interview with folks that work and study there in order to really know if it’s a place for you. It also communicates to admissions that you are more interested than all the applicants who chose not to visit the campus; by separating yourself in any way from the pool will only improve your chances.

4. Articulate the Why- You must go beyond what you do and how you perform given tasks; the key to a successful application is expressing why you do all that you do.What drives you to pack your schedule, join and lead clubs, play three sports, and sing in the play? You may have never thought of it, but the answer is crucial for numerous reasons. It was truly humbling to realize there were hundreds of students in my class at Holy Cross that did all the same stuff I did in high school better than I did, but that hindsight better prepares me to advise now. Focus on the why. Simon Sinek’s TED talk on how to inspire others explains it all.

5. Start Climbing- Stagnation is your enemy; growth is the only option. You want to finish stronger than ever, and your senior year is no time for study halls and lazy afternoons.  Challenge yourself both in school and out, and make a personal pact not to sully any future options simply by not working hard enough in 12th grade.  Focus on your goals, put in the time and effort, and transform weaknesses into opportunities to get better. Don’t dwell on what you’ve already done; prepare for all that you’re going to do!

I used to always tell my recruits that this process was one they would remember forever, and that it was important to take the necessary steps to ensure the memories would be fond. Have fun!

Screencasting for Teachers & School Leaders

I love finding tools that address problems I frequently encounter as an educator.  Using technology for the sake of using technology is not the point; when I promote tech integration to both colleagues and students I always aim to show them why it will be of educational or organizational value, how to functionally use it, and, of course, what the given service or site does.  I have recently discovered the possibilities that screencasts present, and I embedded examples of how they can be used by both teachers and school leaders to improve their ability to communicate integral information both efficiently and effectively. Both screencasts were made using Screencast-O-Matic and were uploaded and embedded using Vimeo.  I chose Vimeo over Youtube simply because the latter is currently unavailable at school.

This first screencast is a compilation of excerpts from recently submitted student essays; I provide commentary on each of the points the excerpts raise and explain how students could use the example to improve their own writing moving forward.  It's a way to quickly communicate and possibly remedy any common mistakes one sees students making as a whole.  Especially in an AP class where there is so much content to go along with necessary skills, teachers may find screencasts as a great way to save time and effectively improve writing at the same time.

This second example highlights how screencasts can be used by school leaders as a way to communicate important information to the school community, and as a way to quickly provide a visual tutorial on how to use a digital tool that some on staff may not be comfortable with.  I explain each section of a proposed expectations for student learning document as well as a brief visual explanation of how to use Google Docs and the comment feature. Tools like this allow school leaders to communicate efficiently with their entire community in a way that combines visual and auditory means.  As opposed to sending emails that get buried over the course of one day videos can remain front and center for longer periods of time, increasing the chances for more views.  For anybody interested, the learning expectations were ratified unanimously and we look forward to implementing them moving forward!

Whether you're looking to target specific skills in the classroom or communicate essential information or tutorials to your faculty, screencasting presents fantastic opportunities!

Intrinsic Learning

A recent combination of writer's block, professional interest, and thrift led me to re-read a book I half-heartedly looked at some time ago as a first year graduate student. I had been meaning to re-visit Failure Is Not an Option by Alan Blankenstein; I read it simply to fulfill an assignment a few years back, but remembered finding value in the little bit of the book I actually read when I "had" to.  Filled with poignant stories of successful school leaders and the methodical steps they took to build Professional Learning Communities in their schools, I found myself nodding and highlighting in agreement through much of the entire book as if I had never read it before. After the second read, I highly recommend this to any aspiring/current educational leader looking to change professional culture and build community capacity.

"...staff compliance alone is not enough. It takes total staff commitment to succeed in the...work of reaching...students"-A.Blankenstein
— Eddie Evans (@eevansHHS) February 22, 2012

"Teachers cannot be the mere targets of other peoples leadership, but must see themselves as being...leaders..." A.Blankenstein
— Eddie Evans (@eevansHHS) February 27, 2012

Aside from the content of the book articulating and expanding on much of the ideas and conclusions I have come to regarding the kind of educational leader I am and want to be moving forward, I appreciated the irony of the situation; I was reading and heavily annotating a book over my February vacation that I haphazardly read and hardly noted two years prior in a class that I paid to take and would be graded after reading it.

Re-reading a book I had to read as student. Getting way more out of it now than when I "had" to read it. It's funny how that works out...
— Eddie Evans (@eevansHHS) February 26, 2012

I recently wrote about leading people to a place where they are going beyond "have" to. My two readings of Blankenstein's work clearly demonstrates the effect of adult learning with a purpose.  My intrinsic motivation as a professional genuinely looking to get better at what I am attempting to do inspired me light years more than any extrinsic motivation ever did. What I take away from this is that leaders must uncover and tap into the intrinsic motivations that exist within each member of their team as it relates to the overall mission and vision of the school if they ever want to get beyond what Blankenstein calls contrived collegiality. As Marilyn Tallerico writes to school leaders, "...you must...help build and sustain a schoolwide environment conducive to adult learning," (p.70) and the most prudent way to achieve this is by capitalizing on the professional interests and passions of the adults in the school.

 "The prime responsibility of all school leaders is to sustain learning."  

(Blankenstein, p.203) 

Without getting to know and eventually taking professional advantage of the intrinsic motivations and curiosities of the adults in any school, leaders will always struggle to reach the optimal levels of engagement and commitment needed for a sustainable culture of professional learning; they will find it difficult to get anything more than the motions from most people. Sure, there will always be folks on staff taking it upon themselves to re-read books on achievement and leadership over vacation, but I reckon the finest school leaders will not leave that to chance.

Collaborating Beyond "Have To"

Image Source

In all my previous and current capacities as a leader- captain, coach, and teacher- my main goal was/is to inspire and motivate people to apply the same dedication and passion reserved for matters of interest to the given work at hand. We are in a pedagogical age when it is impossible to stay current while practicing in isolation, and a permanent priority of the modern school leadership team must be strengthening the professional network their teachers have at both the building level and beyond without turning collaboration into just another thing teachers “have to” do. In Learning From Lincoln: Leadership Practices for School Success, Alvy & Robbins write, “...the leader’s task is to organize the school or district to support collaborative work, create those conditions that will allow it to occur, and ensure that the collaboration is purposeful for those involved.” However, if the avenues that schools are taking to create opportunities for collaboration and interpersonal professional learning become seen as just another obligation to be half-heartedly crammed into limited contractual hours, then the outcomes will never justify the effort, and the self fulfilling prophecies of doubters and isolationists will be realized yet again. If we know that networks and connections offer the best outlets for teachers to be most equipped for success, then we as leaders owe it to our schools to bring those opportunities for collaboration to the forefront of our agendas. Rather than attempting to utilize randomly assigned tuning protocol groups with prescribed topics and tasks to facilitate professional growth, or default to certain departments for school-wide rubric creation, the more prudent road for leadership to take is to purposefully and organically allow teachers with similar interests and passions to connect with each other, and work and learn together. It is only with purposeful engagement and careful planning that school leaders can begin to move adult collaboration and collegiality beyond “have to.”

Major obstacles exist that prevent professional learning and development from holding higher value in most schools, and leadership must explicitly address these concerns if trying to build authentic learning networks amongst faculty and staff.  The quality and relevance of professional development offered in the building sends the loudest message to the staff.  Administrations that treat P.D. like they something they “have to” offer employ teachers that think of P.D. as something they “have to” do.  Beyond what is offered, the administration must have an active and robust presence in the school, and invest the time in getting to know their staff on a pedagogical level in order to be able to create purposeful and results oriented connections for tunings protocols, NEASC committees, PLCs, etc. while also ensuring relevant development opportunities. Rather than asking who wants to work and learn together, it’s about discovering and understanding who should work and learn together. Leaders who know their staff are better positioned to do this.  Finally, excitement for growth and learning must start at the top.  The principal and leadership team must be modeling the culture and habits they want to promote. Alvy & Robbins would call this intentional visibility.

What makes the Edcamp model such an effective form of professional interaction, and so unrealistic as an event for many actual school communities in their current form, is that everyone is participating because they want to.  It’s not the fact that it is an Edcamp that makes it special; rather, the element of interest and passion that brought everyone there is what must be captured. Twitter is a catalyst for growth and learning because all the networks one builds and conversations one has occurs by choice and is sparked by initial interest or passion. Networks such as #sschat would not be as strong if every single educator using Twitter had to participate by condition of usage, just like intra-building or district professional development does not work when every single person has to participate, regardless of knowledge base, experience, or care.  Instead of recreating Edcamp, or perpetually romanticizing mediums like Twitter as the magic bullet for professional growth, school leaders need to craft the environment that fuels both of these platforms within their school. Creating the culture of excitement and passion for professional learning in your building is a more reliable long term solution than simply mimicking/hosting an event.  The only way for professional dialogue and collaborative learning to go beyond “have to” is to make it so valuable and rewarding that it organically becomes a want rather than an obligation.