Senior Speaker Materials

Guidelines for Writing a Commencement Address

The draft you write for consideration does not need to be a final version, but should give the panelists a clear idea of what you plan to say in your speech. The traditional commencement address has had content which reflects back on the class's experiences and also gives advice or guidance for the future. The tone should be one which inspires and motivates the listeners.

Although the Commencement Address is directed at the graduating class, the message needs to be meaningful and appropriate for the adult audience present as well. Content, language, or style which parents or grandparents might find offensive is not suitable for a Commencement Address.



Humor can be an effective minor element of a Commencement Address. The predominant message, and consequently the predominant writing style, should be serious, thoughtful and inspirational.



Format: This might be helpful. It is an all purpose formula. It is not required. Feel free to be creative. But as a starting point, you might want to observe the following steps.



Introduction--


* Attention getting anecdote


* Establish a theme -- Past speakers have used themes likethe qualities of Eagles or the symbolic importance of bridges


* Set purpose or message



Body--


* Reflect on events of past 4 years


* Reflect on present status


* Reflect on where things are headed



Conclusion--


* Re-emphasize message


* Closing thoughts and anecdotes



A few helpful suggestions:


Though you may want to fill your speech with inspirational quotations, and heartfelt thoughts of hope, be careful of overusing clichés. Because they have been used so often, clichés do not always hold much power within a text and tend to be easily forgotten by an audience.



On the other hand, the most memorable speeches are those that tell some type of story. Typically, speakers will use either brief anecdotes or longer narratives to convey their message. As opposed to citing bland clichés that are easy to forget, stories tend to stay with people and carry a stronger emotional and intellectual impact.


Here are some samples of past commencement addresses.


2018


2017


2013


2012

AVReading April: Digital Reading

Although our focus this year has been on instructional strategies, in light of our current E-Learning push, I’ve decided to change focus and offer some helpful strategies for assigning and assessing reading in those spaces.

                  We’ve learned a lot recently about how to set-up our E-Learning spaces and the types of expectations, lessons, and assessments that we will need to construct as we move our curriculum over to the digital world. 

                  For struggling readers, this move can be daunting.  Research shows that the obstacles struggling readers face is more than just limited vocabulary and slow reading rates.  It’s also understanding the organization and flow of visual texts.  This could mean difficulties in “reading” the layout of non-traditional (non-linear) texts, like websites, blogs, discussion rooms, wiki pages and many more digital texts.  In some cases, texts that were actually designed to be more visual and more accessible can cause more difficulty.  With this in mind, it is good to be mindful of what we assign students to read under this new E-Learning environment and how we can support those who might have reading difficulties.

                  Finding Material: As you look for material that might normally have been presented in class, consider the general readability of the material.  While it probably is not reasonable to run a “lexile” test on it (nor is it particularly useful considering the shortcomings of readability tests), you can do this on your own.  Here are some guidelines.

                  Length: A fairly easy measure of readability is simply it’s length.  Struggling readers are easily overwhelmed by long, uninterrupted texts.  Remember that many students with reading disabilities move much slower through texts, taking two to three times longer to read something when compared against their peers.  

                  Vocabulary:  For this, you will need to “eye ball” it.  Watch for unique and interesting word choices that might make the reading more lively, but could also cause some confusion.  Consider how many “technical” or “expert” terms are being used and if the writer adequately explains or defines the terms.  Remember, if a reader struggles with more than 10% of the words in a text, they will be in their “frustration” range.  

Organization:  How is the text organized-- both in form and content.  In form, does the text move across the screen / page in a way that is easy to understand.  Or might a reader get easily lost at the end of one paragraph or block.  In terms of content, does the writer have a clear overview at the beginning of the text to give the reader a good roadmap.  

Conceptual Density:    A user friendly text is able to communicate new and novel (and often complex) ideas in ways that are accessible to them.  Here are two good criteria for measuring conceptual density.  First, consider how many new ideas are being presented in each reading.  Covering too many complex ideas in a short space can be overwhelming.  Second, a good text will actually build in redundancy.  In comparison, high level texts will simply state an idea and assume the reader doesn’t need further explanation.  A more accessible text might explain something once, and give one or two examples along with a visual or graphic display to accompany it. 

Assigning Texts: Beyond just finding the right texts to assign to students, teachers should also consider how they present those texts in online spaces and what they expect from students as they read them. 

Presenting the Text:  Struggling readers can often take on difficult texts if teachers scaffold the text for them.  Pre-reading scaffolding can mean many things, but here are a few.  If you wanted, you could do a 3-5 minute screen cast that walks students through the text.  In that “think aloud”, the teacher would start by telling students what to look for (1-2 things), then previewing the text with them, pointing out how the text might be organized, and asking them a question or two to think about before they read.  This could also be done with a short paragraph at the top of a reading.  The key is to tell students exactly what it is you want them to look for as they read and to give them some tips on how to read the text.  

Assessing the Reading:  Finally, it is important to consider how you will evaluate students’ understanding of the text.  The easiest way is probably a comprehension quiz.  Just be sure that the questions (or at least some of them) link back to whatever pre-reading questions you originally asked.  I also suggest designing questions / items that mirror the language of ACT and / or the MCA tests (we’ve been working on this throughout the year, but I have more resources if you are interested).  Beyond quizzes, I will also use article “mark-ups”, where students are asked to download the text into Notability, mark-up at least six things, and then submit it back into schoology.  I then read their mark-ups to assess their level of understanding and interaction with the text.  Discussion boards can also be useful.  One easy activity is to ask students to respond to two (or three) open ended prompts from the text.  I might also ask students to do just a good old fashioned “summary” of the text, a skill that all students could probably improve.  

The abundance of online resources can be both a blessing and a boundary.  It can be a blessing because we have so much from which to choose. But it can be a boundary because it just takes so long to actually find something that fits the rather narrow criteria we have for a given assignment.  But, like so many things in life, the time we put into these types of details will be helpful for all students, but especially those who might struggle with academic texts.

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