unMASKing with Male Educators: Creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms & Schools for Male Students

#35 | How to Start the School Year: Practical Advice from a 7-Year Teaching Veteran - w/ Nicholas Ward - Educator, Mentor, Sports Connoisseur

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I guarantee this episode will make you a better teacher. Practical advice, explicit tools, a clear perspective, and a way to move throughout your school site with intention - our conversation with Nicholas was exactly why we started this series.

Nicholas Ward is a middle school history teacher and Athletic Director in East Oakland, where he’s been teaching for the past seven years. He focuses on making U.S. and world history meaningful and relevant, especially for students from underserved communities; and he’s also passionate about mentorship, student leadership, and using sports and community-building as tools for growth, both in and outside the classroom. We discuss:

  1. How becoming a father has impacted Nicholas’s work as a teacher

  2. How Nicholas is intentional and consistent with his 1 on 1 check-ins with students outside of the classroom

  3. The mentorship program that Nicholas piloted in his school to empower students across grade levels

  4. How he instills the idea that “rigor is love” with his students and parents at the beginning of the year

  5. How Nicholas teaches history, media literacy, and primary sources in the era of “fake news”, AI, and smartphone devices

  6. The principles and practices that Nicholas implements to start every school year

(2:45) Nicholas introduces himself.

(4:30) Nicholas and Ashanti share their “teacher personas”

(13:00) Being both a father and a male educator

(18:30) Building relationships at the beginning of the school year

(19:00) The perfect notebook for educators

(24:50) The special mentorship program Nicholas piloted at his school

(26:20) Communicating to students and parents how “rigor is love”; pushing students to demonstrate what they’ve learned in multiple modalities

(31:55) Teaching history in the era of disinformation

(36:10) Tying civic engagement to history

(40:45) How mentorship breaks down walls - student to student, teacher to teacher, and student to teacher

(45:00) How to start the school year according to an expert

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Connect with Nicholas Ward:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captovader/

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Join/Contribute to our Young Men’s Conference: https://everforwardclub.org/global-young-mens-conference-2025 

Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

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Email us questions and comments at [email protected] 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everforwardclub

Twitter: https://twitter.com/everforwardclub

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#unmaskingwithmaleeducators #millionmaskmovement  #takingoffthemask #totm #doace #UNWME #diaryofaconfusededucator

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unMASKing with Male Educators: Creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms & Schools for Male StudentsBy Ashanti Branch - Taking Off The Mask
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