"A Love Letter to Canada" - Part Two

In my last post, I reflected on using the first season of The Amazing Race Canada in a Grade 4 classroom. I discussed the genesis of the project and highlighted some of the activities I tried when I was in a Grade 4 classroom.

Fast Forward to 2018

The idea to revisit the unit struck me when I was in discussion with a Grade 4 teacher at Thamesford Public School in September.  We were brainstorming ways to use the program Flipgrid - A collaborative video journaling tool that promotes the exchange of ideas between students, either within the class or beyond (with classes anywhere in the world).  Our goal was to connect with a Grade 4 classroom at one of the other school's I support and explore a curriculum strand together - and The Amazing Race Canada seemed a perfect fit.

A few weeks later, the launch was ready to go and 4 classes were interested - the Thamesford class, two classes at Northridge in London and one class, Oxbow, in Ingersoll. Three schools separated by over 40 km, two were semi-rural and one nestled into a subdivision in the north of the city.  This was helpful, because the students were less likely to know each other through outside pursuits (hockey, gymnastics, swimming, etc.) Additionally, they came from a more varied set of experiences.

The Launch

We introduced the students to the concept of the show through this Google Slide Deck Presentation which was divided into 3 parts

1. A discussion about "promises" and a classroom "pinkie swear" (Slide 2). The season we were viewing was filmed 5 years earlier, so there are plenty of spoilers available on the internet. Students not only made the promise to avoid spoilers - they promised not to type any words related to the program into the internet - even if they were just looking for pictures.
2. An overview of what to expect and the many new terms (Existing Relationship, Roadblock, Detour, Pit Stop, Elimination) are covered next (Slides 3 - 6)  - Obviously, the show covers these as well - but I've found that small group conversations about potential Canadian locations and accompanying challenges really built excitement. 
• "Do they really get eliminated and sent home?" asked one student, "That must be very sad."
3. A biography of the host Jon Montgomery to present a Guided Reading approach to demonstrate ways one might tackle a daunting piece of text. Here is a screencastify of my approach to this activity. This also sets them up for the next activity.

Next, students worked in collaborative teams to make a short Google Slide Presentation.

• Nine groups are created by teacher/student choice or maybe the Flippity random picker. 
• I personally like the idea of having students go to four labelled corners. Corner 1 "I like to present to the class", Corner 2 "I like to read information", Corner 3 "I like both." Corner 4 "I'm not a fan of either". Groups are then created to make sure that a reader and presenter is in each group.
• Envelopes, much like those on the race, are selected randomly by each group, inside, they reveal a picture of one of the teams and the accompanying bio for that team. (Sorry, no link here, I have these as a hard copy - if interested, text me and I will scan them and send them to you as a PDF)
•  I provide them with a the link bit.ly/raceteamshow which (when imputed into the URL) forces them to make a copy of the slideshow outline. It contains pictures of all the teams (so they won't have to search for them) - they simply delete the 8 not needed and enlarge the team assigned to them.
• Students are asked to create a brief presentation, using Google Slides, that contains mainly pictures and a few key words. The details can be put in the speaker's notes which can be printed. The goal here is to avoid screens full of text that will be read to the audience. We really want to support the idea of "teasing out the important details from the bios", "skipping the less important" "presenting orally" with the support of an "aesthetically pleasing display". For many, this is the first time they have tried this, so the educator role is to move from group to group and give immediate feedback to help guide them. Having them share their slide with the educator makes this faster. 
•  Together, we co-created a rubric with feedback. This is the Thamesford example. It is a (No Mark / Feedback Driven) form of grading that I explain in more detail here.
• Once completed, each group made their presentation and immediate constructive criticism was shared in a way that was productive and valued self-esteem. The rubric was completed shortly after and distributed for saving in their portfolios.
• We put a bow on this activity by showing the students the introduction to the season. From the first shot of Jon Montgomery, through the introduction of the teams to the moment when the race actually begins ... and pause. #BuildAnticipation101

Flipgrid

I partnered Thamesford with one class at Northridge and the second Northridge class with the students at Oxbow. Students from Thamesford chose partners with whom they would like to go on an Amazing Race and sent messages to their peers at Northridge. Their task was ...

• Introduce yourselves by first name
• Share a few things that each of you like (EX: hockey, dance, Fortnight were favourites)
• Tell them which team you each like, or has the best chance to win, or both
• Tell them why you might be successful or struggle on this race (EX: I'm really fast, but I am afraid of heights)

Students sending Flipgrid Introductions in October, 2018

The Northridge students viewed the videos as a class and were assigned one group to whom they must respond (although, they were welcomed to send messages back to more). This guaranteed that every team would get at least one response. Their task was to ...

• Introduce yourselves by first name
• Say hello and use the other team member's names (everyone likes to be addressed by name.)
• Comment specifically on something they heard (EX: I like hockey too, Jet & Dave are also our favourite team so far).
• Share a few things that each of you like.
• Tell them which team you each like, or has the best chance to win, or both
• Tell them why you would be successful or struggle on this race.

Students were encouraged to prepare for their Flipgrid presentation - but not to memorize or read it. "It should be "planned, but genuine."

An identical activity was completed by the second Northridge class and sent to Oxbow.

At this point, I realize that this will be at least a three part post - more soon! Thanks for reading.

Part Three Here

"A Love Letter to Canada" - Amazing Race & Grade 4 Curriculum

One of the great benefits of my role as an Instructional Coach is variety. A particularly busy and enriching day might include...

• starting my morning in a Grade 7/8 class teaching figurative language in literacy,
• meeting with the Principal about math data,
• transition to a Grade 3 class to enhance multiplicative thinking through relational rods,
• chatting with a Grade 6 teacher about a new technology option,
• finishing in a Grade 4 class supporting a cross-curricular approach to Social Studies.

Not only is this energizing and exciting, it's a powerfully effective way to learn the nuances of the curriculum across the grades. A fun challenge I have set for myself is to try to "Hit for the Cycle", a term borrowed from baseball which occurs when a batter hits a single, double, triple and a home-run in a single game. For me, that would be a visit with a Kindergarten, Primary (Gr. 1-3), Junior (Gr. 4-6) & Intermediate (Gr. 7/8) class in one day. So far, I have come close (ticking 3 of 4 boxes) on a few occasions. 

An additional perk about visiting multiple classroom is the opportunity to revisit curriculum expectations from grades that I have previously taught. This year, I was excited to pitch a unit from my time teaching Grade 4 in 2013. Through consultation with 4 teachers at 3 different schools, I was able to retool an engaging unit and infuse it with current teaching practice, including the use of Google Suite and other recently released tech-infused pedagogical tools.

The unit is built around Season 1 of The Amazing Race Canada.  Over the next three posts, I would like to provide a richer context for how this unit works so powerfully in a Grade 4 Canadian classroom.

The Genesis

When I first decided to try this unit, I was teaching at Eagle Heights Public School. This was a school in a phase of swift transition. The population was growing rapidly and the demographics were in flux. In 2013, the construction for the second building expansion project in 5 years was well underway. Additionally, the average number of new Canadians who were English Language Learners had quadrupled since my arrival in 2011.

I had watched The Amazing Race Canada season during the summer and knew it had a place in my classroom. My goal was to meet expectations of the Grade 4 Ontario Curriculum for Social Studies - Political & Physical Regions of Canada, but I also wanted to shake off the doldrums of typical practice (of which I had been guilty)...

• map colouring - 1 for provinces, 1 for physical regions, "My Western Cordilleras are blue."
• student presentations - "Our province is Saskatchewan..."
• those bad 1990's videos on YouTube (even well-meaning videos like this had run their course.)
• or worst of all, Canadian Province worksheets ... especially meaningless word searches.

I guess I most wanted to introduce my students (especially those who had just made Canada their new home) to the beauty of this magnificent country. I wanted them to make connections from places on the map to real places that the teams visited. I wanted them to learn about all of the incredible diversity in landscape, recreation, tradition and history that we have captured between three great oceans. Recently, Season 1 participant Dave Schram put it well when he shared the following...

When we were selected, the producers told all of us that... they "wanted the show to be a love letter to Canada."

That was really what I was after - a way for my students to fall in love with Canada.

• To know the immigrant experience at Pier 21 in Nova Scotia.
• To realize Robert Service wrote wonderfully fun & funny poetry about the Yukon.
• That Innuk throat sing, participate in Arctic Olympics and that Muktuk (whale blubber) contains Vitamin D they can't always get from the sun.
• To know that Ogopogo, the Saskatchewan Roughriders & "Body Break" are things that exist, and that some Canadians cherish them fondly.
• And so much more...

Not surprisingly, the unit was a hit. This was at a time before our board had embraced the Google Suite tools, so a lot of our work was on paper and displayed on the classroom walls. We dipped into multiple curriculum strands as we...

• tracked the progress of the race across a large map, calculating & rounding distances,
• documented arrival positions & eliminations for each leg,
• connected race challenges & events to the 6 Learning Skills outlined in the Ontario Growing Success Document,
• wrote about our favourite participants, locations and challenges,
• looked at the positive messaging implied in the shows use of Chevrolet, Air Canada, Interac & Cadbury chocolate,
• tried muktuk, Arctic char & muskox meatballs delivered from Steve (who lives in Iqaluit), 
• even got a surprise visit from Jet Black (a final four participant)
  

The next year, I worked with a Grade level partner and two classes were involved. We built on the successes and added activities. In 2015, I left Grade 4 for a new assignment and my former teaching partner continued running the program on her own. We were fortunate to have annual surprise visits from London participants Jet & Dave...who learned that the response to their arrival was sometimes overwhelming.

I presented the unit at several Elementary Teacher Federation Workshops and remain pleasantly surprised when I see evidence of it on the walls of an unfamiliar school. I'll admit, at this point, I was content with the project I had built and felt that it had legs for quite a few years. However, this year, I got a chance to upgrade the unit to match both the advances in technology and our Board's move toward Global Competencies. 

That, and more, in Part Two.  

Was it ever "Discovery Math" - Part Two

tThis is the second in a series of posts regarding the recent release of an addendum to the curriculum entitled, Focusing on the Fundamentals of Math - A Teacher's Guide from the Ontario Progressive Conservative (P.C.) government.

Party Leader, Premier Doug Ford, has stated that ...

"Kids used to learn math by doing things like memorizing a multiplication table, and it worked...instead, our kids are left with experimental discovery math. That hardly teaches math at all. Instead, everyone gets a participation ribbon and our kids are left to fend for themselves." 1

This addendum is "intended to support teachers' ongoing efforts in building students' knowledge and skills in mathematics." It has been billed by the P.C. government as a fundamental shift away from "discovery math" and a return to "fact based memorization." In Part 1 I proposed that there is much ado about nothing.

Here's what I think so far...

• There was no "discovery math" - at least not one promoted through the many Thames Valley Board In-Service sessions I have attended over the years.
• I have never taught "experimental discovery math" or given "participation ribbons" to my math students - I have never seen this in practice in the schools I support. If, the term "participation ribbons" is intended to imply that I encourage and celebrate my students for making an effort to learn - then that is true. However, I am not sure what the alternative would be?
• This document seems, on my first pass, to be a good, research-supported approach to math.
• In fact, some of the research behind this document comes from the same sources teachers have been using for years.
• This document isn't really a change at all - and teachers need not worry about a massive change to their program. If anything, it is a slight adjustment in focus - but...as I intend to demonstrate... not really.

Let's go through each page and look at the guide - section by section.

Page 1

There are two sections here.
The first is a preamble to make clear the intention of this guide. There is nothing to which any should take umbrage. The key messages are ...

• It is intended to support teachers.
• It focuses on the parts of the Ontario Math Curriculum that deal with fundamental math skills.
• It outlines steps to achieving knowledge & skills in these expectations.
• The goal is success in high school and beyond (employment & citizenship).

The second is a quote from a literature review by Bruce & Chang (2013) referencing a book from Baroody & Dowker (2003).

"Becoming highly skilled at arithmetic requires the development of number sense alongside procedural and factual knowledge as well as the mathematical principles that govern how the operations are related to one another." 

Two quick points I am, and have been, in complete agreement with this statement. (

• This literature review is found at the Edugains site - which is "a website that houses ministry developed resources to support policies and programs related to improved learning and teaching - Kindergarten to Grade 12 - in Ontario schools."

In other words - this is simply a restatement of information that was created by the former government (The Ontario Liberal Party) and available to educators for years.

So far...

• There is nothing here with which I can disagree.
• There is plenty here that I was already reviewing, doing & following.
• There is no evidence that this is replacing "experimental discover math"
• Everything that is being suggested here matches the existing math program -which my board was promoting & implementing.

Page 2 next...

Was it ever "Discovery Math"? - Part One

One of the benefits to my role as an Instructional Coach is the extra time I am afforded. This is not because my days are not filled - I spent today (the first day of the 2018 school year) receiving excellent Professional Development and I work hard to make sure that I am always "earning my keep".

I have extra time in the evenings because, unlike my colleagues in the classroom, I do not have a class of eager or anxious, excited or reluctant, confident or uncertain learners waiting to meet me tomorrow morning.

Consequently, I do not need to spend time this evening...

• reviewing student work from today - sometimes called "Exit Tickets" or "Diagnostic Assessment".
• preparing lessons for tomorrow that are based on those assessments. 
• considering differentiated instruction for all of the learners in my class - especially the anxious, reluctant and uncertain ones.
• responding to student questions & comments on virtual environments like Google Classroom or Edmodo.
• sharing classroom observations with parents or facilitating student-created portfolios through Seesaw or Class Dojo - and answering parent questions when asked.
• preparing forms for teams I coach or for fields trips I hope to take.
• preparing for community building experiences like Terry Fox, Orange Shirt or Dot Day.

I respect this opportunity. So I always try to make good use of this extra time I am afforded. 

Sometimes, 

• I use it to learn - maybe to add to my coding skills or to gain experience with a new app or educational technology.
• I use it to review curriculum, especially if a teacher from a grade with which I am unfamiliar asks me for some assistance - (yesterday, that was a Grade 1 teacher who asked about Media Literacy, and I began building this resource.)
• I use it to read the great Leadership, Literacy and Math books with which I have been provided.
• I use it to build lessons that I think will have utility in multiple classrooms.
• I surf Twitter to see what my Professional Learning Network #PLN is sharing in their posts and blogs.

Today, I used my time to begin to review the Teacher's Guide addendum released by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Government Focusing on the Fundamentals of Math released August 23rd. I also thought I would write about it here - in a follow-up post - found here. 

Spoiler Alert - I don't see what the fuss is about - on either front. 

The document (much like the practice of my colleagues that preceded it) seems grounded in good, well-researched thinking. 

It also (like the documents that preceded it*see below*) is intended as an approach to 

"prepare students for success in high school and ensure they have a set of essential skills for employment and responsible citizenship in the future." 

I can't argue with that statement - that has been my goal as a teacher since I began. Join me tomorrow (fingers-crossed) as I go through each page. I think you'll find that this approach is just fine - however, it is not replacing this elusive "discovery math" I keep hearing about - it is simply a slightly adjusted focus on practice in which I already believed.

**The Guides to Effective Instruction & The Ontario Curriculum - Mathematics & What to Look for by Alex Lawson & Elementary & Middle School Math by John A Van de Walle & others or all the great stuff from Marian Small (which we have been using for several years).

August 18th is a day

For the past four years, I have been using an App on my phone called Momento which bills itself as the "smart private journal for capturing your life story". It works like most social media apps (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc) however it is private. Consequently, it has the advantage of allowing the user to document anything without considering an audience -- other than one's future self.

A frequent criticism of social media is that users tend to create a "False Face" or "Ideal Self" as their online persona. I know this is true for me. My Twitter/Instagram feed is absolutely curated -- I tend only to show the best stuff going on around me. However, my Momento feed allows me to reflect on everything in my life -the banal, the somber, the pessimistic, the boastful, the tragic...the real.

The app also has a feature called "This Day" which highlights all the posts made on a calendar day. Now that I have been using it for several years, this is my favourite feature and I look forward to clicking my "This Day" button every morning over coffee. It is also interesting to see moments from your past strung together around the theme of a single calendar date. It's remarkable and often surprising how different Wednesday, June 10 in 2015 might be from Sunday, June 10 in 2018.

I have been fortunate, and most days I am delighted to see the pictures and text appear on my phone screen. Today was different.

Two years ago, on this date (August 18, 2016), I was standing on top of Mount Franny in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. A slightly challenging 2 kilometer trek puts the hiker at an elevation of 450 meters above sea level. Here, one is rewarded with a nearly 360 degree view of the Ingonish region of the Cabot Trail.  There is even a red, Muskoka/Adirondack chair intended to encourage a moment of mindful reflection.

It was about the time I snapped this picture of my wife that my phone rang. It was my good friend Bill and his typically buoyant voice sounded reserved and reed-thin. He let me know that our mutual friend Duncan had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. I paused and then immediately began to extol the achievements of the Canadian medical community. I recognize that this is my coping method -- I put faith into science and comfort myself with success stories I have experienced and the potential for healing that 21st Century medicine offers.

Last year, on this date (August 18, 2017), I was meeting my new fur-nephew at my cottage. An Irish Wolfhound with a wonderful disposition, he is a rescue dog from Texas who is featured in my avatar on multiple media platforms. He brought great joy to my sister one year after she said goodbye to "Merlot" a gentle and sweet dog who generously and effortlessly extolled warmth and elation to anyone he met.

Merlot in the Thames River, London, Ontario

This also marked the day I had returned to our cottage after spending time in London. I had gone to London to attend Duncan's celebration of life. An incredibly talented musician, composer and educator - he was well known and respected by many. The event was held in the outdoor music pavilion at Wonderland Gardens. His album of original jazz music Floating Point was played and his equally talented brother Cam, and Duncan's two daughters, performed. It was mournful -- but also beautifully uplifting.

Today, (August 18, 2018), I am drinking coffee and writing. I have yet to post a picture or text in my Momento App.  I suspect I will post a link to this blog. Tonight, my wife and I are going to meet good friends -- people who have chosen to travel to spend time with us. On Monday, we head for New York City -- to celebrate 32 years together and our 12th wedding anniversary (New York was the city in which we were married -- August 18, 2006).

We didn't go there for our 10th anniversary -- because of the exchange rate and the opportunity to go to Nova Scotia. I have been patiently waiting for the dollar to improve to make this trip more financially efficient. Secretly, my wife booked a flight, hotel and tickets to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Gardens. She surprised me on my birthday.

She was right.

She usually is.

Life is incredibly short and it can change quickly. Go out and make the most of every day -- including August 18th.

Influential Albums Day 5

Day 5

This is the fifth post in a series of ten documenting the albums I consider influential. My first post, found here, provides some insight into the rationale behind this journey. The first album I selected was the Soundtrack to "Oliver", which I discovered in 1973 at about age 8. My second choice can be found here and was The Cars Debut album. The third selection was "All the World's A Stage" from Canadian band Rush (found here). The fourth, Duran Duran's "Rio" is (here).

The story behind this album actually begins in the late 70’s when I was about 11 or 12 in the small, lakeside farming town of Kingsville, Ontario. I had made a friend with a guy named John who was a couple years older than I. He lived on a farm near Windsor, but often stayed at his grandparents’ place about a block from my home during the summer.

He was usually up to no good and I certainly made some dubious choices with him. One summer morning, he arrived at my house with $20 and suggested we walk into town to the pool hall - where we could play pinball, pool & video games, get ice cream and talk to girls. I was nowhere near the “talking to girls” stage of my life. Regardless, the other two options were entirely in my wheelhouse.

On the third day this happened, I asked him where he was getting the money.

“I stole it”, he said plaintively “my aunt is staying with my grandmother and she is rich - so she’ll never notice. I just take it out of her purse, she has lots.”

At this point in the story, I would like to say that I took a firm stand and refused to condone this nefarious act; but, video games and ice cream do something to the 12-year-old brain -- it’s like hypnosis.

By day 4, the jig was up. To his credit, he didn’t tell on me. His grandparents really liked me and I think he wanted to keep that relationship honest. Regardless of the reason, he took the fall and had to stay at home and do chores in order to begin his reparations. I volunteered to help him (once again, not out of honour or duty...but because I was bored and there was no one else to hang with).

That evening, we got permission to walk around the block. John wanted to go to this house where “The Bikers Lived”. In retrospect, it was a couple guys with long hair, handlebar moustaches and motorcycles. However, in my adolescent mind, they were Hard-Core Outlaws. I was always extra-intimidated when they weren’t outside because John always insisted on knocking on their door - which was exactly what he did on this hot summer evening.

They invited us in and John immediately began talking about motorcycles with them. Their living room looked exactly as you'd imagine if I said the words 

“Late 70’s, twenty-something, bachelor pad.” 

It was beanbags, bead curtains, shag carpet, empty beer cans and posters on the wall - mainly women in bikinis straddling Harley Davidson bikes and (likely) the ubiquitous Robert Crumb "Keep On Truckin" poster that adorned many walls of my youth.

However, there was one that I had never seen before - it had a shiny black background and a single shaft of white light thrust from the darkness on the left. It traveled upward and pierced a white triangle. The light disappeared, but re-emerged on the right of the triangle in fan of spectral colours. It was, of course, the album art for Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” I knew this at the time, because that was also printed on the poster in glossy, bold lettering.

For the next few years, I would identify Pink Floyd as being: “Music that biker’s liked”, and I would give it a wide berth. I was content with my Supertramp, ELO, Rush and Cars records, thank you very much.

It was a few years later. I was in my room doing homework and listening to late night rock radio.

At first, there was silence, like dead air… and then I heard something primitive, but absolutely beautiful in its simplicity begin to radiate from my tiny transistor speaker. Almost imperceptible at first, a rich synthetic, but also orchestral, hum grew slowly - like electronic vines creeping through my synapses. It was simple, but also seemed to be complexly layered - with the sound of fragile chimes whispering like dusty windswept glass in the distance...there, then gone.

The first time you truly “hear” a song, time seems to move more slowly. This was one of those times. It was like floating comfortably through a warm pool toward a distant, pleasant light. I stopped everything and was entranced.

The notes would modulate ever so subtly, but always find their way to a perfect, albeit temporary, resolution...and then a guitar, playing a simple series of four notes that seemed to ring out and fade at the same time. I don't think I did anything but breathe for the next 15 minutes.

It was the opening to “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” from “Wish You Were Here” by, that "famous biker band", Pink Floyd. My world was shaken and I was forever changed by this album (as well as everything else by The Floyd). I wore out at least two cassettes of this on countless bus trips around the city in my early teens. I have purchased it on vinyl and CD and I have been fortunate enough to see both Roger Waters & David Gilmore in concert on a number of occasions. Sadly, the line-up that recorded this record disbanded in the early 80’s and I did not seem them all play together. Pink Floyd have a stellar catalogue - but this was, for me, the high water mark.

So, thanks John. Despite your troubled ways -- which eventually forced us to part company permanently, you were a pivotal part of my youth and an important part of my taste in music. And, thank you anonymous biker guys (who are probably pot-bellied grandfathers in their mid-sixties now). Thank you for introducing me to Pink Floyd.

Influential Albums Day 4

Day 4

This is the fourth post in a series of ten documenting the albums I consider influential. My first post, found here, provides some insight into the rationale behind this journey. The first album I selected was the Soundtrack to "Oliver", which I discovered in 1973 at about age 8. My second choice can be found here and was The Cars Debut album. The third selection was "All the World's A Stage" from Canadian band Rush (found here). I am moving chronologically and this post lands us in the first few years of my most formative decade - The 80's - in which was I was 14-25 years old.

Duran Duran exploded on the scene in early 1983. Their video for “Hungry Like the Wolf” was in constant rotation on every network that showed videos. The band was composed of singers who weren’t handsome - they were "pretty". Resplendent in pastel-coloured, linen suits while sporting make-up and impossible hairstyles - teased and "Ice-Misted" into ridiculous coifs. We were immediately critical - however, we would soon begin emulating these fashionable Brits - desperately hoping to garner some of the same attention and affection that high-school girls were heaping upon them. 

My group of friends and I were confirmed rockers - Rush, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest … pretty much anything that wasn’t the British New Romantic. Duran Duran was a band for girls … or guys whom we stereotyped in a way that I am ashamed to recall.

However, I ended up getting a copy on cassette. A group of teenage ne’er-do-wells had a small industry set-up in the smoking-pit (Yes, those existed in 80's high school) where they would sell cassettes pilfered from the record store (Mister Sound). It wasn’t a sustainable business model, and they would eventually be banned from the mall. However, while it was up and running, I was a regular client. I had a job and a little extra scratch for music purchases. I also had a Walkman...actually, a Sanyo Personal Music Player. So a constant stream of music at all hours (except in class and when I slept) was a vital part of my life.

One day, they were selling 4 cassettes, for a bargain, and Duran Duran's "Rio" was in the mix. I think I probably justified it as a potential gift for a girl...or maybe my sister. However, I gave it a listen.

The opening track hooked me right away. It began with this odd cacophony of sound before exploding with a crunchy, rock-inspired guitar laid over this hypnotic keyboard arpeggio...and then there was this great sax solo in the middle. I was immediately hooked and the cassette remained in my player for weeks.

Needless to say, I kept this information to myself - revealing it to a few close friends and never suggesting that it be played at a basement party. There was this part of my teenage brain that was convinced that this album was important. The writing was fantastic and I think it transcended the dance/boy band category to which I had mistakenly pigeon-holed it.

A quick check on Wikipedia validates me.

• In 2000, Rio was ranked #98 in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums". 
• In 2003, it was listed at #65 in the NME "100 Greatest Albums of All Time". 
• In 2004, CMJ ranked it as #1 in their "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982". 
• In 2008 it was ranked 24th best British album of all time and is included in the list 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. 
• In April 2013 Rio was voted number 3 in BBC Radio 2's Top 100 Favourite Albums of all time.

Hey 17 year old me!… high five … nice call!