Hi from Maui, Everyone! Here is what I am looking forward to at this summer's institute:
I want to find out how you all manage your journalism programs. I suspect that at least some of you have a story similar to mine. You are an English teacher who was given the journalism program because you "know about writing." I have had a number of successes and just as many (probably more) failures in my four years of teaching Journalism via trial-and-error. I'm getting a little tired of wondering "how everybody else does it" and can't wait to hear about how all your programs are structured, how you motivate students to get the whole story, how you deal with deadlines, and how you deal with bias/cheerleading.
Next year will be incredibly challenging for me. Not only will I have three sections of senior English, but I will also have two sections of senior seminar, my second year of Yearbook (with only 1 student enrolled!), my first year of Creative Writing (out of which I hope to publish a magazine), and my fifth year of Journalism with the largest class I have ever had (25 or so).
In addition to actually learning something about journalism from real journalists, I am especially looking forward to gathering advice for managing this heavy load and this staff (specifically the twins) so that I can survive a grueling 09-10 school year. So, what is everyone else hoping to get out of our time together?
P. S. That's not my dog. I was at the beach one day, and this guy was so cute on his boogie board I had to snap his picture!
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Kye, I totally related to your situation, although I don't have twins to deal with! I too teach English to Seniors and came to journalism because no one else wanted to teach it and teaching writing is my biggest strength (being a National Writing Project Fellow). My only qualification for teaching journalism, which was a pretty big stretch, was that my husband Kevin is a staff writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Just because my husband is a journalist, I must know how to run the school paper, right? I'm very proud of what I've been able to do with the small staff over the last four years with his help and extensive internet searches, but I know I could do so much more. And the kids deserve more! I'm tired of the trial and error approach and want to learn real practical strategies from experienced journalists and journalism teachers. If I'm going to really call myself a journalism teacher, I needed to attend this program.
ReplyDeleteOMG, Becky! (I figure that this a blog so such acronyms are acceptable) Will the similarities never cease? My husband is also named Kevin! Although he is not a journalist (far from it, actually), my father was, so like you, I have surely learned the trade by osmosis, right? I can't wait to meet you at the institute. I'd also like to learn a little more about the National Writing Project.
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