I'll be returning to a high school in a struggling city in a struggling state. Money will be tight, and the chance for any updated technology is pretty slim. The same administrators, students, parents and community will mean the same issues. I don't want to get bogged down in all the ideas and goals; for me that means I'm stuck for good. The list grew longer every day! So I've set my "top five" agenda for the upcoming year.
1. I'm going to fight for greater freedoms for my student journalists. I want the principal to reconsider prior review, and I want people to revise their thinking so they see the paper as something that belongs to the students.
2. Our staff will guiltlessly focus on going online. The goal is a weekly publication online, and 3-4 print editions throughout the year (but with a deadline we will stick to!). From day one of the Reynolds Institute, the message we've heard is that the platform is not as important as the message. We have a head start, since a local alternative weekly paper is hosting our site for free!
3. I will spend much more time on the basics, especially story ideas and reporting. The focus has been on the writing part, and that has not been very fruitful. We do spend time on ethics, but I want my students to also think about their rights.
4. My students will get more direction from me. Michael Roberts inspired me to create lists and templates to help them know what defines "good."
5. YES, we will follow AP style. Jennifer Johnson's presentation really simplified this for me, and I won't shy away from this anymore.
Lynne Schneider
Murrah High School
Jackson, Miss.
Posts
reding your list, I would recommend moving your item #3 to the top of the list. We have heard today that reporters are platform agnostic. They don't care how the stories get told. We also heard Dean Callahan tell us that the basic tenets of journalism have not changed.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of schools in the majority of states all face money and equipment issues. If you can teach them to do the story with just a little, then when they get the goodies they will be able to make the story that much better.
Jeff Jones
Miyamura High School
Gallup, NM
Thanks Jeff...I didn't prioritize the list, but if I did #3 would absolutley move up the list. Number one would stay there, though, because prior review is keeping my students from having that courage they need to be good journalists, and because I get tired of teachers asking me to put something in the paper for them (I tell them to talk to the editor).
ReplyDeleteI love this idea of having a top five agenda. I am so overwhelmed with all of the new information that I've gotten and I feel like I'm lost in all of rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteOne thing for my top 5 might be to actually go back to school to study journalism; I feel as though I've been missing out!
Another thing I will do is create a curriculum guide as to when I will teach and go on production. I only get one journalism class and its with seniors, so I don't have a whole lot of time to teach and produce. But I still plan on it.
I think I will ask my principal if I could have Journalism 1 and Journalism 2. This way I could give them a foundation and then hit the ground running with the two group.
I don't know, but I have a big job ahead of me. I need bylaws, a curriculum, support...
I have a headache.