If you want good journalists you must have clearly defined standards. This is the overriding message from Michael Roberts, Deputy Managing Editor of Staff Development at The Arizona Republic.
Roberts uses what he calls SMART standards - specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, time-dated. I hope that by spelling out exactly what I want, the students will have an easier time meeting the requirements for good journalism.
Roberts also said that students should be thought the process for reporting.
"Teach your students to follow the five stages of a story - idea, reporting, organization, draft and revision," said Roberts.
I found his presentation very helpful. It gave me several ideas on things i will need to stress to my students. One of the things I will definitely put in place is the "Things to Do entry" form. This form lists the information that reporters and photographers must get when reporting on events and activities.
I also, liked his assignment on doing a slide show story. I think my students will enjoy this assignment the most. One, because its mostly photos and very little writing. But more important than that, it will give them a chance to show the world as they see it.
Alma A. McDonald
Hattiesburg High School
Hattiesburg, Miss.
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Both Michael Roberts' presentation on what makes good journalism and Steve Elliot's presentation on story mapping make me realize that I could redesign my classroom to interact more with the students in the early stages of the story process.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I give feedback on paper early on, I don't converse much with kids until it is a bit too late to save the story from mediocrity.
Many of my advanced students automatically find and create good journalism; I want to spend more time with the kids who need direction before they have gotten lost.
Jill Bhowmik
Granite Hill High School
El Cajon, Calif.
I, too, found much useful in this discussion. I do much of this instinctively and it is exhausting. Mr. Roberts has developed a method that the students can look at and make decisions about their next moves, what is worth doing, what to cut. This was a light bulb moment for me. It is going to save me so much time if I front-load it correctly. Checking 60 different projects is crazy and this helps so much. Also, it will help me develop media leaders in the classroom who can help others with their work. Let their be light!!!!
ReplyDeleteJoanna Greer
John F. Kennedy High School
Silver Spring, Md