Hot Topics

You sure look busy

2010-06-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

Reynolds Institute fellows heading off for video assignments.

Steve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix

Yearbooks and NOT taking photos

2009-08-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

During our sessions at the Cronkite School we talked a lot about how to do things properly. Today I was browsing for ideas to supplement my instruction for my yearbook classes and I came across an article about teaching students when not to make photographs.

Written by Bill Hankins, he cautions against using the clichés such as the secretary talking on the phone or the principal behind her desk. Other things to watch out for are Lazy photos - where the photographer did not try to be original and Over-Used people. Don't be putting the same handful of students in the book over and over again while others are left out.

I'd like to put on my preaching hat (just for a few sentences) and ask that we all remind students that the yearbook is the story of the whole school - not just a select few popular people. Schools are very diverse places, and the annual should be as well. When going through the images and the pages keep asking yourself "who is not in here?" and "How many times have we already seen the 1st string quarterback in the book?"

Jeff Jones

Miyamura High School

Gallup, New Mexico

Two audio pieces for your listening pleasure!!

2009-08-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke in Durham, NC. We were part of a project documenting oral histories of The Watts Hospital-Hillandale neighborhood there. The principals and their neighbors were invited to a presentation with a pot luck afterwards. We worked in Pro Tools and the whole thing was a fabulous experience. I hope to continue what I learned with all of you at ASU this summer and include audio work .

The piece is three minutes.

Man, it is hard to kill your darlings, people. The audio that got cut was hard to leave on the floor. The secret seems to be that if the story moves along without the part you need to cut, then cut, cut, cut. Ouch. The other thing that helped was honest feedback that told us when the listeners were losing interest. One really does get too close to the subject/project.

We could have cut five different pieces on Mr. Kerr. He is a practiced storyteller, 86 years old, and you can hear the accent.

By the way, if you ever go to Durham, be sure to check out the Loco-pops store. Awesome popsicles with unusual flavors, really, really unusual. Here is a story for NPR from Shea Shackleford, one of our teachers at the Center.

Miss all of you!!

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md

NOW -- LISTEN TO OUR PIECE!! ;0)

Highlight from HighSchoolJournalism.org

2009-07-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Rebecca Gemmell, whose lesson plan is featured out front on ASNE's HighSchoolJournalism.org site!

Steve Elliott

Arizona State University

Phoenix

Walter Cronkite & Advanced Placement Conference

2009-07-20T21:19:00.001-07:00

I was at the Advanced Placement national conference, held this year in San Antonio, Texas (I thought of Mark in Laredo, but I didn't rent a car to drive over. . .). Anyway, one of our plenary speakers was Gwen Ifill. She is a good speaker, by the way, and a fine representative of journalism (she specifically pointed out that she works on The News Hour, which has thus far continued to report news as opposed to sensationalism). She made a point during her speech to offer a tribute to Walter Cronkite, which garnered an enthusiastic ovation.

I offer this tidbit just to point out that Mr. Cronkite is appreciated and missed by thoughtful people everywhere. God bless him, and his family.

Juli Stricklan
Rigby High School
Rigby, Idaho

The most trusted man in America

2009-07-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

Front page of today's San Jose Mercury News from the newseum.org

"A good journalist doesn't just know the public, he is the public. He feels the same things they do..." Walter Cronkite was quoted as once saying.
How relevant is that message to us today? With all the media in all its various forms and ways to access it, it is ever more important to be reminded of journalists like Cronkite.
Cronkite was able to establish trust with his audience because he recognized the journalist's role in society. Whether it was following the developments in Vietnam to see for himself and report to the rest of the country or bring guidance after the assassination of President Kennedy, he defined the ethics of journalism. He seemed to see his role as a public servant, with the duty of keeping the public informed in order to maintain our democratic society. That respect for the public was huge and cannot be over-emphasized.
When I go back to my classroom this year, I have a concrete example to refer to when I talk about the code of ethics. I can talk about how a reporter seeks the truth, how one does her own reporting, how one minimizes harm to colleagues and subjects, how one works independent of personal bias, and how one holds oneself accountable to the public.
It is a mouthful, but I am proud to say that I attended the ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Eric Chow
Phillip & Sala Burton High School
San Francisco, CA

Cronkite and ASU

2009-07-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure word of Walter Cronkite's passing has extra significance because of your time at the school bearing his name. In addition to the media coverage, you'll find quite a bit of information in a special report on the school's Web site, including the story of how we became the Cronkite School.

The photo above shows Mr. Cronkite with Cronkite Village, a group of top students living as a unit in an ASU residence hall.

Photo Credit: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University

Steve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix

News story on Walter Cronkite's death

2009-07-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

AP's story on Walter Cronkite.

Mark Webber
Laredo, Texas

Testing? And Walter Cronkite's death

2009-07-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

I heard the news about the death of Walter Cronkite and came to the blog to see what others were saying and put in my own 2 cents. I got a message that the blog was blocked. Did anyone else have that issue? I'm posting to see if this is blocked. If it goes through, let me say I was saddened to hear this news, but of course we were aware he was not doing well even during the Institute. With the Michael Jackson media circus, I am interested to see how this will be covered. So far, it seems very dignified and respectful, certainly as it should be for the death of an icon who was for a long time the most trusted face (and voice) in America.

Lynne Schneider

Jackson, Miss.

InDesign, Photoshop, et al

2009-07-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

I just completed a course on InDesign. I took the course online through Lynda.com. For $25 a month, you can take a gazillion courses--all done very professionally, at...your....own.....pace.

When you've finished a course, you get this nifty certificate of completion that you can print, download or e-mail to your favorite administrator.

The Poynter Institute also is a great resource for FREE online lessons at their News University. Not quite as in deapth as Lynda, but FREE.

BTW, I miss you guys!!!

Rick Burd

Wickenburg High School

Wickenburg, Ariz

Chain gang follow up

2009-07-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

It was 115° here yesterday. The news said it was the hottest location on earth. Some place in Saudi Arabia came in second.

Today I hopped in my air-conditioned car to return a book (The Scarecrow) to the library. Just outside my gated and walled development (fairly typical in Arizona), there was a women's chain gang at work on the landscaping. It was 104° at 10:45 this morning.

I stopped. I got out of the car with my camera and walked over to the officer who was watching over the prisoners. Officer Armando was very cordial. He asked if he could help me and I told him who I was and asked if it would be OK to take a few pictures. He said he would prefer if I did not. I immediately thought of one of the four areas of the SPJ code of ethics: Minimize harm.

While we were talking, a worker for the City of Surprise came by and introduced himself. He told me that the city contracts with the prison to get the landscaping done. "Saves us a lot of money," he said. I asked Officer Armando how the girls felt about being out here in this heat. He told me that they see this work program as a "privilege."

"They have to work their way up to level one in order to be considered for the outside," he said. "And if they mess up, they go back down to a lower level and it takes them at least six months to get back on the list."

When I first came to Arizona ten years ago, I thought that 'forcing' women to do menial labor in the hot son was horribly cruel. Perhaps some of my fellow Reynolds Institute graduates felt the same way. The girls do not see it that way. Officer Armando and the Surprise city worker agreed; the girls would much rather feel like they are contributing than to stay inside a prison all day. There is a waiting list to work on the outside.

I was given the name of the City of Surprise supervisor of public works. I will contact her and see if she would like an article done in our school newspaper. Maybe it will help someone. Maybe journalism can make a difference. I hope so.

Rick Burd
Wickenburg High School
Wickenburg, Ariz

Bucking the trend of newspapers-buy them

2009-07-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

For a long time newspaper owners on the high end of the spectrum have been gutting newsroom staff and demanding unrealistic profits. Across the country newspapers are apparently on life support. Lay-offs and salary cuts are the norm.

So, how about this: a former Wall Street type has bailed on the corporate life and purchased several newspapers in Iowa (including the Charles City Press).... and in a posting shared with members of Sportsshooter.com, the buyer - Gene Hall - shares his reasons (follow the link in bold, below) and why he believes he is NOT taking a huge risk.

THIS POST with his reasons makes me think that maybe there actually are a few people out there that are thinking about newspapers in the right way.

Good luck. Hopefully he can start a trend...

Jeff Jones

Miyamura High School

Gallup, NM

Reynolds helps with more than just journalism

2009-07-13T15:55:00.001-07:00

SchoolTube - A Vision for k-12 Learners Today

Shared via AddThis

Today, I started an AP Institute for AP Language and Composition. We watched this video to discuss the rhetorical triangle. It's about teaching, not journalism, but the film just gave me more motivation to use technology. And not just for journalism. I'm ready to try blogging for book discussions in my other classes by having students complete a set number of blogs and comments like we did during the Reynolds Institute. Have any of you English-teacher-types tried that? How did it work for you?

I'm trying not to lose what I learned in Phoenix this week while we are focused on AP, and I'm hoping that thinking in terms of how it can fit with my journalism classes will help. But I'm finding that what I learned in Phoenix is starting to fit in what I teach in regular English classes even better. It's really quite useful how we can fit it all together. I know that ASNE is trying to help us with high school publications, and there is no doubt that the Reynolds Institute does this. I hope ASNE and those who are involved with the institutes know how much this can help us teach, period.

Lynne Schneider

Murrah High School

Jackson, Miss.

More resources for The Scarecrow

2009-07-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here is another resource for my lesson on Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow.

Connelly speaks from the Tattered Book Cover in Denver via the Author's Ontour Live podcast. The podcast series, itself, is so good that I subscribed to it and went back through the archives to listen to several more. Enjoy.

Debbie Aughey
Campbell High School
The Spartan Chronicles
Smyrna, Ga.

Localized Media -- Social, for sure

2009-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.time.com/time/video/?bcpid=1485842900&bctid=28892569001 (Click on Tribal Radio piece)

Sorry. TIME is not with the program that lets you embed the HTML as far as I can tell. Nice mix of sound and slide interspersed with video. Arizona, too!!!

The Hopi Indians are masters of old school social media in serving their community. What I love about this is that there is a "there" there. Definitely not corporate radio.

Art is a storyteller postcard from a museum I picked up. Sorry about missing attribution. Conveys the idea of telling, however, even if very old and maybe Javanese, not Native American. It's all stories, right?

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md

Sounds like you should link . . .

2009-07-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

BOOKMARK THESE Blogs about radio/audio

B0th web sites came from the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR)

http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/?p=2426#more-2426

fieldsepulchra » lake

I couldn't find audio art so I have included this photo from my hometown in West Virginia. Subway moved into this Exxon station and they insisted that the stuffed dog who had lived there and was the station mascot be removed. The owner complied. Now the dog and the Subway and the station are all gone. This was a good story that got away. Think of the audio you would want for a piece like this. Obviously the dog would be mute. But the accents alone are amazing and the explanations about why the dog got to live there and why they wanted to preserve him would be as well.

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md

Took a break last weekend

2009-07-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

After our fantastic learning experience in Phoenix, I went to Chicago for my mother's surgery. She is fine. However, I was without my computer and pretty busy with their household issues while she was recovering. I did get to go for this great walk with my sister and I want to share it with you in celebration of our time together AND the lesson plans are finished. PLEASE KNOW THAT I KNOW THE SHOOTING IS NOT SO GOOD. My defense is that I wasn't expecting cool things, I had that little digital camera, AND it was sunny, sunny, sunny . . . could not see what I was shooting. Still, you can find interesting things to shoot/show in spite of all that and I wonder about so many of these performers. Who are they? What are their plans? How long did they have to practice to get this good? Potential stories are everywhere.

Miss you guys!

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md

Lesson plans posted

2009-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

I've posted links to your lesson plans and supporting documents here. There's also a link at left.

Steve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix

Movie to see re ethics

2009-07-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago one of our sessions revolved around ethics. Just by chance today I stumbled across a movie on IFC titled Shattered Glass. It was made in 2003 and it tells the story of The New Republic "journliast" Steve Glass and all of the stories he fabricated and how he was eventually exposed by Forbes On-line.

Toward the end of the movie a receptionist looks at the editor asd he enters the office and says that there was a way around this whole fiasco - pictures. If everybody you write about has to be photographed then it is hard to fabricate somebody.

The movie also points out one of the major holes in jouralism: the reliance on journalist's notes as facts and primary source informaiton. For so many reporters this has been a system that works, but for soembody like Steve Glass, who chose to be dishonest, the system can be exploited.

--------

Jeff Jones

Miyamura High School

Gallup, NM

ASNE lesson plan

2009-07-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

I just finished up my lesson plan about an hour ago and submitted it to Steve. It feels good to have accomplished this. I started with something that interested me personally and this seemed to help. The best part was going through the process. I did a lot of Google searches for lesson plans formatting and learned a lot about this while completing the assignment.

My lesson is on how governments and world leaders attempt to get their message out via popular media. I focused in on 4 countries: Israel, Cuba, Venezuela and Russia. I was going to pick North Korea since I have been following the story about the two reporters in custody there but decided to stick with my original choices.

I am going to try this lesson with my class and have it lead into another one where we discuss social media and networking and how government opponent's get their message out.

Well, as my summer nears an end I wish you all well. I head into heavy-duty lesson planning next week so I am ready for the new year.

Mark Silverstein
Media and Journalism Instructor
Douglas High School
Douglas, Arizona

Lesson plan done!

2009-07-09T00:40:00.000-07:00

It is 2:39 a.m. here, and I just finished and sent my lesson plan to Steve. It has been on my mind and I hope what I came up with will be helpful. Hopefully it is unique and creative enough, but I'm not sure of that when there are already over 250 plans already posted at www.hsj.org. Is anyone else having problems or worries?

Good luck to anyone who is still dealing with this part. The lesson plan is easily the most difficult assignment for me of all that we were given. We write lesson plans all the time, right? The big deal must be that these will be seen by Steve, Diana and others at ASNE. Even scarier, I'm assuming all the fellows will also be getting them. That's kind of daunting with such an impressive and talented group! It's also hard to be in the mood for objectives and essential questions in July. My need for CEU's is just to great to skip this. :>

Is there a plan for us to get copies of the lesson plans? I hope so, since I'm counting on all of your plans to help me through next year.

Lynne Schneider

Murrah High School

Jackson, MS

Photo editing woes?

2009-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings! I am in a cheery mood, despite a meeting earlier this afternoon with my principal who told me that I should not count on getting Photoshop software on my computers for my digital darkroom class.

This digital darkroom course will be for one semester and I will have three sections a day x 28 students. That sounds like a lot of students with nothing to do.

Thankfully, there are people out there who do not want to make a profit off of everything they do, and after some searching I cam across some FREE software that looks to be very powerful - coming very close to what I do with Photoshop CS3, and did I mention it is free?

The software is called GIMP. It's an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It runs on both PC and Mac, as well as (I think) Linux etc. If you are looking at wanting to have some control over the images, and you have no budget, I would say give this a try.

It has tools that Photoshop has - like cloning, quick selection, layers, unsharp mask, levels, curves, and so much more.

I did mention that it is free, didn't I?

Also, for those of you that like to shoot with high quality, there is a second piece of software called UFRaw that can open raw files (though I am not sure how current of Nikon cameras they support - my D200 and D80 files open fine). And then you can import the image directly into GIMP, or you can save the file as a JPEG with basic exposure corrections and color balance changes.

Even though it is free, if you feel guilty about using somehting this cool for nothing, or you feel generous, they do take donations . . .

Jeff Jones

Gallup, New Mexico

I bought a sunday paper

2009-07-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

SF Chronicle goes small format

This was the first time in a looong while. I paid my hard-earned summer savings to buy the Sunday Edition of the SF Chronicle. As much as I loathe the changes that they have made in content and design, I thought it was the right thing to do.
I had been reading The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. I got to the part in which they explain how "citizens are not customers," and in fact, it is the advertisers who have traditionally funded the news in a triangle relationship with news - citizens - advertisers. It made me realize that my role in supporting the democratic society that I live in involves supporting the free press. While I can get updated news from my Twitters and from online, it is just as important to support the lady who sells the papers in front of the bagel shop, talk to her about what's happening, read the news to my wife or talk about some article at the coffee shop.
I think one distinction that Kovach and Rosenstiel said is that we seek the news, but we don't consume the news. The news is everywhere, it is free, and it is unmitigated. But journalists and newspeople help us make sense of the news. And at their best, they give us the information that we crave and let us discuss it and form our own opinions. What a society it didn't have journalists?
Surprisingly, the Chron had 4 front-page stories instead of the usual jumble of teasers. There was an article about how California residents are struggling with the economic woes and another one about a new study on salmon hatcheries that may actually be harming the natural order. I did the right thing this July 4th.

Eric Chow
Phillip & Sala Burton High School
San Francisco

First day

2009-07-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

Hi, all.

I'm sitting here waiting for Cathy to get ready for our two-hour drive to Sedona, where she'll visit with 'The Princess,' Anna, and I'll visit with my BFF, Daniel. They are four and six, respectively. Our daughter and her husband will be there, too, but they're not as much fun.

I finally got time to sit at my desk and get caught up on some loose ends. I spent five brutal days this past week in Structured English Immersion class. Arizona requires at least 60 hours of SEI in order to maintain certification.

Anyhow, this is a photo of Kye on our first day (Sunday?) at Cronkite. What a great two weeks!

Rick Burd
Wickenburg HS

Friday in Southern Arizona

2009-07-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

The monsoon season is upon us. It rains at least once everyday.

As much as I enjoyed and learned being at the Cronkite School for 2 weeks I am glad to be back home. I love the community in which I live and teaching means everything to me. I am glad to be back in my classroom and getting ready for the new year.

I am going through all of my books and will be putting together a list of titles a bit later this summer. Next week I will be putting together curriculum for the new year. I came up with dozens of ideas while in Phoenix and will be fleshing them out for the new year.

So, thanks to all the staff, speakers and attendees for all that you shared.

Mark Silverstein
Media and Journalism Instructor
Douglas High School
Douglas, Arizona

Ethical dilemma: selling ads and writing stories

2009-07-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

I just left a meeting of the Jackson Area High School Press Association, which is a group of local professionals and educators working to support high school journalism. We only had four people today, so it was a very casual meeting. I spent some time sharing what we did at the Reynolds Institute and how it would help not only at Murrah but throughtout the area.

Donna Ladd, the editor of our local alternative weekly, the Jackson Free Press, asked me if anything came up about students selling advertising and writing stories, since that is not considered good practice in the professional world. I told her that we discussed conflict of interest, but I didn't think anything about students doing both came up. She seemed to think it was a no-no, but then I told her with 17 students on staff it was hard to keep the two totally separate, although obviously no one sold an ad and wrote a story about the advertiser.

I thought I would ask this group for some feedback. Do your students sell ads and function as reporters for your publication? Does anyone see this as an ethical dilemma on a high school level? If you don't allow students to do both, how do you manage to have enough ad revenue?

Lynne Schneider
Murrah High School
Jackson, Miss.

A great read on image manipulation & ethics

2009-07-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Mark Hancock is a photojournalist who spends an incredible amount of time on his blog - with research, trends and explanations of his work.

I have heard about various cases of image manipulation in news outlets over the years, and always wondered what these people were thinking. In the post linked to below, Hancock has detailed the specifics of multiple cases - going all the way back to Mathew Brady in the 1860s.

I encourage you to read through it - it is long, but very thorough and definately worth the time. I will be sharing this entry with my journalism students this fall.

PhotoJournalism: Image manipulation is a global problem

Jeff Jones

Miyamura High School

Gallup, NM

Closing ceremony comments

2009-06-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a video with highlights from the closing ceremony. I focused on testimonials about the program and its benefits.

Is it a story?

2009-06-29T18:32:00.001-07:00

I don't actually report back to school until August 5th, but I was up in my classroom today, finishing up some last minute stuff and trying to get myself organized. Because I took on Yearbook, I've gained 5 computers, a box of broken cameras, a giant teacher desk, a monstrosity of a filing cabinet and approximately 24892039488539843498 old yearbooks from around the country that span the course of the last 35 years. The organizational oasis I had created for myself before school let out was long gone.

In addition to finding piles of Yearbook crap all over my classroom, and my desks put back in some sort of cracked out jigsaw puzzle version of the sketch I left behind, I also came across two very interesting voicemails. I actually only checked my messages because I was meeting with my yearbook rep, and she was running late, so I wanted to make sure she was still coming. So, I checked my messages expecting there to be a call from her, saying she was cancelling, or in an accident, or held up at another appt, whatever. But I got something else entirely....

And I find the timing on this... so odd. Over the last two weeks, we heard a lot of people tell us about their investigative stories that won them awards. Or their coverage of events that did wonders for revamping their papers. Or the little bit of digging that lead to a huge discovery. And the whole time, I'm sitting there thinking, "How often does a story like that come along? And really, how much investigative journalism can a high school kid do?" I mean, it would be awesome to scoop the paper on some amazing piece of news, but I feared my kids were considerably more interested in themselves than the world around them.

But it was like the journalism gods answered my prayers, or something. I had 2 messages on my voicemail (both like 10 minutes long) from a "concerned citizen"... I can't go too far into detail, because after sharing this information with one of my Asst. Principals, I've been asked to keep things on the D.L. until we have a chance to look into a little more closely. But basically, I have what sounds like an elderly man begging the newspaper (the high school paper, at that), to tell his story. He says he was in a severe car accident, that was actually an attempt on his life. It was a cover up because someone was trying to get rid of him because he was going to expose the fact that the junior college system in California was actually a covert marijuana smuggling operation. He was so severely injured in the accident that he was actually pronounced dead, but then was revived enroute to the hospital. He suffered severe brain injuries and had to relearn basically everything. He claims that he had a shot at swimming in the Olympics, but all hope was lost because of this accident. He also alluded to the fact that his parents may have been killed in the accident. He left me his name, his mailing address and his phone number. He claims he is a graduate of Orange Glen HS. When I attempted to return his call today, I got a voicemail requesting A) Prayers B) a good woman to marry him and C) money (in that order, surprisingly). All of this is very strange, I realize. But honestly, it's too insane to make up. I have a good imagination, but I don't think I could have cooked this up.

So what do I do? I've given his name and contact info to my AP, but I don't think this guy is going to stop calling. I'm meeting with my newspaper editors in the next week or two, but I don't know if I should put them in touch with some guy who could very well be a total whack job. I guess that's another area where HS journalism differs from professional journalism---our reporters are still kids, and we don't want to put them in harm's way.

I've googled the guy myself, and not found much. I think the only real hope is to find out when he went to OG, start looking through yearbooks and archived newspapers to see if there is even a story here. I mean, it's sensational to claim that your car accident was actually an attempt on your life... And obviously, we wouldn't print anything like that unless we could prove it.

I feel like this has the potential for a great teaching moment... But I need some direction. Help, y'all!

Jessica Young

Orange Glen High School

Escondido, Calif.

Lesson Plans

2009-06-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

Okay so my plan is to create a jeopardy game as a review for final assesment of AP style, that way I can work on the point I am weakest at or prehaps an AP scavanger hunt using the book.

What are your plans like?

Back at Summer School

2009-06-29T07:06:00.001-07:00

Virginia Barr
Turlock, CA

Back in the saddle today, teaching summer school. Friday night I came home slept for 5 hours and then moved everything I owned the next day, the high was 105.

I am in my new classroom and sad as I am to say it, I want summer school to end so that I can get the lead out on journalism. Three more weeks before I have the place all to myself. Then I have three weeks before school starts. It just does not seem like enough time. But I know that my staff and I can get it done.

One problem, my paper literally is dependant on a magnetic white board, but those in here are not magnetic...any suggestions?

Alma brings down the house

2009-06-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

Even the New York Times has issues with Copyright law

2009-06-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

As a former news photographer I still follow a photography groups for sports photographers called Sportsshooter.com. One of the members there brought up to our attention that a recent column by Sonia Zjawinski over at the New York Times openly advocated people appropriate images from the web (specifically Flickr) and use them as they wish - for things like decorating her home. She completely ignores copyright law - but her own images on Flickr are marked "All rights reserved" - so I would bet if you appropriated her writing and photos she would have issues with it.

Then she wrote a follow-up post where she supposedly makes an apology for her first column, then parades out a few "experts" to support her argument that what she is talking about it a gray area.

It just made our time with Mike Heistand all the more important as he explained the real reasons behind the laws and that asking permission is always required. Thanks again Mr. Heistand.

Jeff Jones

Miyamura High School

Gallup, NM

Is it all over...?

2009-06-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Kye and Denise pause for a photo at the Old Spaghetti Factory

Yesterday came and went like a blur. With the 6 hour wait at the airport, the ride home and all the unpacking, it came to me that the Reynolds Institute was over.

This morning, I got up and rode my my bike down toward the ocean, past Golden Gate Park, through the sleepy avenues, to my favorite coffee shop - not Starbucks - surprise.

The fog was at the edge of the horizon, and temperatures were a good 30 degrees cooler than mornings in Phoenix. And we are in a heat-wave by our standards!

I felt like something was missing. I kept myself busy all day, grocery shopping, returning emails, visiting my parents' grave, picking up my wife at work, wedding banquet this evening.

I have this urge to get back to my classroom and start setting up charts, draft letters to the administration, put together rubrics and flowcharts for how the journalism program at our school was going to be run.

In that way, the Institute is not over. The work starts the day we come back. We can start today, tomorrow, or in August after we take a little nice vacation with our loved ones; but all of us will take what we learned and gained and do incredible things with our students and the communities we reach.

Imagine the imprint 35 high school journalism advisers spread throughout the country could have on the future!

And I want to say again how it was such an honor to have the opportunity to attend the Reynolds Institute, to be on the ASU campus, to learn from Steve, Alan and the prestigious team of presenters, to have the support of Diana, Anita, Monique and the other hosts; and of course to share the times with all of my fellows.

Oh snaps!
Now I remember what's keeping me up... We still need to submit our lesson plan! Well, to bed and work on it tomorrow morning!

Back in Texas and missing the Fellows...

2009-06-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

It's a little after 1:00 a.m. here in Texas and I've finally unpacked. After telling my mother all that I could remember about the Institute, I sat down and began going over the ton of valuable information I stored away in my carry-on luggage.

Just wanted to say it again, if I didn't emphasize it during today's final luncheon: "I enjoyed the opportunity to meet each and every educator that attended the Institute, and I learned so much that I will begin to apply immediately in the classroom." To say that I feel privileged to have been selected would be an understatement. I had an awesome time, and I will never forget the fellows.

It took less than two weeks for me to develop friendships that I anticipate will last a lifetime. It is also my prayer that each of you has returned home safely by now, with little to no airport frustration. I hope that our paths do cross once again someday. Best of luck to each and every one of you with the upcoming school year.

Ariawna Talton

Molina High School

Dallas, TX

**You can always keep up with me and with Beyonce via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or at Missari85@gmail.com!!!

Final questions answered by panel, institute fellows

2009-06-26T10:18:00.001-07:00

The final morning of the High School Journalism Institute has been the time for asking the questions that have been dogging participants.

Many questions have flown around the room with topics ranging from staff motivation techniques to sharing photos between yearbook and newspaper.

I found the discussion from Alan Weintraut about staff development to be particularly engaging. I have always developed the production schedule but after hearing Alan, I think I will meet with my editors before school starts and have them develop the schedule and begin planning staff development/team building activities.

The participants' comments on the various topics have also been very engaging and I appreciate the opportunity to listen to how others have tackled the sensitive issues we all deal with.

Trampus Willis
South Side High School
Fort Wayne, Ind.

Fellows go out into the real world

2009-06-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Throughout the past two weeks the 35 of us have spent the majority of our days thinking journalism. I think tomorrow when we're back in "the real world" I will go through institute withdraw.

The most valuable lessons that I have learned came from producing the institute publication. I learned what it was like being a student on a deadline, and how this is completely different from the feeling that comes from being an adviser on a deadline. I learned about that feeling of agonizing over a lead that just doesn't seem to get better, as well as settling for good enough in the minutes before deadline. Most importantly, I learned about the friendships that are made with a shared feeling of stress and a common goal.

Ashley Barnes

Bel Air High School

Bel Air, Md.

Exciting game

2009-06-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Seat of the pants photography, not the best way to get images, but at the ballgame it was nice to get images and put to practice what we've learn about newsgathering (kind of) and Photoshop.

Mark Webber
Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts
http://my.hsj.org/tx/laredo/vmt
Laredo, Texas

Twitter Frenzy

2009-06-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ah, Social Networking. Last night, if you were signed up to any type of social networking, be it Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, etc., then you surely saw the impact social networking has on the world.

In minutes, I knew the fate of Michael Jackson, and the ailments that lead to his death.

Friends,news organizations, and bloggers were all constantly updating me on my social network media sites, to the minute.

It is incredible to see the power of technology surface and play such an important role in our communication. Take a step back and analyze this situation. How can you be part of this social phenomenon and use it to your advantage with your newspaper.

The possibilities are endless. Start a Twitter account for your newspaper, have your students sign up and keep them updated with what is going on in your school. Have a Twitter link on your online publication. In essence, do as much as you can to shamelessly promote yourself.

And, if you don't understand the world of social networking, ask a friend, or go online to YouTube for tutorials.

Many comment that news print is dieing. I don't see it this way, it will die if we let it die. We can either grow and improve with technology or let it defeat us. I say grow.

My favorite lesson

2009-06-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take time to personally note that my far favorite lesson of the institute was that of Patrick Shannahan, Photographer for The Arizona Republic.

I personally enjoy photography as a hobby and recommend to everyone reading, they give it a shot. Start of with a simple digital camera and READ your manual.

As Shannahan said, most people don't take the time to read their manual, and therefore don't know the capabilities of their cameras.

Tell me, why do you go out and spend $200 or more on a camera to put it on AUTOMATIC?! If this is the case, then just spend $80 and you will achieve the same effect. Technology is expensive, make sure you get your moneys worth.

Once you get in the habit of taking pictures, you can develop your own lesson plan on photography. Think how much fun this would be for your students. Everyone enjoys pictures, but think of the added benefit you can give your students by teaching them the correct techniques. No more myspace pictures (pictures students take while holding the camera at their own arm's length and snapping away).

There are many lesson plans on myhsj.com on photojournalism. Take a look and have fun.

Final thoughts

2009-06-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

Thursday afternoon, as I finally finished my institute story, Denice Westover asked me what I had learned in my two weeks here. I stumbled over a response as a wave of information and panic came over me. Frankly, these two weeks have been overwhelming! I learned typography terms that I never even knew existed. I learned how to write an effective lede. I learned what it means to “write on deadline.” I have learned so much that I don’t think my brain has had time to catalog everything!

That’s when I realized that the key is to set SMART goals. Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. Timely.

There is no possible way for me to turn around my journalism program in just one year, nor should I try. The key is to choose a few key ideas to implement. If I can successfully achieve a few goals each year, I believe I can build the journalism program I have always dreamed of within 5 years (OK, that’s probably a tab ambitious =). Luckily, I still have seven weeks to decide on my goals for this year. No matter the goal, I just have to make sure they’re smart. Thank you, ASNE, for giving me the tools necessary to begin this process.

Sharon Nolan
North Canyon H.S.
Phoenix, Ariz.

Social circles and your newsroom.

2009-06-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

The general behavior, manners, decency and kindness bring persons closer at first. The mutual understanding takes place as time passes on, when each one observes each other’s real activities.

Some dissolve friendship when it stops fetching benefits. The former one proceeds on mutual trust and confidence whereas the latter one goes on exploitation. In friendship both benefits and losses are shared equally; otherwise, it is not at all called as a friendship.

It was incredible to see in the past two weeks, the different circles that formed at the institute. Some were the passionate investigative journalists at heart, others were the laid back group, and others were the all girls club.

If anything, we must examine how these circles had their unique qualities. This serves as a lesson to all of us, because no matter how old we get, these circles will always come to be. Put 35 people in a room and this will inevitably happen.

The same thing happens in our classrooms, and our newsrooms. Take a step backward and observe, and make sure to identify your circles. This can save you countless headaches come deadline time. Take advantage of being able to analyze your students and see how you can accommodate these groups to your benefit. The leaders will always be identifiable, seek them out, work with them and they will work with their individual circles.

Remember, work smarter, not harder!

STRIKE

2009-06-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Tom Blodgett, Assistant Sports Editor of The Arizona Republic shared his insight with our class yesterday and allowed us to venture into a world that I am not very familiar with: sports writing.

In his class, I was able to get wonderful insight to what could be many story ideas for our high school newspaper. I learned that not everything has to be about winning.

Our students can feel like winners by doing a profile story on them, on their team, on their commodore, and even on their training.

Focusing on winning and 1st place trophies will not motivate our students, but focusing on their talents and their potential will. We have to remember that we have to be creative each and every day. Focusing on how we can improve our student population is one of them.

As adviser's for a school newspaper we have a major responsibility upon our shoulders. We have to make sure to use it wisely.

I ask from every single one of you reading today to sit down, and think, how can you help out your sports team, without throwing a single ball?

Dealing with the Boss

2009-06-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after a couple of days of comtemplating how I would write my email, I finally had the courage to e-mail my boss and ask for materials, software and supplies for my journalism program for the upcoming school year.

Having Kristin Gilger's, Assistant Dean for Professional Programs at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication of Arizona State University,lesson, was a great source of information.

I am very appreciative of having had the opportunity to have Gilger come and address our class. Her insight gave me a new perspective into my own boss, and how I could easily put myself in my principal's shoes.

Needless to say, now I await an email back. The easy part was asking for materials, the hard part will actually be getting them.

What's Next?

2009-06-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

This experience has been by far the best professional development program that a new or struggling journalism teacher could possibly receive. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The the question is, "What are you going to do when you get home?"

In a short poll given Thursday evening, several attendees were asked that very question. Many of the same answers were echoed throughout.

For some, there is the gathering of all the notes and typing them so that they can be legible. Second, make a plan and determine how the information will be used and last, in some cases, deal with the problem of equipment and gathering support.

This video was compiled as a fun way to remember each other and possibly think about what comes next.

(Apologies go to those attendees from the institute who were not interviewed due to lack of time.)

Video by
Denice Westover
Snowflake High School
Snowflake, Arizona

Extra innings

2009-06-25T23:50:00.001-07:00

Score one for citizen journalism and Debbie Aughey's fast draw. By the 11th inning, however, we were too tired to stand up for our moment on the big screen.

Steve Elliott

Arizona State University

Phoenix

High school sports reporting: Remember these are children, not pros.

2009-06-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

Five seconds to go. It all depends one player. One shot. One chance. He shoots and he misses. What will be the headline in the school paper?

Tom Blodgett, Sports Editor for The Arizona Republic gave teachers pointers on how to handle this and other sensitive situations while reporting sports. He said that we should remember that these are still children with sensitive feelings and we should not threat them as we would a professional, or even a college player.

That is such good advice that I will not only stress to my journalism students, particularly, but all of my students. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment and want to write about how the player blew it for everyone. We forget it is a pretty big deal to play in front of a stadium full of people either pulling for you or wanting your head on a platter, depending on how the game goes. So he missed the shot...life will go on...let it go and get over it.

Alma A. McDonald
Hattiesburg High School
Hattiesburg, Miss.

My ASNE highlight

2009-06-25T16:23:00.001-07:00

(Kye Haina and Anna Horton shoot interview for the multimedia assignment)

I came to the Reynolds program looking forward to tackling writing and reporting. I have spent the last twenty plus years working in film and video. Even though I am no where near close to knowing all there is to know I wanted writing to be my focus during this time.

One of the highlights though was working with Anna Horton during the multi-media assignment. She had such a good time and did such a great job shooting the pedi cab piece I felt like I was working with one of my students. I try to give a bit of info and then take a hands-off approach. The pedi-cab driver commented that an Arizona Republic photographer had been shooting with him the prior week and did a lot of the same shots. What a great complement for Anna.

Mark Silverstein

Douglas High School

Douglas, Arizona

In defense of Twitter

2009-06-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

Farrah Fawcett, RIP. Michael Jackson dead. I just confirmed via the LA Times and CNN that Jackson had died even though TMZ posted it an hour ago. My Twitter feed broke the story and sent me to reliable media to verify it.

This seems to be the message that Carol Schwalbe, associate professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU, and many other speakers impressed upon us this week. While attending the institute we experienced the Twitter revolution of the Iranian elections and just the normal tweets of every day human existance so provokingly reflected in the video about Twitter we viewed yesterday.

Slate's Cultural Gabfest #39 discussed this in detail. It is a 39 minute podcast and the dicussion is the first topic, perhaps 10 minutes. It is worth a listen. Steven Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner, all writers for Slate, discuss the following articles in recent media:

Brad Stone and Noam Cohen's article in the New York Times about the Internet's role in protests by Iranians.
Conor Friedersdorf's blog post on the Atlantic's Special Ideas Report about Twitter and Iran.
Simon Robinson's article in Time wonders whether the election in Iran may have been rigged.
In Slate, Jordan Ellenberg looks closely at the math behind the allegations.
Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty write in the Washington Post that Ahmadinejad's win may be legit.

(I copied and pasted the citations from the Cultural Gabfest page but relinked the articles.)

Debbie Aughey
The Spartan Chronicles
Campbell High School
Smyrna, Ga.
dlaughey on Twitter

I

A few thoughts on research and writing

2009-06-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

We have been told over the past couple of weeks that the keys to effective writing are the same no matter what format or technology we are writing for. Keep it short and concise and stick with the facts.

This last year, my first year as a teacher, I did teach a bit of journalism. We discussed a few basic techniques, churned out a hand few of written stories and went out on at least two dozen shoots.

My background is more film and video production so we spent a lot of time working on those types of projects. We did do a lot of interviewing as part of our shooting. From time to time we composed questions in advance but a lot our approach was to let our curiosity guide us and we formulated our questions during the shoot and even while conducting the interview. I asked the students not to rely on notes and use more of their observational skills and base questions on what they observed.

I produced a long-form documentary in Mexico City in 1995. This was my first attempt at doing so. The event I covered was a cross cultural performance and installation art exhibit in Mexico City. I had my crew in place and was excited about this undertaking. The crew and I spent the first couple of days simply observing and getting to know the artists and talk abut how we are going to proceed.

For our final project I asked my students to take a similar approach, not to just rush in and make their film. The groups that did turned out projects that were incomplete and not well thought out. Those that took their time fared much better. During this project I stressed that the key to good writing is the in the rewriting. Film, being a visual medium it is best to show action not have your actors talk it out. Have them leave not say they are leaving, as an example.

The students story boarded, wrote their first draft and then did rewrites, some at least 2 times.

Even though we were writing short fictional pieces the "rules" of writing applied.

Mark Silverstein

Douglas High School

Douglas, Arizona

Let's go Mets!!!

2009-06-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so its not a Met game but on the day that we're going to a Diamondbacks game, (I am SOOOOOOO excited...I freaking love baseball!) we get a crash course in sports reporting.

Very practical, very straight to the point. Here are some important things I learned...
1. I don't know what "enterprise" and "advances" means or what "boosterism" is
2. I didn't realize how much deadlines affect sports reporting
3. I'm still confused about Hazelwood...how do they distinguish when its school supported or when it is in the public domain?
4. There is so much to write about...I NEVER covered sports in my school because there isn't much to cover and school spirit is really low. Now I know exactly what to have my students write about!

Melissa Cordova
Eli Whitney Technical High School
Hamden, Conn.

Absolutely agnostic = democratization of journalism

2009-06-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

(At left- Jason Manning reflects the digital divide)

Jason Manning, ASU’s director of student media, seamlessly balances the art of storytelling and the craft of teaching. Using the best teaching techniques designed to keep our interest, he had us read and discuss compelling quotes and watch and interact with multimedia clips. No one in the room will forget “Googlezon” from Epic or the panoramic photo from the Chandra Levy crime scene from his work with the Washington Post.

I learned that I am a sideways driver that contributes to 66 percent of the traffic to the washingtonpost.com site as I point and click on a couple stories per day originating from their staff. I wonder how many people are driven to our site and for what reason.

When he asked if data was journalism, I think it depends of the era of journalism. One hundred years ago, journalists filtered data for their readership, which was comprised mostly of literate white males. The audience, purpose and tone were a given. With today’s transparency and availability, professional journalists have to mine unbelievable amounts of data and present it to a diverse audience so that it doesn’t skew towards a certain bias. This is quite an undertaking.

Manning urged us to teach media literacy. I have been thinking of renaming my course just that since it encompasses all the publishable platforms. His basic skills can be easily integrated into my program.
• Basics of shooting and recording video
• Audio and video editing
• On-camera story synopsis (4 bullet summary)
• HTML and data skills

Debbie Aughey
The Spartan Chronicles
Campbell High School
Smyrna, GA
dlaughey on Twitter

Stats, self promotion and sports in journalism

2009-06-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Republic's Tom Blodgett presented on the topic of sports journalism today at the Reynolds Institute. He briefly mentioned ethics in sports journalism. As the adviser of the newspaper as well as a coach at my school sometimes it's difficult to know if I'm shamelessly promoting my sports or encouraging my students to be good journalists. I tend to encourage coverage of topics and sports in which I'm most invested. How do you avoid doing this?

Also, I know with many high school sports, student managers keep stats for the team. A coach usually does not have time to do all of this during a game/meet/match. I have found that although these stats often require verification, team managers can make great resources for student journalists. If nothing else, they usually can explain how scoring works...usually.

Ashley Barnes

Bel Air High School

Bel Air, Md.

Sports Reporting for Students like Me

2009-06-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Often times I have wondered about sports writers. What inspires these journalists? How do they gather ideas? I mean a game is a game and yes, stuff happens, but is there really a story beyond that. The answer...YES and thanks to Tom Blodgett of The Arizona Republic, I know how to instruct my students how to find them.

Several ideas Blodgett offered to cover in the sports section:

coaching changes
recruiting
awards
features
much, much more

He also cautioned about the ethical dilemmas that sports reporters/editors at high school newspaper face. Upon listening to his presentation, I am happy to "blog" that I think I know how to accurately guide my students through sports reporting.

Marc Garcia

Sunset High School

Dallas, TX

Manning multimedia

2009-06-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

Jason Manning, the Washington Post politics editor, spoke about using multiple platforms in reporting. It was a great presentation, Manning sure knows his history. He ain't scared about the future either. The unknown seems to invigorate the reporting process. New rules are being invented.

People complain about kids not reading, getting dumber. They said the same thing when the novel became popular. Their kids couldn't read Latin. Doesn't matter. Old ways die, that's the way it is. When our kids run the show, some of them won't know comma splices. If enough of them don't know it, it will no longer matter.

Some of the ways people are now reporting seem very novelistic to me. 360 degree camera shots showing instead of telling, referential asides, video footnotes.

The Chandra Levy Story is a perfect example of this new media.

Embrace it. It's exciting.

Adam Haller
Nortwestern High School
Baltimore, Md

Don't face plant

2009-06-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

Embarrassed myself yet again -- took a dive in the middle of the street. I was lucky to be in the company of three gentlemen who swooped to my rescue (thanks guys!), and rescued my pile of papers and wounded dignity. (I told them if I'd known there would be such suave gentlemen around I would've swooned sooner.)

There's a pothole if you cross from the corner of Taylor across kitty-corner to the Sheraton. Two of my esteemed colleagues at Reynolds have also taken a dive. One was much more scraped than I (I won't reveal any ids.).

It'd be good if ASU could take a look at that area -- there's also a small-in-diameter hole in close proximity to the pothole that looks like a sinkhole wannabe. The pothole is not deep -- only about 2 inches, but big enough to twist an ankle.

Lynn Wolf Dulcie

Rock Hill High School

Rock Hill, SC

Inventing diversity

2009-06-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

What is the difference between making sure you cover everything that is going on, as Rick Rodriguez said and being inclusive in order to report truthfully as Sharon Bramlett-Solomon stated?

"Get broad in terms of culture; reflect the reality." Is it reality if we have to go out of our way to find it?

On the one hand, I understand how you need to report everything so that you get a wider range of readers and a more realistic sense of what is going on in the world.

But on the other hand, do you actually go out of your way to find the one white guy on the basketball team when the other players on the team are all black?

Or do you throw away your picture of the woman in the soup kitchen line because she's wearing a hijab and wait for the white woman because you don't want to perpetuate a stereotype of the kinds of people that go to a soup kitchen?

I have issue with that. As I said in class, and I will pick on Puerto Ricans again, if 25 Puerto Ricans are in the news for rape, murder and drug dealing and 2 white guys, is that the fault of the media that no Puerto Rican put himself in a position to be represented in a positive light? Do I just go and report the 2 white guys and cut the 25 Ricans?

On the flip side, if I post a list of the most successful CEOs and they're 93% white, does that mean I'm slanting the media?

I just feel that if you go out of your way to look for that obscure picture to be sure you're showing everything and everyone, you're fabricating diversity that isn't even there.

And maybe, just maybe, if we stop coddling people so much and make an effort to present the raw truth for what it is and stop worrying about PC, what we say or how we say it, then it could be possible for these people who don't like the way they're being shown in the media to do something about it.

Guess what I'm going to say the next time someone says, "Hey, there aren't really any positive role models in the Puerto Rican Community!"

I will be able to say, "sure there are, and here's my story."

And perhaps that will inspire others to say, "I don't like how Puerto Ricans are perceived, let me do something about it!"

Perhaps instead of teaching our kids to go out and find obscurity in the name of diversity, we should teach them to analyze diversity in the news and evaluate the impact it has on their own self-image or view of the world.

Melissa Cordova
Eli Whitney Technical High School
Hamden, Conn.

It is in the attitude

2009-06-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

I want to be a Stardust teacher!

Working with Dave Cornelius is everything I hope for when I am asking for help. He is gentle, thorough and supportive.

But, first and foremost, he is a fountain of information. I found from an interview I did with him that he immediately sees things in a visual manner.

It may be the years spent dealing in a visual medium or it may be his bent on birth. But like his points about the page of any news delievery, he is: visual; undated daily; quick; flexible; possessing of a great reservoir of information; and permanent in his influence.

But, in addition, he is a bit of a hobbit. He has a sprite spirit and an intensity that moves his listener. Dave is totally pleased with his life choices and enjoys each day he wakes up or so he told me. But judging from his demeanor and the picture below, I think it is a pretty accurate assessment. He is a link to a critical site.

See, he's a hobbit in not so much disguise.

Carol Clarke
Visalia, Ca
Mt.Whitney High School

Sports writing made simple

2009-06-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday afternoon's presentation on high school sportswriting truly hit home for me, as I've served as a high school sports editor, a sports columnist in college and now a freelance sports photographer.

While my school is not known for excelling in the sports field, I found it an enjoyable challenge to help my students seek sports features. Yes, our football team went 0-10 this year, but our readers still needed to know about the defensive end that was practically raising his younger siblings and working full-time hours at a local store.

We even found it interesting to do an in depth feature on cheerleading, which most don't even consider to be a sport. I do believe we changed the views of many about cheerleading once they read about the long hours before and after school, the high-jumps, the leg lifts and the many bumps and bruises.

The star athlete on my campus happened to be a female student, standing shorter that five feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds. Her initials are O.V., and I'm sure many of the readers here have probably seen or heard of her in the news. Small frame and all, she took on competitors larger than herself and walked away with 51 medals for her high school career.

O.V. and her family moved from Mexico to Texas when she was two, and because of immigration laws she was unable to accept the full scholarship she received to attend a Texas institute. Regardless of our individual beliefs on the subject of immigration, O.V. has a very compelling story. She recently graduated and this story developed after our last issue was sent to print, but we will definitely be following up on her in future issues.

I've never had a problem with developing sports story ideas, but listening to Tom Blodgett has made me even more curious about sports reporting. Just because we may teach at schools that have less than impressive sports programs, that doesn't mean we just ignore sports and the children devoted to them. Even in losing, there is definitely a story...

Ariawna Talton

Molina High School

Dallas, TX

Some things will never change

2009-06-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Jason Manning, Director of Student Media at ASU, talked to the assembled Fellows of the Reynolds Institute on Thursday morning about The Future of Journalism. He brought in a few pertinent quotes about the changing platforms of journalism, but my favorite one was the one from Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., the owner of the New York Times: "I am absolutely agnostic regarding methods of distribution." He said that if someone would invent the technology for it, he would have no problem beaming news content directly to someone's cortex. Isn't that what iPods & earbuds do? Just kidding. Sort of.

I think this is probably the healthiest mindset for a journalist to have. We don't know how things will change, we just know they will change. What doesn't change, according to Manning, is the need for:

good writing
multimedia skills
ethics
diversity

There's more, but frankly, I'm perilously close to information overload. Just chew on this bit for awhile whilst I regroup.

Juli Stricklan
Rigby High School
Rigby, Idaho

The Future is Upon Us

2009-06-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Better integration of all media were Jason Manning's parting words as he addressed the Reynolds Institute fellows Thursday morning. Manning is the ASU Student Media Director and provided insightful information about where we are now and where we are heading in terms of media storytelling.

In order to be successful, Manning said we must incorporate media literacy lessons into current high school instruction, especially as it relates to digital media. I wholeheartedly agree with him. Many of our students know all the ins and outs of their cellular phones, but when it comes to formal instruction and computer programs which will aid them in their future careers, they simply don't have nor get these skills. Granted, many schools don't have the resources to provide such curricula. However, too many times teachers themselves don't know how to utilize media in their classroom and therefore don't push students to learn it.

During Manning's presentation, he also showed a great piece of media named EPIC. Although a few years old and based purely on fiction, it is an accurate representation of what COULD one day happen.

It is definitely something to think about.

Marc Garcia

Sunset High School

Dallas, TX

What is good?

2009-06-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Michael Roberts (pictured right) of The Arizona Republic used great examples to define what is good. He emphasized SMART standards.

Specific
Measurable
Action-oriented
Realistic
Time-dated

He applied these standards to short video clips and slide shows. He showed two videos and explained why he considered them to be good. This included close and candid shots and capturing subjects in their natural setting. One video shot in a prison did not show the subjects in a natural setting, but the setting was appropriate for the storyline.

Roberts applied the same standards to slide shows. He said the biggest problem people have in putting a story together is in planning. He suggested story mapping and using 5 steps of writing news.

Idea
Reporting
Organization
Draft
Revision

I'll use all his ideas in the classroom.

Mark Salvatore
Saint Joseph Academy
Brownsville, TX

Learning on the light rail

2009-06-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am a naturally inquisitive person (some people might/do say I'm just nose-y), and this has contributed to some interesting moments on the light rail this past week.

For 11 days, our highly accredited instructors have been telling us that the idea and planning end is where the emphasis needs to be when reporting. So maybe that's my excuse for approaching strangers on the light rail and striking up conversations.

I met a very nice young man last night while waiting for the train. He was dressed in slacks and a shirt, all pressed and neat, and he was very forthcoming. I found out he works security at the airport and will be a senior this fall at a charter school. I asked him questions about what he liked about his school and we had a great discussion. We talked for 10 minutes before our ride came, and then, to my surprise, he took a seat next to me on the train, and we talked until I exited.

I am not writing a story about him or anything, but it reinforced that we have opportunities to connect, to learn, to apply knowledge every day, everywhere. We need to help our students understand this, and perhaps get them to put their cell phones down for a minute when they are looking for story ideas and angles.

Stories are everywhere.

Teresa Gallegos
Blackfoot High School
Blackfoot, Idaho

Journalism prepares students for the real world

2009-06-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Because at the high school level most of us can't timely report on a specific game, we have to come up with other ways to tell the stories of athletes. With assistant sports editor from The Arizona Republic Tom Blodgett's help, I think we brainstormed some great ones that we can take back to the classroom: the personality profiles, coaching changes, recruiting (and the legalities behind some of it), awards, unsavory findings, the JV, freshman and women teams (not to be forgotten), making professional sports relevant to our specific students and high schools, etc. Blodgett (pictured right) made a point of reminding us that at the professional level, reporters have to cover stories from different angles.

Having our students develop various angles to cover sports, since they can't cover them in the traditional format, is such a great learning experience for them. If they do go into the professional field of journalism, they will be asked consistently to devise a new and unique angle on the same old topic. If they don't go into the field, no doubt they will enter a job that will require them to have new and cutting-edge ideas. Yet again, being members of the high school journalism class will prepare students for the real world.

Anna Horton
Highland High School
Gilbert, Ariz.

Epic 2014: the future of news

2009-06-25T13:35:00.002-07:00

Jason Manning presented us with some very interesting information on where storytelling is heading. With the ways in which information is being distributed constantly changing, many people have shared their concerns for what might happen next. Manning showed us the future through the eyes of the video "Epic 2014" which presented the changing world of technology in a new light.

This film shows us a lot about the history of the internet as well as the possible future. The lines blurred between truth and fiction which was very enlightening. I'm looking forward to showing this film to my high school students because I think they will get as much out of it as I did. It offers a different side to the way things are constantly changing, and I hope it would make them really think about the way things are as well as how they could be.

There are plenty of readers who find their news from the daily print paper, and there are many others who find their news on-line. In the end, it doesn't matter how the information is presented. It only matters that readers can find the information they want and get what they want out of it.

Rebecca Jackson
Douglas County High School
Douglasville, Ga.

Sports writing for high school

2009-06-25T13:35:00.001-07:00

The group of ASNE Reynolds High School journalism institute participants heard from Tom Blodgett, the assistant sports editor at The Arizona Republic, today on the topic of sports writing for high school papers.

The most interesting comments were about how to write when your high school teams are not successful. This applies to my staff and my school. My students focus more on the athletes than the scores and records. There will always be at least one interesting person, even on a losing team. At my school we have foreign exchange students, we have students with disabilities and we have many students with interesting background stories. These can all be told without focusing on who dropped the winning touchdown in a football game or who went 0-4 at the plate in another baseball loss.

The 35 members of the institute can be invaluable resources to talk to each other about story ideas when it appears that there is none.

Jeff Fencl

Del Norte High School

Albuquerque, N.M.

Playing God

2009-06-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

Roseburg High School in Roseburg, Ore. Although remodels have demolished my old journalism room, my passion for journalism and for writing was built there, working on both the newspaper and yearbook staffs.

Jason Manning attributed his desire for a journalism career to his own, high school journalism teacher. Many of the other media professionals that have met with us over the course of the last two weeks also cite their high school teachers as a determining factor in the career paths. I know that for me, personally, it was my experiences in my yearbook and newspaper courses that pushed me to pursue a degree in journalism at San Diego State University.

When I think back to my experiences in high school, I don't remember any phenomenal journalism lessons that my journalism adviser, Mrs. Bartlett, taught us. I don't remember the pressing news issues we reported on. What I do remember is the family that I built in the Orange R (that was our paper's name) room after school and during production week. I had a home there; it was a place where I belonged. I don't know how many other people from Mrs. Bartlett's staffs over the years went on to pursue journalism careers (I can only think of one or two others besides myself, and I'm not sure I really count)... But I know that there are a whole mess of us that look back and earmark the Orange R as a defining, learning and community building experience.

This makes me wonder what kind of impact I have on kids. Everyone says that teachers have this amazing opportunity to connect with and shape kids. I have never really considered myself to have that kind of power. Sure, there are kids that spend more time in my classroom than they do in their own rooms at home, but I guess I never really thought it was because of me. Manning's comments, along with those of the other industry professionals, made me realize that I really do have a lot of influence over my students.

To me, this is both... empowering... and terrifying. I like the idea that I can teach them things, I can help them fall in love with something that I love. I like the idea that I can provide them with their niche on campus, something to look forward to. But, and this is also what terrifies me about parenthood, what if I screw them up? What if I make them dumber? What if they end up hating journalism and writing and it is all my fault and because of me we lose a great writer? Maybe that's an extreme, but as Juli pointed out to me earlier this week, I'm a bit of a worrier.

The best that I can do is keep in mind the potential that I have. If that is always running somewhere, in the back of my mind, I think that will prevent me from dropping the F bomb in front of my kids, or from committing waves of unprofessionalism in their presence.

Jessica Young

Orange Glen High School

Escondido, Calif.

Back to reality...

2009-06-25T13:31:00.003-07:00

The two weeks we have spent here have really opened my eyes to many possibilities for my newspaper staff. I have a lot of new knowledge and experience to take back for my students. Seeing what other high school newspapers are accomplishing, like the one that Alan Weintraut advises in Annandale, Va., or the one that Mark Webber advises in Laredo, Texas, has been inspiring. The excellent speakers have instilled again the importance of a newspaper for high school students to learn about the need for a free press. So now what?

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.

Unsavory reporting requires courage: an example of a student journalist who uncovered the unsavory

2009-06-25T13:31:00.002-07:00

During Tom Blodgett's session on sportswriting, he said that it takes courage to uncover unsavory stuff, especially due to Hazelwood. He also said that courage, more than intelligence, makes a good journalist.

One story I like to share with my journalism students is about a high school journalist who did some serious investigative reporting and discovered that the military in his area encouraged recruits to fabricate documents. Posing as a potential recruit, David McSwane taped conversations and wrote a story revealing the truth. The story was picked up by CBS, and soldiers were suspended from recruiting. CBS called the story "How far will army recruiters go?"

This is a great story for inspiring journalists and for generating discussion. It also brings up ethics and law regarding taping sources.

Jill Bhowmik
Granite Hills High School
El Cajon, Calif.

Sports guy talks sports

2009-06-25T13:31:00.001-07:00

Tom Blodgett, Assistant Sports Editor at The Arizona Republic, discussed the challenges and benefits (freebies are not one of them) of covering high school sports.

As the wife of a sports writer many of his tales about young reporters covering high school sports rang true. Yes, they do work mostly afternoons, nights and weekends (we don't get to see each other a lot). No, there aren't a lot of perks, although, as my husband says, what's better than getting to go to a game and then telling people about it? We did have a golf course manager offer to give us a good deal on our wedding if his course got some coverage, but of course we couldn't accept it, and we didn't get married there (darn ethics!).

The part of the talk I found most helpful was when Blodgett suggested possible story ideas including coaching changes, recruiting, awards and traditions. He also stressed that sports stories need multiple sources like teammates, coaches and even parents.

Although I don't call myself a sports fan, I think my husband has rubbed off on me more than I realized. When Blodgett told his Duke story and asked why someone would go to Duke for basketball, I couldn't help but say in my mind, "Duke is Duke."

For those of you who are are interested, the book that was mentioned is Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie.

Becky Gemmell

Escondido High School

Escondido, Calif.

cultural literacy, media literacy . . . the lowbrow version

2009-06-25T13:13:00.001-07:00

Remember way back during Dean Callahan's press conference when I asked about the place for comedy in our websites? (I was probably more inarticulate than that.) Well, if "Charlie bit me and it hurt" means nada to you, then you should take the following tutorial of YouTube relevance.

You can catch up really quickly. You will be on the same page as many of our digital native readers/viewers AND you might have a laugh or two. You can spoof these. You can mention them in text.

This is media literacy, too. ;0)

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md.

Hard Knocks Video Production

2009-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

1. Don't use musics with lyrics in your videos. The words always overwhelm the message of the visual. See article Tuesday's NY Times in the Science section. Ear vs. Eye . . .

2. Don't use a video camera with a microphone with the power source the plug in the wall IF YOU ARE SHOOTING A BLACKBERRY ADDICTED PRINCIPAL. There is a buzz that goes through the audio that cannot be fixed and the administrator will think you are incompetent after the third try. Buried in the fine print it tells you the noise comes from the wiring to the wall plug. Whatever. Don't do it.

Good audio is all. Good audio is all. Good audio is all.

3. When you are editing, think about when you are ready to blink as you watch a shot. That is a tip as to when you can cut away. Water Murch talks about this in his book, In the Blink of An Eye. He is considered the best film editor in the business.

4. Editing is not unlike composing music. There are beats and rhythms in the piece. Really listen for them.

Yep, that was my car in the picture. Not a fun day. ;0)

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md

Discourse on sports

2009-06-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Covering sports story can be tedious, especially if you have little to no background or knowledge of the various skills it takes to perform competitively. I teach at a high school that prioritizes and focuses on academics. However, 14 to 18 year old boys and girls simply love sports as well; albeit, many believe its what college admissions officers want to see on their applications. Nonetheless, sports still experience a lot of support by our students, parents, teachers and administration. I'm sure our athletics department would disagree with my statement, but compared to some academically-driven institutions, we are relatively vibrant in the sports department. In the context of journalism, this makes for some very unique stories from a multitude of perspectives. I look forward to returning and sharing some of the insight I obtained from the program. (Photo source: Google Images)

Eric Gutierrez
Whitney High School
Cerritos, CA

They are rewiring my BRAIN!!!!

2009-06-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

The EPIC video was scary. Jason said that media literacy is more important than ever. That is true so here is more. We read this interview in my senior English classes for a Neil Postmanesque project on the influence of media.

Check out the article interviewing Nicholas Carr (Is Google making us stupid?) from The Sun Magazine. Carr asserts that Google is rewiring our brains. Is this bad or good in your estimation?

My students also had to do Postman's diet of 24 hours without any media and record their reactions/actions about this experience. It is something to chew on. They were like crack addicts with no access to drugs. They hated it but many realized what "tools" they are of the media they use.

I am a digital immigrant and they are digital natives. Not my line, but a good one. There is much to ponder in the interview.

I think of Fahrenheit 451 when I see that big screen in the Forum. I also realize that I can't think with extraneous noise going. What does that say about me or my age or my brain wiring?I am not trying to be funny. I wonder how this will affect us all long-term.

Joanna Greer

John F. Kennedy High School

Silver Spring, Md

Media Literacy

2009-06-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

Jason Manning, ASU's director of student media, touched on several interesting topics in today's session about the direction of storytelling. One of which was media literacy.

"Teaching students media literacy is more important than ever," said Manning. Give them experience with varying types of digital media. Television, video and the Web are a part of the new generation of students more than ever.

I feel our students need more guidance in discerning the good from the bad, the real from the not real that can be so much of digital media. A great way to do that is to teach video production techniques. We should teach them about the angle of the camera and how it effects the viewer. We need to teach them the effect of a close up, mid shot and long shot and how it contributes to the story, not just how do publish the video to a Web site.

Manning said he felt all schools should require students to have a digital media class.

(photo - Jason Manning, ASU Student Media Director)

Denice Westover
Snowflake High School
Snowflake, Arizona

Susan Jacoby is right

2009-06-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Jason Manning used what I think was presented as a quote from Susan Jacoby's Washington Post opinion piece titled The Dumbing of America. In her piece, Jacoby was actually paraphrasing the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Is that an important issue? Maybe, if you're not familiar with Jacoby's work and want to know if anyone else of stature agrees with her.

I would suggest reading Jacoby's entire article. It is extremely compelling, interesting and well structured.

An actual quote from Jacoby's column is: "That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge." I would think some of my colleagues would agree with this. I am not only astounded sometimes at what high school students do not know; I am even more astounded by their pompous attitudes about thinking that what they don't know is not important.

This might be my last post on this blog, so I would like to thank Steve Elliott for helping me be more skeptical and check my sources, and for the marvelous people at the Cronkite School--Dave, Monique, Anita, Christopher, Tom, Sharon, Krisitin, Jennifer, Andrew, Jason, Rick, Carol, and Alan, Le, Steve, and all the talented people at The AZ Republic.

Truly, this has been a marvelous two weeks.! An especial thanks to my 34 colleagues. We were so lucky.

Rick Burd
Wickenburg High School
Wickenburg, Ariz

I

Avoid being bloggy (or tweet, but don't be a twit)

2009-06-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

How much time do you spend on Twitter? Facebook?

What widgets do you use on your blogger?

Do you have more real friends vs. virtual friends?

Why does it matter if you are a blogger or 'real' journalist?

Yesterday's session on Exploring Social Media Carole Schwalbe was a fabulous discussion. I especially enjoyed the Map of Online Communities and the wheel showing the convergence of online tools. But it is a conversation that will keep on going, and going, and going...
I am part of so many online social communities that I need to be ever conscious of what/how I say things, make sure I check in on all of them, and find time to shut them off.
While we can debate the merits and pitfalls of using these social networks in our classrooms, the ubiquity of these communities and forms of communication prompts us to focus on how to use them for educational and journalistic purposes.
Fortunately, there are professional journalists who are already experimenting with these tools and sharing how they use these tools.
I found this post on mashable.com talking about how twitter can be used to connect with readers, identify sources, and serve as a form of professional portfolio.
Another post I read was from Australian journalist Julie Posetti who writes extensively about the do's and don't's of tweeting for journalists.
Check out the link or here is a list of her "take-away's" from her posting:

TOP 20 TAKE AWAY TIPS FOR TWEETING JOURNOS

Think before you tweet -- you can't delete an indiscreet tweet! (Well, you can, but it will survive in Twitter search for three months and it's likely live on as cached copy somewhere.)
Think carefully about what you're re-tweeting and acknowledge if it's unsubstantiated.
Be an active twit: tweet daily if you want your followers to stick.
Determine your Twitter identity.
Be human; be honest; be open; be active.
Don't lock your account if you want to use Twitter for reporting purposes -- this fosters distrust.
Twitter is a community, not just a one-way conversation or broadcast channel -- actively engage.
Check if your employer has a social media policy.
Be cautious when tweeting about your employer/workplace/colleagues.
Be a judicious follower -- don't be stingy but avoid following everyone as your list grows to avoid tweet bombardment.
If you quote a tweet, attribute it.
Expect your competitors to steal your leads if you tweet about them.
Don't tweet while angry or drunk.
Avoid racist, sexist, bigoted and otherwise offensive tweets and never abuse a follower.
Scrutinize crowdsourced stories closely.
Find people to follow. Foster followers by pilfering the lists of other twits.
Twitter is a 'time vampire' (via @anne_brand) -- you don't need to keep track of all tweets, so dip in and out through the day.
Prevent information overload by using an application such as Tweetdeck.
Add applications to your Internet-enabled mobile device to allow live-tweeting on the road.
Add value to your tweets with links, Twitpic and other applications for audio and video.

As these social networking tools evolve, fade, and new ones spring forward, it is important for us to experiment, err, and improve on how we use them. I am planning to develop my lesson plan around using social networking tools in the high school newsroom.

Some shameless promotion:
I have several blogs depending on the audience and purpose:
Burton High School Journalism
Bicycling/Philosophy
Technology/Education

My Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Delicious
Classroom2.0

Roberts teaches story development model

2009-06-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

Arizona Republic Deputy Managing Editor for Staff Development Michael Roberts presentation to the ASNE High School Journalism Institute took an unexpected turn yesterday. An Institute participant asked Roberts how teachers can get students to write their stories more thoroughly so that page designers don't have to resort to adjusting tracking which can radically affect the look of the final product.

Looking back at my last few years advising newspaper, I can see that the story suggestion process by reporters has been lacking. The unexpected question lead Roberts down a trail he hadn't intended to follow but may well be the most valuable lesson I take away from the institute.

I was furiously taking notes in his off-the-cuff lesson on the story development process and expect that his I-R-O-D-R technique will yield better story ideas that don't fall apart after covering the 5 W's and 1 H.

In one of the first sessions of the institute, Steve Elliott walked us through the story mapping process and elaborated on how to successfully narrow the angle for a story idea. Seeing Mr. Roberts model the exact same thing yesterday drove the point home for me. I am going to really focus much more effort in the coming school year to drive story ideas through the mapping process and establish more specific, coherent angles students can use to do their reporting.

Trampus Willis

South Side High School

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Student-Teacher

2009-06-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

We are nearing the wrap up for the institute. We have heard some great authorities tell us about the news process. Now comes the real challenge for us - switching from student to teacher and working out how we will teach our students what we know.

I have talked with and listened to several members of the institute. Some of them I have an idea of who they are as teachers. Many others I wonder what their teaching styles are like. I have observed them only in the role of student. We have a diverse group of people and personalities here. I am sure the range of teaching styles is just as broad.

My biggest disappointment for my time at the institute is that I will not have been able to get to know and understand more of the fellows that came.

Jeff Jones

Miyamura High School

Gallup, NM

Starting a web site

2009-06-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

Possibly the best advice Dave Cornelius (pictured right) gave that I will apply it to have the school website off campus. That is, on a server that is not the school's. That will allow a lot more flexibility for me at a private school, especially since everything that the journalism students write gets reviewed and accepted or rejected by the principal and one of the assistant principals.

Dave also said we should create a style sheet for the website.

I look forward to doing more things involving technology. A website seems to be a good way to go. As Dave pointed out, a web site has permanency, interactivity, and should be simple to for the user to navigate.

I'm sure my students will enjoy working with video,text, slide shows and other graphics.

All I need is some equipment.

Mark Salvatore
Saint Joseph Academy
Brownsville, texas

Youtube virgin posts first video

2009-06-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

It happened so quickly.
It was just too easy.
Publishing a video on Youtube was simple.
My students produced video projects throughout the year, but I did not think about publishing them. I don't know if this is only my habit, but I tend to think the project is done when the students turn in their work.
After we slaved over making our film, I was a bit reluctant to use blogger and youtube to publish our project. What if I corrupt the file? What if I lose the data? How much code will I need to know to make it look better?
A few clicks here and there, and it was done. Now I have my first entry under My Videos.
It was my first time. And knowing how it's done, I will be sure to enjoy the experience again and again.

Tweet, Tweet

2009-06-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

RT @elliott602az http://bit.ly/JCah0: The problem with Twitter's 140-character limit is that it cuts you

---

Steve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix

P.S. I've posted a QuickTime of this video from Carol Schwalbe's presentation in the asne09 take-home folder.

Keeping sight of the sites

2009-06-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Bad photo. Sorry. Lesson learned: One can't get a good photo S.O.B. (sitting on butt). Also, I mispelled Alan's name but it is now corrected.

Alan Weintraut offered much valuable information on technology. I found the presentation on Google Docs especially interesting. I'd heard people speaking about it but never knew what it was. Something valuable like this no doubt would be blocked by the school district. The other site that got quite a bit of discussion, WordPress, seems like it too would be a useful, productive tool. After all the talk I'm still not sure that it is.

Alan also discussed digital media of all types and sources of information for studying this topic. It was fascinating to find out everything available to us.

I really want to dig deeper into the how-tos of using technology effectively in newsgathering operations.

Other sites
If I may add to Alan's list from this morning:

--http://www.taje.org/ Texas Association of Journalism Educators, one of two Texas scholastic journalism organizations. The links in the blue bar on the left side are invaluable, a real font of knowledge. This is one you should check out. The TAJE also has a listserv, so you always have contact with like-minded people ready to offer suggestions and advice.

--http://www.uil.utexas.edu/academics/journalism/ilpc.html This is to a site called Interscholastic League Press Conference, a division of the governing body for academic and athletic competition (UIL). The ILPC is the other Texas scholastic journalism organization. Everybody belongs to both so there isn't really much rivalry between the two. Under "resources" is this really awesome list of PowerPoint presentations.

--Sites ending in .mil. For example http://www.defenselink.mil/ has military information of all types, plus news, photography, video and multimedia presentations prepared by service personnel. The individual services have similar sites. All material is available for use by news media outlets. As an example, here is the U.S. Air Force's site.

--Sites ending in .gov.

--Our own hsj.org has much of value. The lesson plans are really great, and there much else of value. I like to toot its horn. (Note: I have no financial or other interest in this organization.)

Perhaps others can add to Alan's list and to those I've listed above.

Mark Webber
Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts
http://my.hsj.org/tx/laredo/vmt
Laredo, Texas

The new writing process

2009-06-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

During my first year of teaching I had to teach a certain writing process to my TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) class, in order for them to properly respond to an essay prompt on the standardized test. In the back of my mind I knew there had to be a similar strategy for article writing.

While listening to Michael Roberts of The Arizona Republic, I was excited to learn of his method for approaching article writing. The simple acronym (I.R.O.D.R) now has special meaning:

*I - idea

*R- reporting

*O- organization

*D- draft

*R- revising

I always knew that a great story derives from a solid idea, but now I feel I have more of a concrete example to explain the writing process to my students. Brainstorming sessions are sure to take on new meaning now that we have an even greater emphasis on the idea. And the reporting process is sure to run much smoother.

Ariawna Talton

Molina High School

Dallas, TX

Standards define good journalism

2009-06-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Beware the delete button

2009-06-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

According to Dave Cornelius, there are several points we should keep in mind with an online newspaper:

Update daily
Write quickly
Clarity
Accuracy
Benefit of immediacy
Easy to navigate and follow
Use fonts that are easy to read
Include links
Include a blog
It is permanent

The permanent point to me is probably the most important to remember. Anything that has been posted online, ANYTHING; someone, somewhere, somehow will be able to find it. Even if it has been deleted before. Be careful, it will be written "in stone."

A Rosenthal

The Hockaday School

Dallas, Tx

Ideas drive journalism

2009-06-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Near the very beginning of The Arizona Republic Michael Robert's (pictured right) session on "Defining 'good' in journalism," he said, "Stories fall apart when the idea isn't good enough."

For all of us new or fairly new fellows at the Institute, I think a lot of us have a hard time trying to decide how to begin the year. Do you have fun activities that bond our staff? Do we be tough and jump right in to weed out the slackers? Do we focus on the history or the laws or the current trends?

I think Robert's statement is a perfect guideline on how to start teaching our students about journalism. The point of journalism, whether it is done on the high school level or the professional, is to have audiences respond to well-crafted material.

If the idea isn't good enough, audiences won't read. It doesn't really matter if the writing is flawless or if the photo is taken from the perfect angle. If the idea isn't apparent to audiences, it doesn't matter.

I plan to restructure the start of my year with Robert's comment in mind. I plan to start by teaching my students his model of Idea, Reporting, Organization, Draft and Revision. All the other aspects of journalism are important, yes, but ultimately, I think this trumps them all.

Anna Horton
Highland High School
Gilbert, Ariz.

Good stories build on good ideas

2009-06-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

(At right, Michael Roberts brainstorms with the class to map a story idea.)

Qualifying journalists’ work can be a difficult task for teachers, but Michael Roberts, deputy managing editor-staff development at The Arizona Republic, identified the foundation of defining good work – the idea.

“A story falls apart if the idea is poorly conceived,” he said today, in his presentation to the 35 high school journalism teachers at the ASNE Reynolds High School Institute in Phoenix.

To help journalists find a good idea, Roberts suggests taking any topic of interest and engaging students in story mapping. Begin with one idea at the center, and then call for suggestions about any subtopics related to the central story idea.

In today’s session, the topic “Halloween” generated ideas as diverse as a how-to story on picking out a good pumpkin to an opinion piece on whether it is acceptable for young girls to wear provocative Halloween costumes.

“After brainstorming, eliminate ideas, so you don’t get this mishmash of everything – like lint,” Roberts said.

Helping a journalism student through the development of a strong story idea, Roberts says, should be combined with two other pieces.

First, the adviser should provide clear standards for each type of submission to the publication.

Second, the student should engage in a process founded on the story idea and completed through a routine of reporting, organizing, drafting and revising.

Kye Haina

Kamehameha Schools Maui

Pukalani, Hawai'i

Still Baffled

2009-06-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Despite Carol Schwalbe's detailed presentation on social media, I still don't get it.

I understand what blogs are, what Facebook is and how Twitter works. What I don't get is the allure. I don't understand how these sites will add to my life.

I found myself identifying a little too much with the SuperNews spoof on Twitter that Schwalbe shared.

I took notes about how Twitter is good for following organizations, columnists and other interesting people, how it is a good way to get personalized information and breaking news. Schwalbe talked about how Twitter is a great "listening tool."

I have a hard time keeping up with my school and personal e-mail accounts as it is. I only use my cell phone for emergency calls. I had to write my cell phone number in Sharpie on the back of my phone because I use it so infrequently that I don't even know the number.

I tried to go in with an open mind, but I don't think this type of technology is for me.

Becky Gemmell

Escondido High School

Escondido, Calif.

Clearly defined expectations = good

2009-06-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wednesday afternoon brought Michael Roberts from The Arizona Republic to the ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute. Roberts, who is the Deputy Managing Editor--Staff Development for the Republic, pointed out that the success of an assignment is directly related to the assignment instructions. This is one of the features of the professional world that is directly analogous to the high school teaching world. As Roberts spoke, I could see all the ways I could help my students succeed by giving them clear instructions to start with.

Roberts pointed out that in the journalism writing process--idea, reporting, organization, draft, revision--the first three steps are the key to whether or not the last two steps turn out well. Once again, we were reminded of the power of Story Mapping in the "idea refining" process.

I am going to sit down (right after finalizing my Institute project) (okay, maybe a little later than that) and write down a format for each of the types of stories my students typically write. I'm really excited to see how that will strengthen our stories.

BTW, and this is an important point, Michael is not blue on my picture, nor is he blue in real life. But every time I upload that picture into Blogger, he shows up blue. I don't know why.

Juli Stricklan
Rigby High School
Rigby, Idaho

Honest to blog?

2009-06-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm twitterpated. I'm confused. I'm overwhelmed. My head is spinning and I'm not sure it is going to stop anytime soon.

The presentation today, about social media and social networking, was both interesting and challenging. Carol Schwalbe, Associate Professor at the Cronkite School, invited us into the realm of social networking and acted as our guide through a whole mess of crazy concepts and terminology.

Schwalbe provided a straight-forward, articulate and simple approach to today's social media networks. As someone who is Facebook-savvy, but apprehensive to branch out beyond that, I found the presentation very informative. Admittedly, there was a lot that I didn't know about the sea of social networking... And I was definitely put in my place.

Oddly enough, I'm a 20-something, tech-knowledgeable, self absorbed, slightly ADD, curious person with friends spread out across the map. Aren't I supposed to be the idea market for these networking sites? And if so, why was Schwalbe, who seems old enough to be my mother, teaching me about it? I must admit, I feel like I've failed my generation a little bit here. My mom can barely figure out how to read a text message. But Schwalbe knows Twitter inside out and backwards... She even speaks its language!

In reflecting on this presentation, I've stumbled across a lot of ironies and contradictions (mostly in my own perceptions and thought processes). I haven't caught on to the blog wagon yet. I've toyed with the idea (I'd call mine "Will Write for Shoes"... which I'm sure is already taken), but never actually committed to it. I majored in journalism because I love to write. I don't think there is anything that is more therapeutic (and free). So you'd think I'd be all over the idea of blogging... But this is where I doubt myself. While I think I have great ideas, I wonder who the hell else cares what I have to say? Do I really write anything that is worth reading? I guess part of me is scared that I'll put a blog up, no one will read it, and I'll feel like a huge loser. It's not like my classroom, where I have a captive audience for eight hours... Where I can hold grades over their heads and make them take notes about my favorite color, hometown and shoe size. Not that I do that...

I also struggle with the idea of Twitter. The one thing that drives me INSANE about Facebook is how people update their status every fifteen minutes. I don't care what my friends are doing every hour of the day. If I really wanted to know, I'd call them and ask. While social networking has done great things to increase our ability to contact those that are far away, I wonder if it is eliminating our need for face to face contact. I like talking to PEOPLE, not COMPUTERS (or birds, or tweeters, or whatever). If we're trying to teach our students how to interview effectively, read people well, etc. why would we encourage them to go online, eliminating the human contact element?

And as someone who is relatively self absorbed, you'd think I'd be enamored with something that would allow me to broadcast my doings and whereabouts to all of my followers. While I like the idea of having "followers," I'm not quite vain enough to really think that people care what I'm making for breakfast or what the person next to me at the gym smells like. I know, too, that I am a fairly busy person, and I don' t have time to 1) update my "tweets" all the time and 2) read other people's. I, frankly, don't care what most people are doing, most of the time. Maybe that makes me a bad person. I think the jury is still out on this one.

Just the name bothers me as well... I play a lot of word association games in my English classes, and could the Twitter folks have come up with a better name? I mean, a twit is someone who is stupid, right? And a bird as a mascot? Aren't they notorious for having freakishly small brains? And if y'all have seen Bambi, being twitterpated isn't really a good thing. The animals get goofy, stupid and head over heels in love. So to me, this twitterpation that we have with Twitter... is just a bit concerning.

If you are confused about the concept of twitterpated, it is explained quite eloquently above. Obviously, this is from the Disney movie, Bambi.

Additionally, to refer back to the discussion that Alan lead this morning about Sit On your Butt Journalism... If we're trying to encourage our kids to get OFF of their butts and do real, solid reporting, how is Twitter a good thing at all? To me, it seems that in this respect, Twitter is like the bastard child of SOB Journalism. It seems like if they can just throw a "tweet" out into cyberspace, rather than go out and try and find local sources, that is going to be more harmful than helpful.

I guess, for me, the bottom line is that I don't get it. I don't understand the fascination with it. I can see how it can make media more available, but I feel like that only instills laziness. I wonder who has the time to care what Oprah did this morning? I wonder if anyone really cares about what I would tweet about? I don't understand why we are so in love with technology in general. Sure, it makes our lives easier, but what have we lost in return?

Perhaps, in five years, after the Twitter Revolution has taken over the world, you can all look back at me and laugh. You can tell me "We told you so!" I give you my full permission.

Jessica Young

Orange Glen High School

Escondido, Calif.

Blog + Tweet

2009-06-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

OK, so what the tweet is Twitter? According to Carol Schwalbe, Twitter can be either a very annoying interruption to an already over-informed public, or it can be a powerful journalistic tool.

Like any technology, this new platform for communicating can be used for good or evil. I think the question is, can it be used as a learning tool for our students? I think it can be.

However, I also think it will probably be about 19 years before our school district will approve the use of Twitter, so I am going to manage my time and energy in areas that I know can make a difference today.

Rick Burd
Wickenburg High School
Wickenburg, Ariz.

Schwalbe was totally tweetalicious!

2009-06-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Institute continue to bring us amazing professionals. The latest was ASU's Carol Schwalbe speaking on social media.

I have decided if Twitter is properly approached, it is not a waste of resources and I may try it.

I was especially interested in the way I can incorporate blogs into my teaching. I see it as a way to infiltrate the students' world and perhaps get them to use blogging for education instead of vanity.

Is it possible that through making blogging an assignment and grading a portion of the blogs on conventions, I could begin combating the ridiculous text spellings that creep into student work when any kind of keypad is involved?

But I dream.

Making the most of video

2009-06-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Listening to Dave Cornelius talk about how to best incorporate video into the classroom was an enlightening experience. I've been wondering how to have my students use videos for some time now, especially after our experience creating our own videos. I want them to go up on the website, but I wasn't entirely sure how to get them there.

Learning about the features of iWeb makes it seem so easy. The different widgets available allow you to bring in videos both from your own computer as well as those that are hosted on the web. The different templates available seem like they will make creating your website a much simpler process than I initially imagined. I've been wondering about whether or not the time necessary to design an online site would be worth it as it seemed like such a daunting task. Now, I feel much more confident that it is possible.

Once I can play around in iWeb and figure out all the different functions, I know that we can create something usable that will appeal to our reader. As Cornelius mentioned that at least half of every page should have a visual, iWeb will be an easy way to ensure that it does. I've worked with several different web templates in the past, but the widgets function in this one is very appealing. It seems like it really does the work for you. Now, we just have to try it out with our own sites and find out if that's true.

Rebecca Jackson
Douglas County High School
Douglasville, Ga.

Reading differently demands writing differently

2009-06-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Dave Cornelius, Director of Stardust High School Journalism Program, told 35 high school teachers, some of whom have gone online with their papers and some of whom are planning on going online, to remember that they are not creating a product for adults. They are creating a product for kids.

His presentation included advice for going online. The advice ranged from punctuation differences between the web and print as well as being aware that people read website differently than they do print. He told the teachers that he encourages students to embed links in their text in order to establish credibility as well as direct the reader to more information.

"I read as a scanner. I look for the things that are important," Cornelius explained about how he reads text differently when online.

Cornelius shared with us the range and scope of the Stardust program which only exists in Arizona at this point. I am curious to know if any similar programs exist, or is ASU pioneering this type of partnership to help out struggling high school journalism programs.

If anyone is aware of other partnership programs between high school journalism and college journalism, I would love to hear about them!

Jill Bhowmik
Granite Hills High School
El Cajon, Calif.

A night at the movies

2009-06-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful experience to be able to create a mini digital movie. I had seen some students do this before, and thought it could not be very complicated. Boy was I wrong! I tend to actually enjoy technology, but I see that I have a lot of catching up to do.

I feel thought hat his experience was nothing short of exceptional at least for me. I feel I had a very good team, where everybody was able to collaborate and work equally.

It was fun to see the different levels of Final Cut that everyone had last night. Of all the videos my favorite was Allan's team. Their B-shots were very nice.

I know now that if I can get my school to buy me Final Cut(fingers crossed) I will be able to show my students the basics, and then learn with them as we go on.

I hope this session served everyone else as much as it did me. I really am learning a lot during this institute and am valuing the time we are spending here.

Carlos Contreras
Palmview High School
Palmview, TX

Vignette viewing

2009-06-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

Tuesday night, the fellows of the Reynolds institute were treated to 12 multimedia vignettes produced by their classmates. These packages consisted of a video, story, and two photos. The project was a culmination of a week of training and hard work (ie. blood, sweat, and tears). For many of us with little to no journalism experience and who had never heard of Final Cut Pro, we found ourselves frustrated and short on time.

However, after watching all of the videos last night, I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with all of my classmates. Each group managed to find a way to not only address the topic, living with the heat, but also infused character and personality into their stories.

Sure, some of us had microphone problems and others still had choppy jumps between frames. But in the end, we all learned a tremendous amount from this process and we all had fun.

When I return to my classroom, I plan on pulling up this blog and showing my students these packages. Hopefully it will not only show them what I learned during my two weeks here, but also serve as a model and inspire them to venture out and try something new.

Sharon Nolan
North Canyon H.S.
Phoenix, Ariz.

Copyright Clarified

2009-06-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that we were able to iron out some of the more confusing details of fair use and copyright law. The distinction of image size and proper use in informational materials when using iconic images will come in handy next year. I forgot however to ask if the rules were the same for the internet as they are for print. Does anyone know if there is a distinction?

This also inspired me to look at more of the legislature in my state that governs high school presses. I found the following two articles on a realivly new bill that was signed last summer. The premis is that the bill will, prohibit a teacher from being "suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for acting to protect a student's speech or freedom of press. For example, a journalism adviser could no longer be fired for refusing to try to discover the identity of a student reporter's anonymous source." To find out more please visit these sites.

http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1817
http://voice.paly.net/view_story.php?id=7154

This seems to be a great stride forward in protecting us and our kids. However, I am no lawyer has anyone from California had to use it?

Handling (and avoiding) Censorship

2009-06-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

Mike Hiestand from the Student Press Law Center shared with us nine tips for handling censorship:
1. Let your students lead
2. Avoid insubordination (the boss is still the boss)
3. Put it in writing (establish a paper trail)
4. Watch what you publicly say and write
5. Inform your union immediately if censorship issues arise
6. Don’t use school resources to communicate about a case
7. Enter publications into competition to establish credibility
8. Establish regular contact with professional journalists – they will provide support
9. Seek the help of experienced advisers, parents and alums – they will provide support

Although our paper is under a current policy of prior review, we have not had any issues with censorship. I attribute this mainly to the good relationship we’ve developed with our principal - which bridges into the second session we had with Kristen Gilger.

One activity that I did this year with my students was to invite our principal into the classroom for a practice interview. Students impressed him with all sorts of excellent questions (which took up most of the class period), then used these quotes to establish a lede and write a practice article. The activity not only allowed students to develop their journalistic writing skills, but also establish a positive rapport with our administration. I also think the students really enjoyed seeing another side of our principal which will allowed them to feel comfortable e interviewing him throughout the rest of the school year.

Andrea Krueger
Centennial High School
Circle Pines, Minnesota

First Amendment attorney right on with our rights (revised)

2009-06-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Mike Hiestand is an invaluable resource for us in high school journalism (and in college journalism as well).

Hiestand, an attorney and consultant with Zenger Consultants, speaking on behalf of the Student Press Law Center, gave an overview of rights journalism instructors have in the post-Tinker and -Hazelwood years.

He brought up the different rights available to private and public school instructors, focusing on private schools being the owners of and possessing the right to tightly control publications (not an agent of the government) and public schools operating under the rules imposed by Tinker (higher standards) and Hazelwood (lower standards), and levels of standards administrators should abide by, and functioning as agents of the government as tax money is involved.

(An aside: Standards in awarding damages vary. Private citizens are treated differently under libel laws than are public figures and politicians. Libel laws differ from state to state and frequently change as courts rule on litigation. Also, Times v. Sullivan applies when public figures or politicians bring libel suits against media outlets. Attorneys advise plaintiffs to seek out the deep pockets.)

Anyway, public school administrators and even public school journalism instructors are considered agents of the state (which Hiestand referred to "actors") and as such have limited rights under Hazelwood to censor.

On top of all this, unprotected speech does not include libel, invasion of privacy, copyright infrigement, "fighting words," obscenity, language that presents a clear and present danger and now (with the "Bong hits 4 Jesus" ruling) unlawful use of illegal drugs.

It's always good for students to have some understanding of the restrictions placed upon student expression by Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District and its Tinker standard, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhnelmeir and Dean v. Uttica Community Schools. Also, here's a link to the "Bong hits 4 Jesus" case. (An English teacher and I used to make a presentation for Banned Books day, but state/fed testing has gotten in the way. I made a PowerPoint to illustrate court cases impacting student expression in public schools. )

However, there's hope yet. Seven states have passed anti-Hazelwood legislation, and Texas recently passed a shield law. That link explains it a lot; this link is to our Reynolds blog I posted in May, just after it 0pened.

(On a personal note, we've asked for help with several stories, which by Hiestand reviewed when he was a staff attorney with SPLC. We journalism instructors in a global sense are truly fortunate to have had his advice and that of his successors available when we have to battle the windmills. It's a powerful tool to show an e-mail from a First Amendment attorney.)

Mark Webber
Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts
http://my.hsj.org/tx/laredo/vmt
Laredo, Texas