The structure of the staff changes from year to year depending
on the strengths and weaknesses of the incoming group and the size of the class.
Some years, I have had as many as 65 students in the class which means that
I will have more editors and associate editors to handle the workload. Other
years, the class has been 45-50 students and the number of editors will be reduced.
Students learn their role from the previous year's staff
since they are in the program for two years. They start when they are in tenth
grade taking beginning journalism. Then in eleventh grade they are in page editor
positions learning how to do layout, design and editing. The twelfth graders
are the editors and so they have had opportunity to observe how and shadow their
predecessors. Naturally, many seniors do not end up as editor, but continue
on as page editors for another year. This has been somewhat of a problem in
the past since these students frequently do not feel challenged enough and sometimes
lose interest and do not perform as well as they could. It is incumbent upon
the teacher to create meaningful positions for these students so they have new
challenges for the coming year. I have been successful most of the time, but
not one hundred percent of the time. Some of the positions I have created include
Section Editors who supervise the page editors; graphics editors, who supervise
obtaining all graphic elements of the paper and additional page editors. For
example, I added pages such as the Teen Health page, the Environmental Issues
page and so forth. It is important for the teacher to be creative to meet the
needs of the class and the students.
At the present time, this is the staff organization:
Three editors-in-chief
Three associate editors
One technical editor-in-chief
Two to three page editors for each of the following
pages:
News
Editorial
Opinion
Features
Entertainment
Reviews
People
Technology
Sports
Circulation Manager
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
Ombudsman
Photography Editor
Each of these students learns his/her specific role from the
section editor or from one of the editors. At the beginning of the year, students
work in teams with one experienced page editor working with an inexperienced
one. If there are not enough experienced ones, then the editors work with several
page editors. It is an apprenticeship-like program requiring specific procedures,
layout skills, design skills, factual information, specific strategies for getting
the job done. The organization of the staff and the organization of the class
provides the necessary overall structure of the program allowing the teacher
to fade to an adviser or coach.
Everyone has a different learning style
If a student does not learn as fast as another in any of the
skills required, the editors are required to work with that student again until
they learn. One important teaching philosophy stressed in beginning journalism
is that all students learn at a different pace and in different ways. I say
that repeatedly in class: no two people learn the same way. In advanced journalism
I make it clear that students who do not learn certain skills right away are
not "stupid." They just have a different learning style and that
we all need to work with them until they understand. This is also reinforced
by the revision process for the stories. Some people revise more than others,
but eventually they will all learn how to write better. Students who are really
poor writers and have consistent problems are helped by the teacher as well
as the students.
Some rules for editors: no other extra-curriculars
for editors
The editors-in-chief and the associate editors may not have
any conflicting sports or club obligations. If they want to maintain other extracurricular
activities, they cannot be editor. This is to protect the staff from waiting
for students to complete their other activity before devoting time and energy
to the paper.
Changes over the years
Over the years, I have made many changes to the operation
of the staff. Initially, I had one editor-in-chief, but I found that they worked
better in pairs because it was "lonely at the top." When the staff
grew, I added more editors to balance the power at the top with the size of
the class.
I also added the technical editor-in-chief whose responsibility
it is to be up-to-date on everything connected with technology and help implement
it in the program.
Everyone has a defined role
The fact that everyone has a defined role and the cycles are
standardized makes it easy for students to function effectively in the learning
community. In fact, they become experts in their own right, teach each other
and a couple months into the semester, they can function well without teacher
intervention.
Role of the teacher as adviser
The question is then so what does the teacher do when the
students no longer need the teacher? The teacher transforms into an adviser
and literally advises. I tell my students now that I am adviser my advice can
be ignored; after all it is advise. If I switch from adviser to teacher and
dictate what to do, which is rare, that means that they have in someway violated
a basic law of the press: libel, obscenity or inciting to riot. Sometimes I
have to intervene on the issues of obscenity or what can be called ‘poor
taste' or ‘juvenile humor.' However, since I ask them to censor
themselves before I look over the paper, I rarely have to take any action.
