STORY
IDEAS
Students
must be allowed to brainstorm and come up with all kinds of crazy
ideas, knowing that the ones which are too unusual will probably
not be used.
Story
Idea Sessions:
- Sessions
are lead by editors
- Students
first start in small groups; then go to boards, write down ideas
- Then
students report to large group
- Story
idea sessions must take at least two days
- Good
story ideas are the foundation for good stories
- The
day before students are given story idea sheets to fill out at
home
- Anything
goes, even crazy ideas during brainstorming
- Editors
sift through ideas and pick usable ones when assigning stories
- Students
are required to read a weekly newsmagazine
- Students
required to read a daily newspaper.
- Students
taught to be "the first to know something"
- Students
come up with editorial topic
Advanced
journalism students in the midst of generating story ideas.
(click for video)
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STAFF
WORKS ON STORIES
Each
student is responsible for a separate story. Sometimes students
work in pairs, but most of the time they need to work individually
to cover all the news.
- Students
work individually on stories but collaborate
- Students
work collaboratively to help each other
- Students
turn in stories for revisions by the editors
- Students
are given 5 days to write their story
- Editors
and Associate Editors work with reporters
- Photographers
and artists coordinate with editors
- Students
discuss editorial issues on a daily basis
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EDITORIAL
DISCUSSION
The
editorial discussion is the most significant story idea discussion
of the paper. Students usually become polarized by the topic which
makes for exciting discussions. Making students aware of the
power of the editorial is key to getting students involved.
- Editorial
topic is selected by the students
- Writing
of editorial is done by students only
- Advisors
and Administrators are in the advisory position only
- Students
should be allowed to write editorial which are critical of the
school if they do not violate journalistic laws of libel or inciting
to riot
Editorial
staff reading and critiquing current editorial.
(Video of editor reading / Video
of staff discussion)
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PRODUCTION
WEEK
Production
week is a time when each student's work in the previous two weeks
becomes a significant piece of a larger project. Each student
plays a critical role in the production of the newspaper: reporters,
editors, ad managers, artists, photographers. They all realize
how dependent they are on each other to produce this product.
It is like a football game; each person has a defined role on the
team and without that person, the game is flawed.
- Editors
organize and are in-charge of production week
- Final
revisions of stories are turned in ON DISK
- All
photographs are gathered and organized
- All
art work is gathered
- Page
editors work with Associate Editors and Editors-in-Chief
- It
is a collaborative effort on many fronts
- The
adviser supervises, but does NOT control
- Students
learn from making mistakes
- Advisers
who are in control, prohibit students from learning from their
own mistakes
- If
students miss a deadline for the printer, then there is no paper
- If
students failed to take a photo, then they should take one themselves,
get it off the web or forget it and change their layout
- Deadlines
should be strictly maintained or students will not learn to deal
with deadlines
- Food
is provided during production week
- Students
collect money at the beginning of the school year
- Students
then organize the food distribution themselves
- Students
learn to budget and shop for specials
- Students
learn to clean up after themselves (parents love this one)
- Eating
together provides a sense of community and excitement
- If
the food distribution is poor, students complain to the Food Manager,
not the teacher
- Students
learn about nutrition.
Group
of advanced students working during production week.
(Click for video)
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CRITIQUE
The
critique is a critical part of the learning process for students.
To make progress students must be must be willing to look at their
mistakes and open to suggestions for improvement. How do you
get them to think and behave this way? (see section
on trust building). The methods for critique are first taught
and modeled in the beginning journalism program when students work
is put on an overhead projector for everyone to examine and discuss
and revised repeatedly. Students learn through revision; they
learn that it is always possible to improve writing and that all
professional journalists revise and revise.
In
the advanced program, these methods of critique are applied to the
newspaper as a whole. The critique process includes the following
aspects:
- Students
first find the good aspects of the page
- Then
students discuss the areas for improvement
- The
aspects of the page that are discussed include: layout, story
location, and story content
- The
paper is critiqued in numerical order; all students are on the
same page at the same time
- Critique
is made in the spirit of making the paper as a whole better
- Students
are taught to be sensitive to other students feelings
- Students
are taught not to take the criticism personally
- Students
are broken up into small groups the day before to critique one
aspect or section
- Small
groups then report to the large group the next day
Following
the critique, students then come up with story ideas for the next
edition.
Students
critiquing published paper.
(Click for video)
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