Now that I've actually learned about Maestro, I have concluded that I'm a dummy. I've been tip-toeing towards Maestro for YEARS without even knowing it. And the best part is that if I had embraced Maestro, actually LEARNED about the concept and what it could do for my publications, I feel like my life these last three or four years could have been drastically simplified, and who doesn't want that?
When I took over the yearbook staff at my school six years ago, we very quickly moved to a team approach for our leadership. No more section editors - instead, we had team leaders and each person was in charge of a team of staffers working on spreads for a variety of sections. Then we did away with sections altogether, moving to an umbrella/blended coverage format.
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| One of my yearbook teams at our December work night. |
Next year, we're doing the same with newspaper. I just finished (TODAY...like an hour and a half ago!) my second year as newspaper adviser at my school, and because of our staff structure, teams just make sense. And now I'm reading about and watching all of these videos on Maestro, and all of this just feels like a game changer. I've got a VERY young and inexperienced staff coming in. We're switching to a news magazine. We want to totally revamp the website. The kids are dedicated and they're excited and they feed off of each other's energy. If I can channel that into something constructive and get them all to work together, I feel like there's nothing they can't do.
Fortunately, without really knowing it, I've been doing some quasi-Maestro work with yearbook for a long time. With the shift to teams for newspaper, it just makes sense.
It's logical. It's practical. I can't see any drawbacks. I will never again snub my nose at Maestro.
I am so very excited to try this next year with my staff. I love the collaborative nature of the the whole thing. I use Mind Maps a lot with my students and felt this technique was very similar. I also feel this will cut back on the mistakes and wasted time that takes place when you have several people working on the same story. It reminds me of the good 'ol saying..."Measure twice, cut once."
ReplyDeleteHeather Eaton
La Joya Community High School
Avondale, Arizona
I am interested to hear more about your team leader approach to organizing your staff. My yearbook staff is small- 12 students- and will have to be fairly independent next year as I am also teaching journalism and newspaper in the same class period, but in a different classroom. I also wonder if the Maestro concept will help them stay more organized and focused this coming year.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read about the maestro approach in preparation for the institute, I couldn't quite tell what made it different from section editors, with a team of reporters/writers assigned to that section. For this upcoming year, I've decided to have teams more clearly defined. For example, we'll have an Opinions editor and then four or five students who will work under that editor as columnists/writers/etc. The editor will work with these students to develop story ideas and oversee their work throughout. Is this closer to the maestro method than I thought? Would the biggest "non-maestro" concept here be if I had only the editor but not the team of reporters working underneath him or her?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
David Gwizdala
James B. Conant High School
Hoffman Estates, Illinois