In my head, I replayed back the morning's sessions on story mapping and referred to Twitter for the visual. I visualized Steve's mini lesson on thinking of the topic as a tree trunk and the angles are the branches. The mini lesson on story leads was also something new to me, so I referred back to my notes and figured the summary lead would be basic and to the point. OK, well now I have 2 tools to bring back to my Journalism class.
Photography. A definite weakness. My pictures are terrible and then I had a slight epiphany. I don't mind being a point and shoot kind of girl! I thought I liked photography, and maybe I would if I knew how to use the camera. Fancy schmancy editing confuses me and the picture seems to look worse. However, I took my pictures of Dean Callahan and tried my best to tell a story.
Now I am ready to write my very first article and I plug in my headphones to drown out the chatter of my colleagues. (Sorry guys!) I struggled with a lead. I started over a few times, and then got into a groove of completing my first article. I went through some editing tips and I was pleased with the final outcome. I am certain Steve will find many flaws and red pen markings will be a badge of honor. I welcome it! I am not a journalist, nor an expert writer. I embrace this experience as something new. So when students bitch about a crappy grade in Journalism, I can share this story with them. I'll happily tell them I made my deadline in 2 hours, what's your excuse?
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| Photo Courtesy of S. Fonzo (Yes, I really took this picture)
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Sharon Fonzo
Poston Butte HS
San Tan Valley, Arizona
I like the point you make about being able to share this experience with your students. I plan on doing the same thing. I can't remember the last time I had to write an article for print. In college we had to learn to write for print before we could learn to write for broadcast. I have forgotten a lot of the rules but it did feel good to do it again. I am considering creating a newsletter for my classes next year so I can get better.
ReplyDeleteI think that Alan or someone made a comment that they don't require their students to write or do something that they are not willing to do themselves. I have had a similar view but I realized when doing this assignment that this mantra has only been applied to my English and Creative Writing classes. I used to write for a college paper and I wrote for a sports magazine but I really hadn't written a news article for about three years until this assignment. I didn't think I was going to meet the deadline either. I need to practice what I preach and get writing news again.
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