I've realized a gaping deficiency in what I do. I have been the newspaper adviser at my school for eight years, and just today I wrote my first ever news story.
And in my life, I've yet to write, in any formal way, a features piece, or a sports piece, or an entertainment review...you get the picture. For all the advising I do, I (ashamedly) don't have the experience. I'm thankful to the Reynolds Institute for providing me the opportunity to learn this about myself.
I became the newspaper adviser under familiar circumstances. The program needed a new adviser, I was non-tenured, and voila. I actually began as the assistant adviser to a first-year adviser who had equally little experience in journalism. We switched roles six years ago and have survived together until now.
After the first few years of understanding procedures and making organizational decisions, I was able to learn a little more about journalism through reading books and simply studying media more carefully. But I never had formal training, and I never felt what it was like to write a story on deadline--until tonight.
Developing the story wasn't impossible, but I did stumble along the way. I worried, during the session with Chris Callahan, that while I was trying to jot down notes about one important thing, I was missing something even more important. I grew frustrated that I had only my iPhone to get a photo, and that I wasn't being aggressive enough in ensuring I shot a publishable one. I wrote down all kinds of things during the presentation that ultimately became irrelevant.
And that's all before I tried to write. To my untrained eye, I think the article turned out well enough. But I struggled with transitions, and I quoted Callahan perhaps too frequently, without enough in between. I found myself writing and then deleting what sounded like editorial comments rather than objective news.
I know that this single experience of having to write a news article on a pretty straightforward event has immensely helped me as an adviser. I can better appreciate what I ask my students to do, and I know how much more I can do in order to help them reach greater heights of their own.
David Gwizdala
James B. Conant High School
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
You used the word 'survived' in your post, and I definitely felt that this last year as an adviser. It was my first year as adviser, and I just wanted to stay sane and not freak out on any of my students. I did survive, and I'm grateful. Now, I'm getting so many useful tools to put structure into my program. I have a direction now.
ReplyDeleteEmily Sell
Bingham High School
South Jordan, Utah
I survived this year as well and that's coming from someone with 30+ years advising. I came into a Title 1 school and had no students with any experience (and what they had was bad). Fortunately, I had some students step up and others that really began to enjoy what we were doing. Still, I faced a huge disappointment at the end of the year. Three of what would have been my top students were going to move. They guiltily told me although they had no control. I admit to crying. Then I started moving forward. I got to choose the kids in all my classes. I know I'll find some and do better than survive.
ReplyDeleteForgot to enter my name.
DeleteJudy Babb
West Mesquite HS
Mesquite, Texas
I think I've felt, at least once a year, that I had survived at one point or another. Still, look for progress within the survival. As long as you continually make strides along the way, survival is okay. Sometimes as long as we survive, our kids have the opportinity to thrive.
ReplyDeleteLarry Steinmetz
Bullitt East High School
Mount Washington, Ky
As I said, it's a thousand painful lessons learned. But we knocked off about 566 of them with that experience. Thanks for sharing thins and for the thoughtful comments it prompted.
ReplyDeleteSteve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix