So far I'm about 3 weeks planned and so thankful for the guidance. The progression of defining news writing and journalism, to ethics, to law, to generating story ideas, etc. has worked for me to truly understand journalism as a science, craft, and civic duty. The fair use tutorials and Frank LoMonte webinar helped me reconcile my worries about stealing these resources.
I'm interested to find out what resources the Institute has available to someone in my position to write the curriculum for not only the one intro class we offer, but further courses in Journalism.
The Student Journalism and Media Literacy text is great, and using it for the pre-institute training made me wonder about textbook adoption for the future. My school's textbooks are very out of date. I'd be shocked if anyone could suggest a better intro to print/web media composition class textbook and/or, for that matter, a curriculum framework like our pre-institute training. Shocked! But who doesn't like to be shocked?
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| Couldn't think of pertinent media supplement, so went with a silly Google image search! |
Geneva High School
Geneva, Illinois
Steve - You are one brave soul! First, if you haven't already, join JEA and use the curriculum the organization has already created. It will save you from having to reinvent the wheel. If you're anything like me, you'll tweak, change, add, delete for next year, but it's a great start. And you will certainly be able to supplement with what is provided as the Institute (I'm guessing).
ReplyDeleteAs for a text book ... I haven't used one in years, mostly because we don't have the money to buy new ones (OK, it's not a priority and I haven't whined about it). I've culled my resources from so many different areas that I've functioned without one. However, I really like Student Journalism & Media Literacy (sorry, don't know how to italicize in the comments) and would use it in a heartbeat. I have 15 copies of Tim Harrower's Inside Reporting, which is awesome, and 15 copies of Harrower's Newspaper Designer's Handbook, which can't be beat for newspaper design (IMO). If you can get your school to buy you Student Journalism & Medial Literacy and a few copies of Newspaper Designer's Handbook to have on hand, that would be my recommendation. Oh, and you'll need the AP Stylebook.
Kris Urban
Corona del Sol High School
Tempe, Ariz.
You will find that your curriculum is the world around you...news is everywhere! Every year something changes in my lessons based on what's happening in the news.
ReplyDeleteTake what you learn from the Reynold's Institute training to create a foundation. From there, you'll be able to find examples with all that is happening in the media to customize your lessons and make them relevant for students.
Lisa Cass
Independence HS
Glendale, Arizona
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
DeleteI inherited Journalism and Yearbook with no background or curriculum. I am my school's 4th yearbook adviser in 6 years, and Journalism was more or less a filler hang-out class and just post whatever you want onto a website. I was met with a lot of resistance when I tried to implement some basic Journalism lessons. I winged it the entire school year! Somehow, with amazing student Editors, it all worked out. The on-line newspaper was getting a lot of exposure and we sold out of every yearbook. I am also excited to truly learn authentic curriculum and so grateful for this opportunity.
Sharon Fonzo
Poston Butte HS
San Tan Valley, Arizona
I, too, am in the position of writing my own curriculum, so I know how you feel. Something I found in my research is SEARCHLIGHTS AND SUNGLASSES: Field notes from the digital age of journalism by Eric Newton. Its an online textbook funded by the James L. Knight Foundation and the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Its free through a Creative Commons Licence, and I'm planning to use small parts of it as an introduction to journalism next year to avoid the pitfalls of a nonexistent journalism budget. It's interactive and really some interesting activities. Has anyone else used this resource? Any tips?
ReplyDeleteCarver Weakley
Cosby High School
Midlothian, Virginia
After reading this post and the above comments I realized I'm not alone in taking on the task of creating curriculum from scratch. This last year was not only my first year teaching journalism, it was also my first year teaching. While I worked at my college newspaper and worked at a weekly newspaper for several years after I graduated college, I don't have any formal journalism training. My education was hands on and I learned by doing - cold calling, chasing down interviews, writing and rewriting (and even more rewriting). I was a little a naive to think that all my students had the same passion for news and writing as I did when I started at my college paper. I learned that the hands on approach only goes so far, and that a high school class needs a structured curriculum to help guide students. I am looking forward to collaborating with everyone soon.
ReplyDeleteJill Cavotta
Mater Dei High School
Santa Ana, Ca
It doesn't offer lesson plans, but through the years The Poynter Institute (www.poynter.org) has provided me with (a.k.a. I have borrowed) a lot of good material. Anything on writing by Chip Scanlan is usually very good for classroom use. He isn't there anymore. Lots of his stuff in the archives.
ReplyDeleteSteve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix
For my Master's degree at Kent State University I contacted our state office of education in Utah and offered to write the curriculum for journalism for the state (there wasn't one available), so I undertook the daunting task of providing a curriculum for the entire state. It included lessons plans, handouts and a lot of other helpful items for new and veteran teachers. I worked with two other teachers in Utah, Donnel Pons and Mary Seal, and I am pretty happy with the result. All of the materials are on a Wordpress site, and you are free to take, borrow, and use whatever you find there that could be useful for you!
ReplyDeletehttps://utahjournalismcurriculum.wordpress.com/curriculum-2/