By: Kim George
Personally, I think not. Currently we do not have a news program at my school and I have been trying to think of the best way to implement this into our school. I really love the idea of students creating a news program for students, but finding the perfect fit is challenging. Although I am at a middle school I really like the idea of the weekly magazine format of KNN Tiger News Broadcast.
Wow! The Tiger News broadcast done by elementary school students is amazing. http://www.henry.k12.ga.us/pges/knn/ I really like the idea that they do not broadcast announcements daily, but rather a weekly news magazine format. I think this perspective allows the students to create a quality newscast and give enough time to discuss and reflect on what works and what doesn’t. The KNN news is done through auditions through the gifted program. This is somewhat controversial to me because on one hand I think it should be open to all students, but on the other hand I realize that the gifted program is designed to give students an opportunity to be creative outside the regular classroom and many teachers don’t have the time due to curriculum constraints. It also allows for editing which I find extremely important in continuing to reflect on the product. The site also contains job descriptions for each of the various positions.
I also got some ideas from Tiger News which is done at the high school level. http://hs.scasd.us/ms/kelchner/tigernews/index.html In one of the videos a student was visiting New York City around the holidays and filmed snipits of her vacation. http://hs.scasd.us/ms/kelchner/tigernews/archiveChristmasInTheBigApple.html It was an educational experience for all! Imagine the possibilities of having students film vacations and field trips. There were a lot of ideas that I am considering for implementation into my own news programs.
1. Elementary School: (k-6 elementary school) Fifth grade students earn their spot on the morning announcements by completing and interest form and getting references from several teachers. They are trained the last few weeks of school by graduating sixth grade students. Students say the school motto, lunch menu, weather, and announcements for the day. The news has guest student visitors to encourage fundraising days, sports victories and birthdays.
Pros: Consistency. Students can run virtually run the news themselves after the first few weeks. Cons: A select few students get to be a part of the news.
2. Middle School: The news is done by 8th grade students through a technology connections class. Students are given various jobs based on interest including camera person, newscaster, and interviewer. Once a week students go live out into the halls for “Hall Talk” and ask random questions to teachers and students. The students enjoy watching this and it gives others in the school an opportunity to be a part of the news. Questions range from what do you think your favorite food on the lunch menu is to where students are going on vacation.
Pros: Most of the eighth grade students get to participate in creating the school news.
Cons: The class make-up changes each 9 weeks and the teacher has to retrain the students.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your links and information about these outstanding programs available. I understand the desire to create something for your school. I think the students deserve to learn this important part of communication and journalism. I am at a high school that also is in need of a make-over in terms of the tv/news and school announcement broadcasts.
In fact, our students are only heard over the PA system and they mainly announce or(read) teacher written instructions about classroom clubs and game announcements. They do read the Pledge and the school song but are not consistent with either.
Your examples and links are excellent quality that can be used to set the bar for tv/news at any school.
Also, I do agree with the fact that this type of assignment can be offered to anyone with interest and not just the "gifted" students in the school. It is a shame that it can not be offered that way. Perhaps an additional type of club can be offered for others that are interested. I certainly do, however, understand the need for motivated, committed, mature and serious students required to produce the type of quality that you have demonstrated wth your examples.
It is great to be able to have all the "bells and whistles" when it comes to the set up of the program. However, learning the important details of broadcasting can take place in any environment.
Good luck with your idea of creating one at your school!
Barry
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI too think that having students produce and anchor a school TV News show is a terrific idea. I would love to see this done at my high school, where there is an extensive PA program however; this idea has not been embraced. I think that students could learn a great deal from this experience and it would utilize video distribution resources, teach students valuable skills, and give other students something to aspire to.
Thanks for your post it inspired me to think about ways to do this at my school. Heidi