This is my first full year of teaching journalism at Thompson Middle School in Quinlan, Texas. We are a small school and our budget is very limited. I have the honor of working with a group of great middle school students to put together our yearbook and learn the basics of writing and journalism techniques.
Don't get me wrong, these are still students so sometimes getting cooperation and teaching accomplished is like pulling teeth. However, I love my students and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
Let's start a discussion on how your journalism department is run and ideas you have to make it better. I know that our administration doesn't always listen, so let's listen to each other!
I also began my Journalism teaching in those middle years, grades 7 and 8 in my case, and struggled with early adolescent issues while trying to teach something. Everything -- teaching, researching, interviewing, writing, editing, revising, layout -- had to be done during the hour of Journalism class. Some students in that class did not want to be there at all; they just a hole in their schedules that needed filling and counselors doing the scheduling thought this would be an easy "project" class for struggling learners. Somehow I made it work and gained a reputation for doing well with special ed students.
Making things more difficult, most Journalism resources I had given to me, and even the ones I found later, were geared to older students. The constraints of my students' age and maturity, as well as the school's and district's constraints, made adaptation necessary. I also had less than limited budget -- zero. I had to beg money from the gifted and talented program to get anything. What proved helpful was joining a professional organization like Journalism Educators of America (JEA) and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), paid for with those begged funds. These two associations, once again, are geared for high school journalism; however, they offer discounts on resources and workshops/conferences. I took my students with me to a local conference and my school paid for a summer week-long local training conference for me. After that conference, I revamped what I had done to that point and wrote a Staff Manual geared for junior high/middle school that served as our journalism text. If you are interested, I'll send you a copy. My students were psyched, by the way, when they won "Best in Show" for a junior high level newspaper when we attended a local conference. I was less psyched since only two schools at this level were present. I was more psyched that two students also won awards.
Query: What textbook do you use (if any)? Again, I found most geared to high school students working on the newspaper after school. Are you producing an online newspaper, print newspaper, or both? I had no cooperation from the school for the online newspaper I dreamed for my students. Instead, we printed the newspaper on the school copier, another money saving choice.
Janet Miller
Welcome everyone,
This is my first full year of teaching journalism at Thompson Middle School in Quinlan, Texas. We are a small school and our budget is very limited. I have the honor of working with a group of great middle school students to put together our yearbook and learn the basics of writing and journalism techniques.
Don't get me wrong, these are still students so sometimes getting cooperation and teaching accomplished is like pulling teeth. However, I love my students and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
Let's start a discussion on how your journalism department is run and ideas you have to make it better. I know that our administration doesn't always listen, so let's listen to each other!
Jan 22, 2011
Shirley Durr
Janet,
I also began my Journalism teaching in those middle years, grades 7 and 8 in my case, and struggled with early adolescent issues while trying to teach something. Everything -- teaching, researching, interviewing, writing, editing, revising, layout -- had to be done during the hour of Journalism class. Some students in that class did not want to be there at all; they just a hole in their schedules that needed filling and counselors doing the scheduling thought this would be an easy "project" class for struggling learners. Somehow I made it work and gained a reputation for doing well with special ed students.
Making things more difficult, most Journalism resources I had given to me, and even the ones I found later, were geared to older students. The constraints of my students' age and maturity, as well as the school's and district's constraints, made adaptation necessary. I also had less than limited budget -- zero. I had to beg money from the gifted and talented program to get anything. What proved helpful was joining a professional organization like Journalism Educators of America (JEA) and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), paid for with those begged funds. These two associations, once again, are geared for high school journalism; however, they offer discounts on resources and workshops/conferences. I took my students with me to a local conference and my school paid for a summer week-long local training conference for me. After that conference, I revamped what I had done to that point and wrote a Staff Manual geared for junior high/middle school that served as our journalism text. If you are interested, I'll send you a copy. My students were psyched, by the way, when they won "Best in Show" for a junior high level newspaper when we attended a local conference. I was less psyched since only two schools at this level were present. I was more psyched that two students also won awards.
Query: What textbook do you use (if any)? Again, I found most geared to high school students working on the newspaper after school. Are you producing an online newspaper, print newspaper, or both? I had no cooperation from the school for the online newspaper I dreamed for my students. Instead, we printed the newspaper on the school copier, another money saving choice.
Feb 25, 2011