Thoughts and Resources on School News Broadcasting

I work at a school which does its news the old fashioned way ala Principal McGee in Grease. Over the PA. So I can't say first hand how taping and broadcasting the news should be done. However, I found some resources on many sites, read a teacher interview on the subject, a lesson plan, and viewed some interesting taped shows and got a feel for bad, so-so, and really good news broadcasts.
There are several things I learned about taping and presenting a quality news show. First, you actually need some decent equipment. Although it can be done with a video camera, a computer, and a feed to the TV, to get a truly good show, you need more. You need monitors, sound systems, a real stage, perhaps even a green screen. You need to allow enough time for plenty of rehearsal. Good shows are usually produced in pieces, either a few hours, or a day before. Some portions may even be taped the week before and everything is then spliced together. Good shows are paced well, there are no slow, dragging areas. Good shows are produced by the students themselves although there is obviously direction and training by knowledgeable adults. Lisa Carlon, a teacher at Cedar Ridge Elementary in Branson, Missouri, talks about the many facets of producing a news broadcast in an interview (at www.intime.uni.edu/video/016moms/0rom/default.htm). She says, "The process of creating a daily newscast entails many responsibilities that cover a broad range of topic areas. In addition to strengthening curricular skills, this program also utilizes teamwork and individual responsibility to get the job done. Life skills necessary to everyone are practiced daily."
In addition there are multiple areas of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•S) taught when students produce a news broadcast. Ms. Carlon explains her students must focus on:

Research: Students must use a variety of sources to research and gather information for the newscast. Weather reports and other items are found on the Internet. Special features and reports are researched wherever appropriate for the topic. Writing: Using the research information they have gathered, students write reports and scripts for use with the newscast. While their research may be extensive, their reports must be brief and concise. Proofing and Revision: Students are responsible for creating, proofing, and editing their work before taping it for the broadcast. Filming, Reporting, Editing, and Broadcasting: Students work cooperatively to film the newscast, edit the varied components together and critique the final product. These tasks thoroughly incorporate all six of the NETS standards.

An excellent site to watch school news productions is SchoolTube. Some of the videos I watched are below. These range from ‘needs some tweaking’, to pretty good, to amazing!

www.schooltube.com/video/2975/Methacton-Warrior-News

www.schooltube.com/video/30304/Minutemen-TV-April-21-2009

www.schooltube.com/video/51145/10-29-09-Pioneer-Middle-School-AM-Announcements

www.schooltube.com/video/51001/LHTV-Oct-28-09

School TV News-Williams

Producing a school news program is a very difficult task. One of the most important aspects of a news program is technology. Technology must be in place to be able to support a quality news program. I currently do afternoon announcements everyday via a news cast at my school. The students come in the morning and we pre-tape the news. We use an old camcorder that uses VCR tapes. There is one camera operator. Two students sit at a desk in the media center (sometimes there is only 1 due to the fact no one else shows up) and read the announcements teachers have emailed to me. This has to be done while the media center is open. It is quite difficult to get the students coming into the media center to be silent. I also have the problem of the front office calling over the intercom that a teacher has a phone call. In the afternoon, a student comes over the intercom and announces for teachers to turn to channel 4 to view the afternoon announcements. Another student then starts the video and stops it when it is through. I have one student who is in charge of the news crew, yet I am usually the one who makes sure the students have the camera and the announcements. It is as bare bones as it gets. I hate that the news program at my school is not a very good quality production, because I feel it is an important part of the media program.
The news casts were started about the sixth week of school. Students who were interested in joining the news crew had to fill out an application. They had to give a paragraph on why they wanted to be on the news crew, the student and guardian had to sign they understood the rules, and a they had to get 2 faculty recommendations. Since this was the first year, any student who turned in a completed application was selected for the news crew. Next year I will hold auditions. The students are on a rotation schedule. They work on the news cast for one week a month.
I am hoping next year things go smoother.

Social Networking-Williams

In my county, we use Destiny. The version we use allows students to log onto Destiny Quest which incorporates some social networking components. Students can log on and interact with the catalog system. They are able to search for books within their school's catalog, put them on hold, and even give a book review and/or rate them. This is a wonderful feature and the students love being in control of their library account. As a media specialist, I love the fact my students can interact with both the catalog system and me. Yet, I wish there was more. I believe there is a place for more social networking within the media center and the school.

One such social networking tool I wish media center's used is librarything. I love librarything and believe students, media specialist, and schools would benefit greatly if they could use this sort of social networking tool in the media center. Students could tag similar books. This would help me in assisting students who come to me saying, " I loved this series (whatever series they are reading), but I have read them all. Is there another series like this one?" or " I love books with action, etc." If I needed help coming up with titles, I could simply go to students' tags and get book ideas. Students could also see each others tags.

I do believe that incorporating social networking and the media center will become more prevalent (in a modified way) in the near future.

Media Center Webpages

The county I work for uses "School Wires" for their webpages. This program allows teachers to create pages for thier classes, clubs, & organizations from the school's main page. All pages have similar formats, but the content can be as simple or complex as the creator wants. School Wires offers blogs, surveys, photo slide shows, links, calendars, even offering a simple way to upload podcasts, allowing users to implement Web 2.0 technologies. By having an interactive, up-to-date website a media specialist can create a buzz about the programs in the media center.

The website is available when the media center is not and should be a tool students can use when conducting research from home. Media Specialists can upload pathfinders for both teachers and students, pointing to helpful websites for unit building or research. A blog that students can respond to, interest surveys for collection management, a calendar of events, and informational podcasts can help extend the media center beyond the school's walls.

Social Networking- C. Wilson

This is a very timely topic for me right now. One of my reading teachers has been using Shelfari in her reading class. Students had to create accounts and profiles and join the group she set up. Students have a "shelf" on which they put books they have read and are going to read. They can send messages to each other and to the teacher. Also, once they have read the book, they write a review on it. It has been going well until last week. Several of the students have set up or joined other groups besides the teacher's. My media clerk has a son in the class, and like a responsible parent, she checks his Shelfari account often. She began noticing a strange person in several of the groups. We did a little digging and this person is a high school student (our kids are middle school) who apparently likes to cut himself and talk about it on the internet. After we started checking up on some of the other students in the class, we realized that they are joining all kinds of random groups. We really have no control over which ones they join and who they contact. We can tell them to only join the school's group and only talk to kids they know, but it is really up to them and the parents to be responsible. It's understandable that this is why filters are in place and some systems don't allow access to anything like this, but that is really to harsh. The kids are actually enjoying this. They want to put books on their shelf and write reviews. For once they are actually excited to be planning what they are going to read next!

What we ended up doing was to send a note home in the classroom newsletter that students should only be in the school's group and should only be talking with kids that they know. We also had a very serious chat with the students and some of them were told to remove people from their groups.

Media Center Web Pages-Williams

Media center web pages are a great resource for media specialist to create. It offers information 24/7 to teachers, students, and parents. The type of information found on media center web pages varies with each media specialist; however, there are certain areas that must be included. An introduction of the media center is helpful. It allows patrons to know the hours, staff, policies, and mission statement. Another key component is the resource links. These links help students access reliable information and show them how to cite it correctly. Plagiarism is another problem students encounter; therefore, links to plagiarism and copyright sites are a must.
A really great media center web page not only lists the above information, it gives additional information. Recently, I added a checkout/research calendar to my web page. I noticed teachers were constantly coming to the media center to see when they were scheduled to checkout books. One teacher even brought her kids on the wrong week. Now teachers simply check the calendar to see their library schedule. They can also reserve library time by simply sending me an email. Being able to search for books and reserving them at home is also helpful to students.

Some other links that are helpful are:
Booster Club, AR, Lexile, Reading bowl, and any other information pertinent to your school.

Remember, in order for a web page to be beneficial, it must be updated regularly.

MC Webpages- C. Wilson

The mc webpage is very important to the media center. It should be fun and exciting just like your media center. It should definitely include some web 2.0 technologies. For example, my webpage has a link to my delicious site for students to use for research. I'd also like to get some book review podcasts up and running. I think we need a combination of both traditional and web 2.0. I like that traditional pages can be housed on the school's server, making them more "hacker" proof. Having solely a webpage on blogger scares me a little. Plus, I use DreamWeaver and have the option to use iWeb, and I like the features that it offers. I can put things just where I want them and don't have to use an established layout.

Things that should be included on a media center page are links to:
the catalog
AR (if needed)
resources for teachers and students
citation and research guidelines
book reviews
media policies

Wikis- T. Williams

Last year we introduced wikis for teachers. I remember going to the training and told this was a perfect way to post lesson plans, assignments, and information about our class. A couple of use wondered how this was a wiki. No one could contribute but the teacher. It seemed to me this was simply a page that contained information. This year, the "wikis" of last year were upgraded to true wikis. Teachers, students, and parents can now participate. Teachers are posting assignments that students can do at home and then comment on through the wiki. Podcasts of lessons are also being posted for students who need to hear the lesson again or may have missed school. Students can also post assignments. Other teachers can contribute to lessons and/or make comments. Of course, on these wikis the teacher must approve the comments before they are posted for everyone to see. I am interrested to see the results of using wikis. Some teachers are certain this will not work because students will simply not understand the concept. Other teachers are excited.
Next year I am plannin on upgrading my website to a true wiki. I already use links that benefits students, teachers, and parents; however, there is no interaction among the users. Students are able to post reviews, but I want to expand on this. I willbe incorporating my reading club onto a wiki. I could tape our reading meeting and post to wiki. I love the idea of putting science fair projects and social studies projects on the wiki. There are so many wonderful advancements that can be made in my media center and school through wikis. I am excited!!!

Wiki- C. Wilson

Wikis could be used several ways to help the school run a little bit smoother. For the media center it would be nice to put up a calendar and let people sign up by editing the page. That way everyone knows (in real time) if and when the media center is available. That would be easier than having them call or walk down to sign up. It could also be used to have students review or write up summaries on books. That would be a neat way to use it. Then others could get recommendations from fellow students.

From the example sites that I looked at, I really couldn't tell that anyone used them for their "wiki" capabilities. They looked more like regular webpages to me. I guess that editing a wiki is easier than using Nightmare-weaver, I mean Dreamweaver. Anyway, I really didn't see where many people used them for their cooperative learning benefits.

Another point that needs to be made is that wikis are often blocked in schools. Teachers and media specialists will have to "prove" that the wiki will have educational value.

Podcasting--Animoto

Hello, all!
Well, the nuts and bolts of high tech podcasting is only just beginning to make sense to me. What a great tool it will be as a media specialist, though! A math teacher not so much. (Anyone care to download the latest podcast on the quadratic formula? Grab your popcorn!) But this weekend I did run into what seems like a very useful website with free membership for teachers. It's called Animoto. Have any of you heard of it or used it? You upload your pictures or short video clips, you upload your music, and Animoto puts it all together for you with neat fades. You can also add text when and where you want it. If you don't like the way it comes out, you ask for a "remix" and it does it differently. I signed up for a membership yesterday but they have to approve me before I can actually use it. I am anxiously awaiting being able to play with it! You can check out some samples here... http://animoto.com/education/case_studies OK, and maybe I was wrong, because I see a pretty good one on function notation on there! I'll add an update to this after I try it in the next few days.