From the Web: Social Media and High School Journalism

As with many districts across the United States, my district blocks student (and teacher) access to social media. Thus far, we don't have a policy anywhere near as draconian as the one proposed in Rhode Island. Here's a little Xtranormal video I ran across on Twitter (via @SPLC) that explains the situation.

Beginning Blogging, Part II

Just recently we revisited commenting. Our newspaper now has an online home, but we’re not getting a lot of traffic yet (frankly, that’s fine because we’re still tweaking the site and trying to establish a functional workflow). We reviewed three basic commenting rules:

1.    Use your real name. For students, a first name and last initial are fine (remember, these are high school students).

2.    Move the conversation forward. Add something meaningful to the conversation. It’s fine to agree or disagree, but explain WHY.

3.    Re-read your comment before posting. Check for spelling and punctuation errors. It’s helpful to read the comment out loud to yourself or move your lips while you read it. Doing that will help you find any missing words.

I then set the students loose on the website. They found articles and blog posts that appealed to them and left comments. Some of them were profound. Some comments carried forward conversation about issues at school. Almost all of them really did add something to the conversation.

One other thing that I did before students started working was to grab a newspaper. I set the scene where I was at the breakfast table with a paper. A student was sitting across from me and we each had a section of the newspaper. As we read, we discussed the articles that caught our interest. Back in the day (as my students say), the conversation about the article stopped there unless you took the time to write a Letter to the Editor. Nowadays, you can have a conversation with the writer of the story and every other person who reads and comments on the story! I saw the lights go on as they finally understood how conversations about online news stories really can make a difference.

Google Wave, I hardly knew ye...

By now you've probably heard that Google has pulled the plug on Google Wave. While it had some interesting features (such as replaying a thread), it was difficult to follow and confusing when you had more than two people on a wave at once. Early on, the gadgets did not consistently work. I got frustrated and basically left it alone. Sure, I'd check in once in awhile, but I never really used it with any sort of consistency.

I'm glad the announcement came now before I invested a lot of time into figuring out how to make it work for my student journalists. You see, Wave would have been a fantastic way for my journalists to keep track of their stories. They could transcribe notes, write questions, store drafts of stories, add pictures related to their story, add links related to their story and more. So...we'll stick with Google Docs for that.

Technology pundits are predicting that though Wave is gone, many of it's features will be resurrected elsewhere. See PC World's commentary, Louis Gray's piece about Wave and the much-maligned Google Buzz, and, of course, the Official Google Blog announcement for more.

Go Forth. Look for Funding.

I was delighted last night to open my email and see a "Your project has been FUNDED!" email from DonorsChoose. This project was "Journalism to Go" which will help my students journalists get going using more web-based tools to share their stories and photos. Once again I used the power of social media to get the word out that the project needed just a bit more money for full funding.

The real purpose of this post, though, is the emphasize the point that we (teachers and school communities) need to actively search for funding opportunities for resources we might not otherwise be able to get. Here in California things are going to get worse in school funding before they get better, so we're going to have to get creative.

Yes, things will be rough, but we don't have to go without. Go forth. Look for funding. When you find an opportunity tell your colleagues. Together, we can bring resources to our classrooms!

Poynter Online - Writing Tools

This post speaks to me. I have a printed copy. I have it bookmarked. I have it on my iPhone. I want to be reminded what it means to be a good writing teacher even though that is not my primary job.

• Poynter Online - Writing Tools

  tags: poynter

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

News: Personalized

If you're tired of sifting through all of the headlines at traditional news sites, try MeeHive or NewsCred. I've introduced both to my journalism students and will be doing the same with my geography students in the new year.

Both sites allow users, upon free registration, to create a daily online newspaper that is specific to the user's interests. Want to know what's happening in the world of professional sports? You can get all the headlines. Want to know the latest on the Swine Flu? Both sites can get you the top stories from around the world.

I first introduced my students to MeeHive in early 2009 when we were studying climate change. MeeHive allows you to create a personalized paper by selecting topics within more broad categories such as US and World, Business and Finance or Science and Technology. MeeHive allows the user to choose how to receive the news (I get daily updates through email) including through their iPhone app or your RSS reader. MeeHive is also part social network in that it allows you to connect with other users who have similar interests.

NewsCred offers many of the same features, including the ability to have followers. NewsCred also grabs stories from all over world on your topics of interest. It also can deliver daily emails of your top news stories conveniently categorized according to your interests. NewsCred allow you to create a publicly viewable 'newspaper' without the need to log in. Here's mine for 12.20.09. NewsCred will also allow users to write editorials on topics in their personalized papers. NewsCred has a premium service that removes branding and allows you to have a more personalized domain name.

So, which is better? It's hard to say. My students seem to prefer MeeHive and many of them regularly use it to review current events. I find the daily email from NewsCred easier to deal with because it's categorized. If I'm not interested in a particular category on a particular day, I can easily skip it. As an educator, I like the potential for having students write their own editorials on news topics within the NewsCred interface.

Overall, both services have great potential in the classroom. Newspapers can be personalized for topics under study. You could even have students do daily news round-ups using their papers.

Things I've Learned from Twitter v.8.19.09

Yesterday, Roger Zuidema posted on his blog "Top 5 Things I've Learned on Twitter Today 8/19/09." With all the fuss about Twitter (including the claim that 40% of all Tweets are useless) I thought I'd follow suit. This is my list from 8.19.09 and includes links, articles and the like from about 5:30-6:30 am PDT.

• @jutecht Just Blogged: Netvibes.com in the classroom http://bit.ly/17LkMn (I think I'll have to try this out. Great idea to push content to students)
• @russelltarr How to make a Youtube interactive video! Very cool idea for the classroom! http://tinyurl.com/ljk4xs Awesome idea for students to work through video semi-independently.
• @suzannewhisler 10 Ideas for Engaging Learners with Cell Phones Even in Districts that Ban Them by Lisa Nielsen. http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/22554
• @frontlineblog Express censured for fourth time in two weeks over undeclared advertorials http://bit.ly/3SA8Ew As a newspaper adviser, I believe it is critical that we discuss ethical issues in class. This is a great example.
• @AEJMC Chadwick Matlin: Huffington Post + Facebook = the Future of Journalism http://ow.ly/ky2x Hmmm. Do I want someone tracking my reading habits like this?
• @dwarlick I liked the colors so much that I changed my blog theme (http://vk2.sl.pt). Check out Personas (http://vk3.sl.pt) I started out by looking at the blog and Personas, then went on to David's post on education reform and the Obama administration here.

Just recently, I've had several educators ask me about Twitter and my infatuation with it. Some claim there is nothing useful out there in the Twitterverse, others say they just don't get it. I always encourage teachers to start by following me, then looking at who I follow (and who is following me) to find educators posting great ideas and resources. Try it, you might like it.

Introducing...the Journalism Lab!

Here are the first photos of the brand new journalism lab at my school. We're still in the process of getting everything set up, but it's coming along nicely. In the fall we'll have our newspaper and yearbook staffs in here as well as our brand new online newspaper staff.

Notice the morgue on top of the shelving in the background.

The ugly paper over the window will go away, to be replaced by inexpensive curtains and mirrored window film.

Following a brief, but intense skirmish with the computer tables, the movers determined that there was enough room for a teacher desk after all.

The tables are set in a semi-U shape and are back-to-back. We'll have 22 desktops to use for our publications. The new lab is the result of combining two rooms that had been used for publications.

Be Still My Geographer's Heart!

Okay, my journalist's heart needs to be still too. The Washington Post has put together a visual representation of the spatial distribution of news stories around the world. What could be better?

The embedding feature isn't working real well right now, but this link takes you to the map for April 29 about 8:15 pm.

Though clearly sponsored by Sprint, the Post has written up a wonderful description of the in-house development of this tool.