Stop the Press

Back to my ranting about technology.
I was a broadcast journalism major who stumbled into teaching. I don't regret it. This has been my profession for the last 18 years and I would not have it any other way.

Last summer I attended the Summer Institute for Writing at Teacher's College and took a section on teaching journalism with Audra Robb. Needless to say, the class was great. During that week we learned the fundamentals of teaching journalism using the workshop model and in the end walked away with a pretty solid unit.

Flash forward to September and I find out that I will no longer be teaching grade 6 but rather grades 7 and 8 English and two additional writing classes. What do I teach in the writing class? What is the curriculum? (Silence) So, with nothing said, I drew up a curriculum calendar complete with rational and minilessons for the writing classes. Yes, you guessed it, one of the classes is a journalism class and a proposal to start a middle school newspaper.

School year commences and my journalists are on a roll. The newspaper is a success and everyone looks forward to the next month's publication. I even have an after school journalism club! And then it happens...Technology gets in the way. Let me remind you, I love technology, but I love it when it proves to advance learning, not put a halt to it. We were told that our newspaper would no longer be available in a printed format. We were ONLY to publish on line. Yes you heard right, not in addition to, but instead of.

I still have my class, and the club is continuing to meet after school, but students no longer ask about the next publication, submit questions for the advice columnist, or even read the paper with any regularity.

Today I came across an article in Classroom Publishing: A Practical Guide for Teachers titled,"Why High School Newspapers Matter. This is what a school news adviser says about getting rid of printed papers:

" Newport High School’s newspaper and lit mag adviser Greg Adams concludes: But here’s the truth: Virtually no high school student, teacher, custodian, secretary or principal is going to regularly visit the school’s online-only newspaper. It just does not happen. It never will. They need to hold the paper in their hands, spread it across desks, read articles and editorials together, talk, argue, complain. By doing so, the entire school community participates in one of the most electric teaching moments high school teaching affords — when the paper comes out and the issue is hot."

I concur!