Blog #4:School News: Lights, Camera, Action!

I enjoyed the news presented by the students at Eisenhower. It was very kid-friendly. It seemed as if they took their jobs seriously as they “mocked” what they have seen on news shows shown on cable television. I also liked the headline news segment and the interviews the students conducted with the teachers. I can tell the students collaborate on a regular basis.

Orenco Elementary also had a nice news broadcast. I watched the latest episode where original cast members made an appearance on the show. I think it’s great that they came back to interact with the new hosts. The graphics were awesome and music was also a good addition to the show as well. As a teacher, I can appreciate the students incorporating some mini-lessons within the broadcast. That is such a great way to keep the students engaged in an informal way.

         I am fortunate to teach at an elementary school that has live news broadcasts. Fifth grade students are given an opportunity to apply for a position on the WRAM Crew.  This group prepares and presents the school news program each day.  To be considered for this challenging, educational opportunity, students fill out a job application and provide two teacher references. Students are rotated every nine weeks. They are expected to give up their recess time to prepare for the next morning’s show. The show is produced by the students and they are helped by the Media Specialist or the clerk.

It is streamed through a program called MediaCast. The content of the WRAM consists of the Pledge of Allegiance, the school’s pledge, lunch choices, birthdays, weather, happenings within the school, and community events with our partners in education. This year the counselor was able to have a segment where students running for student council were given an opportunity to persuade the students in the school to vote for them. Another interesting segment of the show is when the students give a short summary for the person of the day. The person’s picture is shown during the moment of silence and is referred back to later in the broadcast. Various teachers and sometimes the principal will make an appearance on the show as well. The WRAM Show has been in place for years and most likely will be a staple in our school culture for years to come.

Media Center Webpages- Beneficial or Nah (not)?

Media Center Web pages

Beneficial or Nah?

As the current parent liaison for one of the most diverse high schools in world, I am always challenged to provide resources for not only the parents but sometimes the students as well. I do so but sending our monthly newsletters, postcards, calling posts and etc.  One thing we don't have is a MC Web page. As I have "quickly" researched, I noticed they are actually a great resource, for those who like to use the Internet. One thing that would be important at this particular school is keeping it basic. We have over 47 languages in the school so if we were to create a web page, it would have to be easy to navigate and read. I think if we would model our MC Web page after one of an elementary school, then there should be no problem especially if it is uniformed with the rest of the schools in the district, which do not have web pages either.

Our school district webmaster or IT leader has made all of our school websites uniformed for easy navigation purposes. So, no matter which school in the entire school district you visit, all of our web pages are the same, minus the school logo and colors of course. Everything else is all in the same place. So, I am thinking we should all have MC Web pages as well. So that we could be a better resource to our community, parents, stakeholders and students. Many people are unaware of the library catalogs and databases that are available and until I began working out of the media center, so was I. I would say MC web pages are beneficial due to the fact of a web page always being available even when the Media Center itself might not be.

Wikis - Love 'em or leave 'em?

I think before we delve into wikis and whether we like them or not, it is important to give a quick overview into what a wiki is. A wiki is basically a website that anyone with access can edit and publish. It is as simple as that and it is almost as simple to create and publish a wiki of your own. This morning, I signed up and published one in a matter of minutes. You can find it here : http://doyouwiki.wikifoundry.com. The creator of this technology named it after a Hawaiian word for “quick” and it is the quickest way for communication to take place… no more emails to plan a lesson that gets lost in the shuffle with the media specialist!

The idea of using wikis in the media center is intriguing. A media specialist could create a wiki with pages for each grade level represented and have teachers post upcoming lessons and the media specialist could respond with resources available online or in the media center. With all teachers having access to the wiki, another teacher could comment on things that worked or didn’t work in his/her classroom. One drawback I did see on the Apalachee High School Media Center's Wiki is that some of the information was out of date. If a media specialist posts links for teachers to use in their lesson plans, the media specialist should be responsible for checking the link periodically to make sure it is still available. I can only imagine the problems outdated links could cause while having 23 1st graders staring you down while you are trying to find the link to a book talk online … talk about pressure! I also noticed that out of date links were an issue on the Best Practices Wiki (for and by librarians). If the wiki can be kept up to date and relevant, I think they have a place in education. I also think a running list of “What Are You Reading” could be a fun addition to a staff run Media Center wiki. Most teachers are readers and what a great way to share your new favorites with your teacher friends? Could maybe even be the start of a Book Club!

Wikis in the classroom – I think the teacher really has to know her class and know that they could handle the responsibility. Picture this….. a collaborative book report on “To Kill A Mockingbird” for your class of 8^th graders. The teacher starts off the report with a few sentences and it is the responsibility of the class to complete it. Because each student has to register and all changes and additions to the wiki are recorded, the teacher would know who contributed and who didn’t. As a student, I would have flipped over the opportunity to do something “fun” like this. A living, breathing wiki for an assignment like this could make learning more fun and encourage students to think outside the box and build on their classmates thoughts and ideas. A wiki could also be used for students working on a class project together – real time updates while working from home or at the library – no need to spend hours on a Saturday at the library, when you can collaborate from home! I do think that a teacher would have to oversee wikis in these cases. I like the Charter that the ladies at Apalachee High School used for its wiki. I believe all students need ground rules and need to understand them.

“Don't take it personally when your work is edited. You may not agree with every change. It is fair to ask why a change was made and to expect concrete reasons.”

“Should you be the one editing, it is polite to go to the discussion tab to leave a note explaining why a change was made. It is poor form to delete a post; try to adjust the work instead of erasing it entirely.”

In order for a wiki to become a place for collaboration, instead of a filing cabinet for information, it needs to be active. All parties involved need to understand why they are using the wiki and the importance of posting information there. While a wiki filing cabinet is not necessarily a bad thing, the information won’t be up to date and probably won’t be useful to many people.

I will admit, when I first started thinking about wikis for this assignment, I had a negative reaction... wikis? Really? Why would I want to post something online that someone else could change as soon as I posted it? Well... what if they have a better way of saying what I tried to say originally? Overall, I think the idea of wikis in education is a great one. Collaboration at its finest!