School TV News
School TV news has been around for a while, but with the new technology, more is available to schools. Back in my day, we would watch a broadcast from a thing called "Channel One" news. It featured a very young Mandy Moore and it was widely broadcast. It, of course, had nothing to do with our school, but we still watched it anyways. Today, many schools have a broadcast using students as their newscasters. It is a fun way to get the information to students and a good way to bring the school together.
The Orenco Elementary "Kids News Network" is a great use of students! This program uses a green screen to play images behind students who are delivering the daily news. One segment in particular lasted about 20 minutes and included the weather, students singing, and school news. It was a fun show and a great way to deliver information. Check out their site to see more (http://schools.hsd.k12.or.us/orenco/Home/tabid/2559/Default.aspx)!
As for the Eisenhower Middle School ETV program, they showed actual weather maps for the day! How cool is that? The students giving the announcements are made to look like a mini newset. They also switch anchors like you would see on a real news announcement! This school has a calendar of the news topic for each day and you can watch it again if you missed it. This would be a good feature for parents as well! This site also uses different students throughout. You can view this site at http://www.wyckoffschools.org/eisenhower/etv/index.html#.
When it comes to the school I currently work in, we have two different types of broadcast. We have the local school broadcast and an area-wide broadcast with all the schools in the "cluster." For the local school news, the technology teacher runs the show. He uses student council members as the anchors. This is broadcast every morning and includes the days announcements, pledge, and moment of silence. Occasionally, they will have sports team members discussing upcoming games or wins. Only when they have a problem with the media will the school announcements be dond over the loudspeakers and this is still performed by students. The only real problem encountered by this group is the loss of the microphone. Sometimes folks borrow it and forget to bring it back!
For the "cluster" news, several students were selected by the media specialist to perform this duty. Every week, these students get together to record their voices to pictures or they type of things that have happened during the week at school. This gets sent to the local high school that adds it to a video with the other schools in the community. Its basically an offset of the high school news. This news (at least from our school) usually covers sports games, school happenings, and students who have won awards or other recognition. This group uses Google Docs a good deal to share and edit with each other. The high school uploads the combined videos to YouTube which allows the whole community access. I suppose the major problem they encounter is just getting it done in time or finding enough information to fill a segment.
School TV News is a great idea for schools. With newer technology, I'm sure students will be able to produce more advanced shows for their viewers. Some videos I've already seen in the sites mentioned above, are very well done and include a lot of information. Also, these sites give parents a way to keep involved in school happenings!
Orenco Elementary School definitely engages students in the school news program but I wonder when these great productions are created. When is there time to view a 20 minute segment of a school news presentation? I definitely think students should be the center of the production and broadcast of school announcements but to engage in such elaborate presentations that have been created by other schools; I wonder if a separate class would be useful at the high school level to design great announcements. Aligning the course with the CCSS would increase the likelihood of the course creation. Any opportunity to engage students in reading, writing, and speaking is a plus for all academic subjects.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the 20 minute production was a "special production." Students and teachers who are engaged in the communication/video arts are most likely willing to put in before and after school time to prepare the news segments. Many high schools do offer classes in Mass Communications and Journalism. Researching news (current events, science topics, environmental, social topics, etc.), practicing oral skills, technology learning, information knowledge, presenting to an audience, and more all align to the CCSS. I agree with Layla's statement that these broadcasts are of value to parents as well as students.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea behind the Orenco Elementary is a great idea! I love the green screen idea and what a great way to keep students engaged! I think 20 minutes is a little too long though for morning announcements. As a math teacher, I value all of my class time. I definitely think a lot of great ideas can be taken from many examples and you can adapt it to your school and your students.
ReplyDeleteI loved the point you made about the video having nothing to do with your school but it was still watched. I think the greatest part about sites like YouTube is the personalization factor and ease of use. Years ago there was much more involved in completing video announcements, now everyone has a camera and even editing tools on their phones/tablets/computers. There is so much access that we really have no excuse to not use them. Also, I enjoyed reading about the student creativity that is inspired through morning announcements. I think using the students as much as possible inspires the parents and teachers to get involved thus creating a collaborative environment.
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