E514 Web Connection Activity: This, I Believe

by Jim Lang

E514 Newspapers In Education Participants:

Instructions: Examine NPR’s This I Believe website again. In particular, be sure to examine the resources marked for Educators. Please respond to the following by Monday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Leave a Comment section:

1. Your name and grade level:
2. Briefly critique the site. Is it functional for educators? What are the best parts? Areas that could use some work? 
3. Develop and describe a specific lesson plan activity in a paragraph or two that you could use in your classroom based on resources from the NPR This I Believe website. This counts as Lesson Plan #3, which you may copy and paste into a document and include in your portfolio if you’d like. 

These lesson plans will be posted throughout the week from February 6-10, so feel free to look back at this site throughout the week for ideas. Please note that the moderator must officially approve all comments, so your responses will not appear right away.

E514 Web Connection Activity: Matthew Tully’s The Manual Project

by Jim Lang

E514 Newspapers In Education Participants:

Indianapolis Star reporter Matthew Tully spent months reporting and writing stories about the Indanapolis Public School system. Now that you have read a number of his stories, please respond to the following by Friday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m.:

1. Your name and grade level:
2. Which story was your favorite? Why
3. What reporting and writing techniques did Tully use that you would use in lessons with your own students?
4. How would you use some or all of these stories in your own classroom and/or to develop your own newspaper and journalism lessons? 

Please feel free to read and respond to others’ comments and postings as well. Remember that your comments must be approved by the administrator (that’s me!), so they may not show up right away. I will update and post any new comments daily.

How should teachers be rewarded?

by Jim Lang

How should teachers be rewarded?

That was the question posed to me by my state senator, Ron Grooms, this morning. It’s a serious question with no easy answers.

We’ve all heard phrases like “merit pay” and “performance-based compensation” thrown around by those advocating education reform in Indiana and in other states. We’re also aware of what much of the research shows: that performance incentives like merit pay have little impact on students’ academic achievements. One look at the results of the 2010 National Center for Performance Incentives study from Vanderbilt University proves this.

I have always believed that those who support merit pay fundamentally misunderstand teachers. Quite simply, money doesn’t motivate most of us. If it did, we’d be using our considerable skills to make a lot more money in another profession. Most teachers I know will not be motivated to grade more papers, develop more exceptional lesson plans, or provide that extra time to a struggling student simply because of the promise of a financial reward. And I certainly do not think financial rewards should be provided based on our students’ test scores.

Still, Ron’s question remains, and I think it’s a perfect opportunity to get a discussion going while perhaps providing him some feedback.

So, to my teacher friends, fellow educators, parents, students, and anyone else who’s reading and who cares to comment, here are some questions to think about:

• What are your suggestions for rewarding exceptional teachers?
• How should this be measured and/or determined by local school corporations?
• What should our state legislators consider in determining how to reward good teachers?

Feel free to respond to any or all of the above questions in the comments section. If you feel comfortable doing so, let us know a little about your teaching experience and/or interest in Indiana education as well.

This should make for an interesting dialogue.

To my readers…

My name is Jim Lang.

I am a journalism and English teacher at Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. I advise the Bagpiper, the student newspaper at FC, and teach English 12 Honors and Journalism I. I am a former president and board members of the Indiana High School Press Association and teach each summer at the High School Journalism Institute at the Indiana University School of Journalism.

I believe that journalism is the best way to teach writing, enhance students’ writing skills, and teach leadership and civic engagement. My interests include reading, writing, literacy, politics, the media, issues of faith, and, of course,  IU basketball. Basically, I’ll blog about anything and everything. I’m an independent thinker. I respect all viewpoints and opinions and value reasonable discourse and learning about others.

Perhaps most importantly, I have been a proud public school teacher all of my life. I love teaching. I love my students. I love the impact they have on their school, community, and each other through their work on their newspaper. I love watching them learn, grow, mature, and become amazing people in the world. Their success and happiness mean far more to me than their test scores.

We’re in a time of great change in education in Indiana and across the nation. I believe some of these changes are good. I believe many are not. This blog is my attempt to explore and better understand these issues while trying to both provide and gain some perspective.

I hope my readers and I can achieve three goals through this forum:

• explore the social, political, and policy issues impacting education
• promote literacy and civic engagement
• support scholastic journalism

I’d like my readers to be active participants in this forum, as I believe we need more serious, reasonable discourse on important issues, especially issues affecting our kids, teachers, schools, and communities. My only request is this: no anonymous comments. Let’s not hide behind some clever screen name or pseudonym here. Instead, let’s really explore and discuss these issues together in a respectful manner, even when we disagree.

So, my challenge to you is to join me. I’m not sure where this is going, and that will be the fun part of this journey.

Journalism: Examples of Great Storytelling Using Photos and Sound

Both the New York Times and The Los Angeles Times do an exceptional job of using photojournalism and audio to tell stories. Check out the sites below:

New York Times One in Eight Million

LA Times pop.u.LA.tion

Bagpiper named Newspaper of the Year; Bartizan named Yearbook of the Year

Floyd Central Bagpiper and Bartizan journalists attended the annual press convention of the Southeastern Indiana Student Press Association (SISPA) at Indiana University Southeast on Friday, Oct. 29.

The Bagpiper was named Newspaper of the Year for the seventh consecutive year based on work published last school year and this fall. In addition, the 2010 Bartizan yearbook was named Yearbook of the Year at the conference for the second consecutive year. Individual journalists from both staffs were also honored at the convention for their published work.

Congratulations for both staffs for their continued success.

Jensen named IHSPA Administrator of the Year

Floyd Central journalists weren’t the only Highlanders honors at last week’s IHSPA state journalism convention at Franklin College on Oct. 21-22. FC principal Louie Jensen was officially named the IHSPA Indiana Administrator of the Year.

Jensen was honored for his consistent support of scholastic journalism and press freedoms, as well as his continual support for the Bagpiper and Bartizan staffs at Floyd Central. He will officially be presented with the award at the IHSPA First Amendment Symposium at the Indiana State House in Indianapolis on Wednesday, March 2.

Floyd Central is the only Indiana school to have two administrators honored by the IHSPA, as former principal John Marsh also received the award in 2002. Additionally, former New Albany High School principal Steve Sipes also received the award, making the New Albany-Floyd County School Corporation the only corporation in Indiana to have more than one administrator honored by the IHSPA.

We should all be proud that the NA-FC schools and administrators continue to support student press freedoms without administrative prior review and censorship.

Bagpiper named Hoosier Star newspaper

The 2009-10 Bagpiper was named a Hoosier Star newspaper at the annual convention of the Indiana High School Press Association at Franklin College on Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. The Hoosier Star award is Indiana’s highest honor for high school publications; this marks the first time The Bagpiper has earned the state’s highest honor.

Congratulations to all FC Bagpiper staff members for achieving this impressive honor!

Bagpiper staff members use website to expand readership

The Bagpiper staff published the third issue of the FC student newspaper on Friday, Sept. 24 during second period and spent much of the day promoting content for the Bagpiper web publication.

Readers responded, as Bagpiper Online had 317 hits on Friday, Sept. 24 (the goal was 200), and 108 more hits on Saturday, Sept. 25. Perhaps most impressive is that readers are now commenting on content, especially opinion columns.

Great job to FC journalists, who take the time to publish quality work in print and online. And this again demonstrates the need for schools to support web publications and on-line journalism. We’re fortunate to work at a school and in a corporation that supports our journalism students so much.

Check out our student journalists’ work for yourself at www.fchsbagpiper.wordpress.com.

FC journalists excel during Week 2 of HSJI

Once again, FC student journalists spent five days in the hot Bloomington weather enhancing their skills and their publications at the High School Journalism Institute at Indiana University. And once again, they learned a great deal while excelling.

Students attending Week 2 of HSJI from July 11-15 include seniors Emily Brewer, Kat Brewer, Chelsey Carr, Laura Hubrich, Carmen Huff, Abigail Kost, Amanda Millea, and Avery Walts; juniors Brittani Clerici and Garrett Receveur; and sophomore Lauren McNeeley.

The FC Yearbook Team of Chelsey Carr, Laura Hubrich, Carmen Huff, Abigail Kost, and Lauren McNeeley won 2nd place in Outstanding Portfolio.

Carmen Huff won her lab award for the second consecutive week. In addition, Kat Brewer won the Instructor’s Choice Award in photojournalism, and Brittani Clerici won the Class Choice Award in photojournalism.

Senior Kathryn Brewer is awarded the $500 David Adams Memorial Scholarship at the High School Journalism Institute in July. Photo by Jay Seawell/hsji.org.

Finally, Chelsey Carr, Carmen Huff, and Avery Walts were awarded scholarships for their work and attitude during the week. In addition, Kat Brewer won the $500 David Adams Scholarship for her outstanding photojournalism work, effort, and participation during the week.

These FC journalists demonstrated great dedication and commitment in representing the Bagpiper and Bartizan staffs at HSJI. Congratulations to them for another outstanding week.