List of sessions for Advisers Institute 2016
JEA’s Advisers Institute brings journalism teachers from across the country together for a week of adviser-specific training and networking. Below is a tentative list of sessions that have been scheduled for this year’s conference. Visit the registration page to learn more about Advisers Institute.
The debt crisis
This session is a candid discussion of how to budget well, avoid debt and get out of a debt crisis. Topics include budgeting principles, out-of-the-box fundraising ideas and best practices for avoiding debt altogether.
Abrianna Nelson, CJE, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
Journalism as differentiation
Differentiation is a common pedagogical tool that can be difficult to implement practically in the classroom. Lucky for journalism teachers, the newsroom seems designed with differentiation in mind. This session will provide practical suggestions for how to understand journalism as differentiation as well as tools, suggestions, and strategies to both implement differentiation and talk with others about how differentiation works in your classroom.
Abrianna Nelson, CJE, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
Stop herding cats
Having all levels of journalism in one classroom at the same time can be a blessing. Learn how to manage this ultimate case of differentiation and take some of the workload off of you at the same time.
Valerie Kibler, CJE, Harrisonburg (Va.) High School
The potential of data journalism
Storytelling with data is an essential skill for today’s journalists. This session will showcase the power of data and introduce participants to what type of documents and databases exist. Participants will receive access to all resources and materials and are encouraged to attend Wednesday’s hands-on session.
Sarah Nichols, MJE, Whitney High School, Rocklin, Calif.
Megan Fromm, CJE, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, Colo.
The potential for data journalism (two hours)
Using a data set provided, participants will learn how to clean, analyze, put into context and use data to tell a story as we walk through each part of the process together with sample exercises. We’ll experiment with a variety of free visualization tools. Participants should bring a laptop to this hands-on session.
Sarah Nichols, MJE, Whitney High School, Rocklin, Calif.
Megan Fromm, CJE, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, Colo.
Building an editorial policy that works (2 hours)
Members of JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee will give you some tips and then work with you to develop an editorial policy to share with your students. From a foundation with strong ethical guidelines to a workable staff manual, we’ll help you tweak what you already have or start from scratch to make a three-part package that supports support journalistically responsible student media. Participants should bring copies of their policies, ethical statements and staff manuals, as well as a laptop.
John Bowen, MJE, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Lori Keekley, MJE, St Louis Park High School, St Louis Park, Minn.
For the curious and the serious
Designed to introduce new folks to SNO and to ensure current members know all that SNO has to offer, this session has something for every media adviser. By showcasing what a SNO site can do, showing off our newest features and introducing you to our online planning tool, you’ll see how signing up with SNO can transform your online publication from the day a story is assigned to the moment it goes live. From news sites to online literary arts mags to yearbooks using our planning tool, SNO is here to support all of scholastic journalism.
Kari Koshiol, Benilde-St Margarets School, St. Louis Park, Minn.
First five minutes are so important
Flip your classroom and turn your students into the teachers. Use the first five minutes of every class to let the students teach the rest of the class things they feel they need to improve upon.
Valerie Kibler, CJE, Harrisonburg (Va.) High School
Taking your website to the next level
At the heart of successful journalism is strong storytelling, but online journalism requires more than just publishing your great stories online and hoping the masses will come running. Young readers want multimedia options and interactive content to hold their interest. Come and learn about some exciting tools to up your online game and keep your high school readers coming back to your site.
Danielle Ryan, MJE, Carlsbad (Calif.) High School
Ease your Illustrator anxiety
Caution: I am not an Illustrator guru. If you want expert Illustrator instruction, this session is not for you. However, I CAN quickly teach you how to create professional-grade charts, graphs, maps and icons with relative ease. This is a demonstration session, so be prepared to take notes. Supplemental PDF handouts will be provided.
Brian Hayes, MJE, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.
Design in mind
Your content may be brilliant, but no one will look at it if it’s not visually pleasing. Learn how to entice your readers to stay with you until the end with these tips, trends and industry secrets. Ideal for yearbook and newsmagazine.
Jennifer Freeman Thompson, CJE, Picaboo Yearbooks, North Little Rock, Ark.
Grammar can be (almost) painless
It’s true — students don’t learn to write better by underlining the subject once and the verb twice. Still, a good foundation in grammar, punctuation and usage can make any journalist better. We’ll work on some approaches to help you teach students why a pronoun should match its antecedent — and we’ll learn to have fun doing it. These skills can make a difference — especially in competition and college.
Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Podcasting 101
Teachers who attend this session will leave with easy ways to introduce audio production into their classroom. For those who are looking for ways to include a “real-world” audience appeal, while giving students purpose and motivation, welcome to the world of podcasting. Podcasts can be published and archived so students learn from one another by both creating and hearing original audio. You will leave with the tools and resources needed for creating podcasts, lesson ideas for multiple subject areas and where to find examples.
Jane Bannester, Ritenour High School, Saint Louis, Mo.
Creative teaching resources for the classroom
The session is a bonanaza of creative teaching handouts and lessons for the yearbook adviser. Attendees will walk away with materials ready for their classroom.
Mike Parker, Balfour Yearbooks, Dallas, Texas
Simple tips for making your news website amazing
How can you utilize all the tools and opportunities of being online to make your coverage more dynamic. This session will discuss how to quickly improve your website with a focus on multimedia tools that are easy to use and include.
Justin Raisner, Carlmont High School, Belmont, Calif.
We’re all in this together
It takes a village to raise a publication. We will cover many things you can do to get parents, administrators and fellow faculty members on your side.
Valerie Kibler, CJE, Harrisonburg (Va.) High School
Show your true colors
Color is a powerful communication and branding tool. The response to color is often emotional. Learn how to employ color in print and digital media in this session produced in collaboration with the experts at the Pantone Color Institute.
Gary Lundgren, Jostens Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.
Don’t tell them ‘Your writing sucks!’
Improving students’ writing is at the heart of every journalism teacher’s mission. This session will provide strategies for helping staff members through the revision process by focusing on voice, structure and staying on message. You will also learn how to teach your editors these strategies, turning them into coaches rather than simply links in the copy chain.
Justin Daigle, CJE, Brighton High School, Brighton, Colo.
Experimentation in student media
In this session we’ll look at the questions students should be asking as they strive to produce reader-relevant media, operate in a competitive market and prepare for the 21st-century workforce. See how critical thinking and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand as we tackle content, delivery and more.
Sarah Nichols, MJE, Whitney High School, Rocklin, Calif.
Using a Chromebook for audio and video production
As schools access new technologies, like the Chromebook, to create a 1:1 environment, we have to imagine new ways to create content for our audience. This session will explain easy, budget-friendly ways to weave audio and video alternatives into your staff room through the use of cloud-based programs. You will leave knowing the tools accessible to you at school, alternative software options, and different ways to implement in to your own teaching.
Jane Bannester, Ritenour High School, Saint Louis, Mo.
Run your staff like a start-up
Use the fast-paced Silicon Valley style to take your staff management to the next level. Learn methods that will transform your approach to everyday struggles like budgets and deadlines, and turn your publication into the next big thing.
Jennifer Freeman Thompson, CJE, Picaboo Yearbooks, North Little Rock, Ark.
The future is media convergence
In the evolving landscape of journalism, what changes can we make to our existing programs to meet the demands of preparing students for the profession? Media convergence has been the answer for multiple universities and colleges. Is the “interaction between different media forms and platforms” something you can create in your own school? Learn about one school that is building this model. Come hear the tale of integrating a newspaper, radio, video and TV news program into one collective department.
Jane Bannester, Ritenour High School, Saint Louis, Mo.
Taming the online beast
Online publications, when done right, are constant flow of content. Managing an online newsroom is often an intimidating proposition for both veteran and new advisers. Bring your most challenging problems and we will discuss effective ways to assign content, grade students, organize stories, utilize social media, and structure your editorial staff.
Danielle Ryan, MJE, Carlsbad (Calif.) High School
50 steps to better writing
The heart of what we teach always comes back to writing. When we focus on creating better writers, we all ultimately win. We gain more readers, we gain more respect, we realize our potential. Learn little tips and quick tricks you can teach your students to improve their writing.
Valerie Kibler, CJE, Harrisonburg (Va.) High School
Rubrics aren’t just for grading anymore
Rubrics are great tools for ensuring equity and speeding up the grading process, but they can also help guide student writing when used correctly. In this session we’ll learn about how to create and use rubrics to help students target their weaknesses.
Cathy Wall, MJE, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Ill.
Obsession mastery
Our students are trained to perform a variety of skills, but oftentimes get stretched thin covering all elements of the school and community. Learn about how to streamline your students by going beyond a beat system and into obsessions, where students focus on one thing in an effort to teach, train, and produce quality content-driven media. This session will also discuss how this model changed the structure of a program.
Patrick Johnson, CJE, Antioch Community High School, Antioch, Ill.
Learning from our dirty laundry
Learn how one staff uses failure as a learning tool. We will show how a staff improved during the year by learning from every painful, yet useful, mistake.
Lori Keekley, MJE, St Louis Park High School, St Louis Park, Minn.
AP analysis: Improve your students’ writing
Need to show student growth and justify your program? Attend this session where newspaper and yearbook advisers will share how a unit of instruction that used the Advanced Placement Language test improved students‚ opinion and feature writing skills.
Elizabeth Levin, MJE, Downers Grove North High School, Downers Grove, Ill.
Bottom line design
Trends come and go, but the foundations of good design remain the same. This session will discuss how design principles, elements, color and type influence audience engagement and understanding.
Brian Hayes, MJE, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.
Let’s write about something that matters
When we talk about students using their voices, we’re probably not thinking about the Top 10 Ways to Ask a Girl to Prom or a rundown of clubs students can join. Sure, there may be a place for that in student media, but if your staff wants to make a difference in their school or community, they need to do some real reporting. Get ideas by looking at what others have accomplished. Learn how to use things like FOIA requests, school board coverage and strong interview skills to nail cover some issues that really matter.
John Bowen, MJE, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Lori Keekley, MJE, St Louis Park High School, St Louis Park, Minn.
The video profile concept
Use a three-project approach that aims to advance your student’s knowledge and skills in multimedia broadcast. The Short Profile project allows students to get familiar with their classmates, cameras, audio gear and editing software. The Long Profile project takes students to the next level by having them get more creative shots and begin thinking about editing techniques and story telling methods. Finally, the Short Documentary project pushes students to master the basic skills they have learned and really work on pacing and storytelling principles.
Kristofer Doran, Trumbull Career and Technical Center, Warren, Ohio
Developing inquiry
Let’s be real: Assessment is one of the most difficult “chores” in our programs, and the constant questions on JEAHELP reinforce that notion. This session focuses on redeveloping the intro journalism class to build skills through inquiry-based projects, and carrying that through to advanced production classes. Samples will be provided.
Patrick Johnson, CJE, Antioch Community High School, Antioch, Ill.
Contemporary content packaging
Let’s explore strategies and trends for effectively displaying verbal and visual content in print publications.
Gary Lundgren, Jostens Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.
Introduction to Adobe Premiere
Adobe Premiere is one of the top video editing platforms and can open up new doors for your students’ multimedia storytelling. Come learn about the potential of this software and get a brief tutorial on the software’s basic operations.
Kristofer Doran, Trumbull Career and Technical Center, Warren, Ohio
Help for new advisers
JEA-trained mentors are prepared to help new journalism advisers who may feel they are likely to 1) live through the experience; 2) die from the experience; or 3) thrive, given appropriate help. Find out how to get your own JEA mentor.
Linda Barrington, Mout Mary University, Milwaukee, Wis.
2 > 1
Sign up for a 2 > 1 session to double your brainpower. Get individualized support in a conversational setting and pick the brain of an experienced adviser.
Certification test for CJE and MJE candidates
Advisers who have applied to take the Certified Journalism Educator or Master Journalism Educator tests will do so at this time. Session includes a 20-minute study session and a 2 ½-hour test session. Please bring your laptop.
Cathy Wall, MJE, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Ill.