Author Archives: Julie Dodd
Grading student work — not with red ink
An important part of teaching is evaluating student learning. For a media writing class, that evaluation includes reading and grading student writing…and reading and grading more student writing…and reading and grading more student writing. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies advises not using red ink for grading, as students have developed a negative outlook toward red ink […]
The benefits of collaborative teaching efforts
Teaching often can be a solitary activity even with a classroom filled with students. Especially for high school journalism teachers, you can be the one-and-only in your school. For me, working with six to ten teaching assistants and adjuncts every semester is a great experience. We discuss the why’s and how’s of the course, deal […]
Motivating performance in class and outside of class
After teaching Writing for Mass Communication for several semesters, I realized that we needed to start the course with the last chapter — “Media Jobs and Internships.” Most of the students in the course have no experience working in the media (i.e., a high school publication, the college publication, an internship at an ad agency). […]
Finding the right textbook
A key part of developing a course and of the learning process for the students is the course textbook. This is the main textbook I use for Writing for Mass Communication. The book doesn’t include any chapters on writing for advertising. Evan True, a former teaching assistant for the course, wrote our advertising chapters based […]
Getting ready for a new semester
Teaching a course with more than 250 students involves some additional logistics and planning. A key part is making sure that the seven teaching assistants who teach the writing labs are prepared and ready to go. A listserv for each of the 13 labs and a course Web site help with communication and coordination.
A student for every syllabus
A student for every syllabus — Classes are starting at the University of Florida. Here are the copies of the syllabus for Writing for Mass Communication, an introductory writing course for journalism, advertising and public relations majors. More than 250 students will be taking the course this semester.
View of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Look Rock
This is one of my photos taken during a hike in the Smokies in May 2007. In the mid to late 1800s, children who lived in the area would walk up to six miles a day to attend school in a one-room schoolhouse. One of my favorites is Little Greenbrier School.
Thoughts on Teaching
I’m Julie Dodd, a professor in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. In my blog, I’ll be sharing comments, resources and stories about teaching. My thoughts may come from an experience in class, a book I’m reading or an article on education in the media.
Julie Dodd 