Category teaching
Help proctoring the quiz
Giving a quiz with a class of 150 students involves more logistics than with a smaller class. Two members of the College’s Journalism and Communications Ambassadors volunteered to be proctors for the quiz. They helped distribute quizzes and Scantrons, supervise during the exam, and collect the quizzes and Scantrons when we were through. In terms […]
One source can = many story ideas
After spending the afternoon with Mickie MacKenzie when she was a speaker in my classes, I was ready to grab my reporter’s notebook and iPod (with microphone) and go cover some of the stories she talked about. “The story” that she was in class to talk about was the Great American Cleanup event for Alachua […]
Looking for a news hook
My MMC 2100 lab students turned in their environmental, health and science stories today. The stories ranged from a fraternity that is participating in Adopt-a-Street to clean up litter to the increase of scooters on campus because of the rise in gas prices. We started class with a debriefing session, asking them to share their […]
Shopping for a story at Publix
With my grocery list and a plastic bag filled with plastic grocery bags, I’m off to Publix for a quick shopping trip. Typically I would put those plastic bags in the recycling container at Publix. But I’m motivated by Joni Rollen, a recent speaker in MMC 2100, to reuse the bags. Joni, a program assistant […]
Their first interviews
One of the most important skills we teach in Writing for Mass Communication is interviewing. Being an effective interviewer is vital for any media career — from a reporter interviewing a source for a story to an advertising account executive meeting with a client to discuss an ad campaign. For the students in Writing for […]
Motivation for getting published
Today’s topic was “Getting Published,” and the panelists were students who are editors of campus publications or who have a strong record of getting published. Having those students talk to my current MMC 2100 students makes my students aware of the process for getting published. Hearing from these student editors (and seeing them) helps my […]
Insight into impact of testing: ‘Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade’
If you’re interested in an inside-the-school look at how testing is affecting teaching, learning and the curriculum, this is the book — “Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade.” Linda Perlstein did her homework, spending a year in Tyler Heights Elementary School in Maryland. She spent days, weeks and months being a part […]
Professional advice from guest speaker
The lecture activity today was an interview with Joni Rollen (far left), recycling program assistant for the City of Gainesville. I conducted the interview with her about recycling, and students took notes. Their mission was both to collect information and quotes and also to determine a focus for their own recycling stories. With 250 students […]
Gunman on campus just 10 miles away; we’re in an auditorium that can’t be locked
Yesterday the gunman on campus wasn’t hundreds of miles away at Northern Illinois University or Virginia Tech. The gunman was 10 miles away at Santa Fe Community College. No one was shot. The gunman was captured. He did have a loaded gun on campus, which he allegedly threatened another student with. He was on the […]
Signs provide clear communication
Clear communication — I’ve seen signs with more words or bigger words that have warned about the dangers of alligators. But this sign provides a clear message (even for non-native English speakers) about why having children in photos with alligators isn’t a good idea. The sign is along the La Chua Trail in Paynes Prairie. […]
Julie Dodd 