I was quite impressed
with both Orenco Elementary and Eisenhower Middle School’s morning
announcements. In comparison to the morning
news broadcasts I’ve witnessed, they have some pretty original content and I
especially like that the broadcasts are made available online.
At the elementary school
where I volunteer, the school news is broadcast every morning from the media
production room in the media center. It
is distributed throughout the school via closed circuit television (channel
4). The news broadcast is a combination
of PowerPoint slides and live presenters, and the presenters change out every
year or as needed throughout the school year.
Students try out for the news at the end of each school year (for the
following year) and are also recommended by teachers and administrators based on
academic achievement and good behavior.
The content of the
announcements is fairly basic: the students announce the date, a special event
in history or a fact, the pledge, birthdays, lunch choices, and school
news/events. The media specialist and
REACH teacher put together all of the news content and operate all of the
equipment while the students essentially read information on-camera. They work on the content and have it ready by
the time they leave in the afternoon so everything will be ready in the
morning. The students are given just a few minutes before the announcements
start to go over the “script” and any other special instructions. One great part of the announcements is the “Student
of the Week” award where the student is honored on-air. The kids really seem to love that concept and
are very excited and proud for their classmates. The media
specialist and the REACH teacher also try to incorporate music into the
announcements and try to choose songs that relate to the content of the
announcements. Of course, the students
love it.
In terms of problems,
there is always the issue of a student losing his or her place while reading (understandably
so) or having a fit of nervous laughter.
This is usually at the beginning of the school year and as time goes on,
the student gets more comfortable. So
far, there have not been too many technical glitches, although just last week
the computer software used to broadcast the announcements was having issues and
would not open. After a little
troubleshooting, the media specialist was able to re-install it and get
everything working properly.
I work at a high school and we just now started doing morning announcements by video. They are very fancy because our video broadcast class does them and prepares them ahead of time. We are having issues viewing it due to buffering while it is streaming. But I undertsand why they prefer doing it ahead of time instead of live as most elementary schools do. It is true that most elementary announcements are kept basic since they are done closed circut in the media center. I suggested we do the same but then the technology that comes with our video broadcast class cannot be used. It is a great task regardless how you do it. This is one duty that I am not sure I could do very well if I was in charge.
ReplyDeleteWe started our news broadcasting this year as well! Of course I volunteered to head that up (great way to boost volunteer hours) however no one knows how to really work the equipment. Great suggestion to get the technology class involved. I want to post students around the school and use webcams to send real time feedback.
DeleteI am charged with doing the morning news at my school. I feel like, however, we need to spice up the show. We have the daily script, which is much like the script you described at the school where you volunteer. We open with the pledge of allegiance in English and in Spanish since we are an IB (International baccalaureate school). Then there is the “Beecher Student Affirmation” where students promise to dress for success by wearing their uniforms every day, and by being great children in school, the community and the world. The anchors then do a historical fact of the day, the lunch menu, any special announcements, the weather, word of the day and my favorite part of the show is the joke of day! I think it is always funny, but the kids tell me when they think the jokes are really “lame”. I would like to incorporate more technology into the broadcast, such as short iMovie commercials and music, but we have not gotten that far on a regular basis. We have used the commercials before and students really seemed to enjoy them. Each year, we have a ton of kids try out for the newscast, so I think this is a great way for students to show off their great personalities and reading skills and also to learn to work with other kids as the schedule changes in terms of who will be at the news desk each day.
ReplyDeleteOur media specialist also runs the morning announcements and they are fabulous. The equipment that is used is brand new and is ran by the media specialist and 5th graders. Our broadcast is sometimes recorded ahead of time if the media specialist is going to be out. The students record, "Breaking News", around the building. There are scripts available for the students at all times. The administrators come on every Friday and give different students, "shout outs", for doing well that week.
ReplyDelete