Listen we got news for
you!!!
Video Broadcasting system is practiced mostly in the
elementary schools and a few select middle schools in Clayton County Public
Schools. In the high school environment we hardly ever see video broadcasting
in our county. I believed with all the money allocated from title 1 in our
school the video broadcasting system should be top notch.
I viewed the ORCA
live broadcast and Eisenhower TV and it was very interesting to say the least.
ORCA live broadcasting included the weather,
happening around the school, birthdays and a picture montage of snow days for 2014.
They were very resourceful and animated with the background behind the
announcers. It was a wonderful way of getting the students to focus and get
their day started. At Eisenhower, I enjoyed viewing the Skype interview. I was
surprise to see the many field trips that Eisenhower middle school student and
teachers attended during the school year. Two thumbs up for Orenco Elementary and
Eisenhower Middle School and their engaging broadcasts.
Our media specialist, don’t contribute at all to our morning
broadcasting. The morning announcements are handled by the students via the intercom
system usually by the office aids. Teachers submit a form explaining what they
need announced and the secretary passes them along to the students who read
them. We start by saying the pledge of allegiance and the school’s vision. The
students then proceeds to read announcements by teachers, the principal or
school clubs right after our five second moment of silence. Why we have the
five second? I am sure anything can take place during those five seconds. That
summarizes our typical morning announcements. The afternoon announcement is
just a recap of the announcement from the morning. Many of the students are
socializing during the announcement consequently missing the announcements. Our
school does not use Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) as a resource. Maybe if
some of the broadcasting responsibilities were controlled by the Media Center
that resource would be utilized.
I have notice that most in the elementary and middle schools
in our county allows the media specialist to control the morning broadcast. This
is due to the media room being located in the media center at those levels. Our
high school and a few others follow the same format for announcements. I guess
the morning announcements are not so important in the high school setting. At
Mt Zion high school, they have the equipment because they have a class for broadcasting
however, they only broadcast on some Fridays. At their school they use digital
streaming videos during testing to keep the students quiet and occupied by
streaming movies to the classroom.
Video broadcasting is a resource that should be implemented
into all schools elementary, middle and high schools. I realized during my high
school years I wasn’t given the opportunity to speak publicly and I am still
suffering from the lack of. Students are given the opportunity to practice public
speaking and enunciating of words. As educators, we might assist in developing the
next Barbara Walters or Deborah Roberts. Is that not our job to develop,
nurture and educate our young ones?
I agree that the broadcasting should be used across all grade levels. It gives students the opportunity to perform and it does get them use to talking in front of large crowds. I also think our school needs a little help in the announcement process. As of right now, we also just do morning announcements through the PA system. I wish this could more creatively be used. I think this is a perfect time for students/teachers to show special work being done in the classrooms. Have students perform a skit, read their poem or display an awesome tri-board project. As a future media specialist, I hope I can incorporate a lot of this into a new and improved announcement system.
ReplyDeleteVideo broadcasting and live streaming is one of the best tools to connect and communicate with students and staff. I find it sad that your school does not take advantage of the opportunity. If the school has a media room, I feel sure there is a head unit that could stream live or prerecorded with little effort. There are so many benefits to students and staff that it would be truly worth it.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that as a student, not having announcements did not give you much needed experience speaking before others. I agree that having a video production or news team is beneficial for this reason, but there are also many more important benefits for students. Being in front of the camera is only one part of the process. Producing a daily or weekly broadcast requires team work as there are many duties that must be fulfilled. Some of the positions filled by students are: Camera Operator, Script Writer, Music/Sound Effect Tech, Lighting Tech, and reporter.
Building and maintaining a news/video team is a lot of work but also very rewarding. It is great to watch as the students learn the technical side of video production in a hands-on environment. The skills that students learn in elementary and middle school with help them in high school as they prepare for college. Many high schools in our district offer a video production class as an elective. They are extremely popular and the waiting lists are usually long. Not every student gets in, but being part of a broadcast team in elementary and middle school is an added advantage for those trying.
My experience is some what limited in this topic but at the elementary school I have been volunteering at the media specialist takes video broadcasting pretty seriously. I was able on several occasions to visit the "news room" as the students were going over the information. There were really two things I noticed that I thought were very interesting. First I was really overwhelmed at how serious these particular students were about the presentation and accuracy of the news. While talking to Mrs. Suarez she told me that 4th and fifth graders normally do the news and they are very good at working as a team. On one particular day I was visiting the news room I noticed that the boys were wearing ties as they did the news, and I then noticed they were clip on ties and stayed in the room after the news was over. I thought this was a great idea because it makes them look and feel more professional. The principal also comes in every morning and takes a minute or two to go over any important messages to the students because they tend to listen a little closer when she is on. The crew is made up of one boy who does the news about events or field trips etc.. Then there was a girl who did things like the lunch menu for the day, awards etc.. As far as the pledge of allegiance a student is picked from a different grade level everyday based on good behavior. I remember those young kids planning the news and the student in charge of the camera making sure his angles were right and there was nothing behind the news person that would be in the shot.
ReplyDeleteThe second thing I noticed was the amount of equipment they had to pull all of this off. There were two televisions so they could see what there shot looked like, a small sound board that the media specialist was in charge of and they had the room set up perfect for quick cut to shots. Every morning before going live the kids went over all their lines and information they will be speaking about.
I was very impressed with the system the students and media specialist had and you could tell these kids knew exactly what they were doing and they enjoyed it. I believe there is definitely a place for news broadcasting in the classroom, and I think it would be a great advantage for all grade levels. Of course for the elementary school level most everything that was talked about in the morning is also sent home in their folders to make sure the information gets passed on but I think it gives these specific students good experience. I agree with most of you that the media specialist should be in charge of the news cast because they are educated in the technology that is being used,