by Dan Blank on February 25, 2010
The student newspaper staff of PS 123 in Harlem visited the offices of Reed Business Information to learn how the editorial teams at three different magazines operate.
Laurel Petriello from Interior Design posts a news story live to their website, and then links to it on Twitter, showing the students the 21st century publishing process. They were amazed to track the clicks to the story via Bit.ly.
The students gawk at a histroy of Interior Design covers, dating back to 1932.
Val Ortolaza from Interior Design takes the students on a tour of their office, at this stop, showing the production area.
I hope Interior Design publisher Mark Strauss doesn’t mind, but we commandeered his office. The students took turns on the big chair, relishing the view.
A natural.
Carol Cisco chats with the students.
Annie Block shows the students a story she is working on and talks about the editorial process.
Library Journal’s Heather McCormack talks to the students about her career, and how she serves her reader in print and on the web.
Rebecca Miller shares the Library Journal editorial calendar.
Meredith Schwartz and Bessie Nestoras from Gifts & Dec, along with Cliff Annicelli from Playthings talk to the students about working together to cover their industries.
Me with the students. Thanks to everyone who met with the students!
Interested in how the web is reshaping publishing? Follow me on Twitter: @DanBlank.
by Dan Blank on December 4, 2009
Last time around, I mentioned that the PS 123 newspaper staff was cut from 20 members to 11. This week, I can report that these 11 students will be receiving even more support to help them build their skills and cover happenings around school.
- The weekly staff meetings will now be two hours instead of one. This doubles the amount of time that the advisors can work with them, and gives them more time to edit their articles.
- Their editorial process will be more closely integrated into their regular writing curriculum. The newspaper staff will coordinate with the middle school English teachers to ensure that their progress with the newspaper goes hand in hand with their weekly lessons.
by Dan Blank on November 19, 2009
The past two weeks saw some changes in the PS 123 newspaper staff. It went from having 20 members, down to 11. The faculty advisors made this change based on two measurements:
- Identifying the students who showed the most interest and could best handle the workload.
- To make the most of our time & resources, with the goal of putting up articles on the website, and printing a print issue as soon as possible.
I met with the team for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday, and had a great time reviewing their work. A few articles are just about ready for publication, and others are still in the editing process. Here are some photos of our session, along with a peak into the neighborhood:
by Dan Blank on November 1, 2009
This week, the PS/MS 123 Newspaper Staff met for the fourth time. We continued working on the first batch of articles, which break out into the following categories:
- News
- The Arts
- Health & Environment
- Sports
A main focus of the session was to discuss finding great stories within PS 123. The role of these journalists is to always have their ears and eyes open – to always be listening for stories that reflect who PS 123 is, and then find ways to share that story.
The first articles should be posted throughout November, and I think that each round will show continual growth not just in the technical skills of our journalists, but in finding compelling stories from this time, this place, and this amazing community.
Here is a photo from this week’s meeting: The Middle School Director, Mr. King, addresses the students and talks about how the newspaper fits into their regular publishing & writing curriculum:
One of the murals in the hallway:
by Dan Blank on October 22, 2009
This week, the PS 123 newspaper staff met for the third time, and began really digging into their upcoming articles and content.
They came to the session with first drafts of their work, and ideas they wanted to flesh out. I worked with each staff member one-on-one to discuss:
- The focus of their articles, ensuring it spoke to the needs of their audience, and wasn’t just a topic that they alone were interested in.
- Information they needed to cover in order for the article to be complete and useful.
- Different ways to structure each article.
- Sources for each article – who each staff member needed to speak with and perhaps get quotes from.
- What types of photos we would need to include.
We hope to begin posting the student’s work to PS123today.com within the next two weeks, and then have steady updates through the end of the year. We should also be able to get a print edition done in early November, with another done in December.
Here are some photos from this week’s meeting:
Working on a story about fashion.
Writing a first draft about the Robotics Team.
Discussing how to cover the upcoming student government elections.
One of our resident artists.
Another great meeting!
by Dan Blank on October 14, 2009
Today, the newspaper staff had their second meeting. We discussed a few things:
- The expectations for being a member of the staff, and how this translates to our efforts in the print edition, on the website, and through our Twitter account.
- An open discussion about the many groups within their community that they are focused on serving.
- We brainstormed topics, events, people and places that they would cover in their editorial content.
- Each staff member identified their interests, and broke up into groups to begin fleshing out their first articles and content that they will be working on.
Some photos of the group work:
The school news and events discussion:
The poets, artists, cartoonists and fashion writers:
Health and environment:
And our sports writers:
Students will be encouraged to explore many topics in their writing, these groups are just for the first round of articles & content that they will work on.
Stay tuned!
by Dan Blank on October 11, 2009
On Wednesday September 30, the 2009/2010 PS 123 newspaper staff met for the first time. Ms. Campbell, Ms. David and I met with the 19 staff members (the 20th was absent that day) in the library, and reviewed what we will be doing this year and the expectations for each member.
To understand the interests and talents of everyone in the room, each filled out a mock Facebook profile via a handout. It asked some basic questions about their hobbies, what they are good at, what they are excited about, etc.
We took photos of each staff member, answered a number of questions that were asked, and reviewed while this year would be different.
In the past, the newspaper staff produced a print edition every month or two. This year, we would not only be doing the print edition, but focused on updating their website & Twitter account, learning the ins and outs of new media, including photos and videos, and most importantly: understanding how they can best serve their community.
Next week, the staff will discuss their editorial calendar and begin identifying roles and assignments.
by Dan Blank on October 8, 2009
We are proud to introduce, the 2009/2010 PS 123 school newspaper staff:
by Dan Blank on October 4, 2009
PS 123 Today is the website for the school newspaper of PS 123 in Harlem. Student articles will be posted here each week, starting in mid October, 2009.
The goal of the site is to build media skills among the student newspaper staff, and inform and serve the community of PS 123. You can read more about the newspaper, its staff and faculty on the About Us page.
This website is maintained by Dan Blank, a volunteer advisor who has been working with the school since 2004, and helped launch the newspaper during that time:
