Little but Fierce: A Teaching Blog
  • Little but Fierce
  • About

Little But Fierce

A Teaching Blog

Building foundations for great journalism

8/10/2017

1 Comment

 
Originally published on jeasprc.org on Aug. 7, 2017
Inevitably, my intro journalism students have one question: “When do we get to start writing?” Their impatience is understandable — they joined my class to become reporters, and they are eager to start that work — but I believe it is critically important to build a solid foundation in law and ethics before sending them out for that first assignment.

I want them to see the bigger picture — to get a sense of why journalists pursue stories and how they make difficult decisions during that process. I want them to understand their own rights and the role of a free press in a democracy. I also want them to have a sense of the laws affecting them — for example, what libel is and how to avoid it and what constitutes “invasion of privacy.”

It’s heavy stuff, so my goal is to keep them engaged during those first few weeks as we talk about journalistic ethics and break down how the First Amendment, state laws, libel laws and court cases affect them.

Here are some strategies I’ve developed that I hope will help other advisers build those crucial foundations without losing students’ interest:

Read More
1 Comment
    Picture

    About 

    “And though she be but little, she is fierce!” -A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    I’m an English and journalism teacher—yes, a short one—who cares fiercely about teaching and my students. I blog about current events, research and more from my experiences in the classroom and beyond. To learn more about my teaching and advising path, see my About page.

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    April 2020
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    March 2016
    August 2015
    April 2015

    Categories

    All
    Adiche
    Back To School
    Camera
    Camera Operations
    Civics
    Collaboration
    Connections
    Duckworth
    Dweck
    Engagement
    English
    Ethics
    Exercise
    Fake News
    First Amendment
    Grading
    Homework
    Humor
    Inspiration
    Interviewing
    Journalism
    Literature
    Maps
    Media
    Meta
    Multimedia
    NPR
    Pedagogy
    Photography
    Photojournalism
    Podcast
    Policies
    Polls
    Procrastination
    Running
    Social Media
    Stress
    Teaching
    Team-building
    TED
    Timelines
    Travel
    Vacation
    Yearbook

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Little but Fierce
  • About