At my school, the students watch Channel One before the morning
announcements. “Before,” the media
specialist said, “some of the students from the school would tell the news through the closed circuit cable system, and
even though the students on the air were the student body’s peers, the student
body just didn’t seem interested.”
Because Channel One is nationwide, and their topics are so broad, if
maybe one morning the news may bore a particular student, the next
morning’s subject may actually capture that student’s interest.
Channel One News is a part of the Channel One Network. The news program is beamed via satellite
during the school year to each of the 12,000 schools in the Channel One Network
community, featuring news breaking stories and issues that affect the world,
the nation, and America's youth.
Channel One News does have a website, http://www.channelone.com/educators/ The site has daily transcripts, weekly quizzes, and other supplementary resources like vocabulary words and discussion prompts. But the teacher has little control over what is being aired.
When I was a teacher, I did have a problem with the
advertisements shown by Channel One news.
I understand that this program has to receive funding, but it forces the
children to watch ads, and on top of that it seems like the ads were supported
by the schools, and worst – the teachers.
But Channel One news may be the only news program that some of the
students watch. And I definitely like
that it encourages the youth to be informed global citizens.
Good teacher resources are treasured by teachers. Research has taught us that it is important to
use various texts, instead of just using textbooks. http://www.gpb.org/education
is a wonderful website with a wealth of information and resources for teachers,
I can’t believe I didn’t use it when I was teaching, I will definitely use it
as a media specialist.
I love that the site has a section of weekly news. The featured article today was interesting, Heritage Festival Speaker Says Better Decisions Can Keep Young Men Out Of Jail. The article was accompanied by a taping of motivational speaker Wendell Rogers. I also love the weekly planner, which would be great for 8th grade Georgia History teachers. The site will give information about a significant event in Georgia history that happened on the date chosen, for example, today was the day Jim Brown a famous football player was born in Saint Simon's Island, Georgia. It even shows a one minute film.
The digital education section was full of resources like lesson plans and puzzle makers. The website has many innovative approaches at education like the math techbook, a digital textbook that will change the way students and teachers experience math. According to the website, the math techbook will use an inquiry-based approach at engaging students with real world problems worth solving. I know a lot of math teachers that would love to get their hands on that.
Audrey (Team 2),
ReplyDeleteAs educators we have to realize that we will not be able to reach every single student and we have to do what works for the majority. Although this is the reality of the situation, our principal tells us all the time that we must stay in the mindset that we reach every student and just deal with the reality that we didn’t if he happens. After your school and the teachers realized that the students weren’t interested in the news even coming from their peers, maybe they should have given the kids a survey or some sort of input into what they wanted to hear about or see on the morning news. Maybe there was just news and no fun elements of the announcements and that is why they lost interest. In several other post, I read about adding fun little things like trivia, simple word problems for the students figure out and get a prize for, a joke of the day etc. Maybe if your school added a few of those elements, then the students would get back into it?? I mean the Channel One News sounds good and I do remember our school watching in my first year there 6 years ago. I am not saying to get rid of the Channel One News, but I definitely think it should be supplemented by giving the local news at your school another try with the students leading it. On another note, the gpb website that you posted seems to be really interesting. I liked that it had information for all grade levels. I am a high school teacher and love to look for new interesting and innovative things to use in the classroom online. I often find very little that is on the high school level and lots for elementary and so I really like that element of the website. I could also see where this site could be used in many classroom for things like current events. There were many articles on the site that students could use to practice literacy through current event assignments. I have saved this website for future use in my classroom, as a media specialist tool for my teachers and also as resource for my son!
Just wanted to comment on the news and how important it is to have your principal on the news show and he or she be excited and jolly. This gives the students knowledge of who he or she. It also shows the kids there is a person associated with the title and at our school the kids go up to him and shake his hand they think he is a TV star because he was on the TV. They talk more openly with him and he gets to know the kids more and more though this. When I was at the Middle School volunteering I made an animato for the book fair and the LMS ran it on the news show the next week to advertiste the book fair. It was a lot of fun. I agree that the site mentioned in the regular post could be used as an innovative thing to add excitement to current events. We have teachers give out awards on it and also the media specialist may show the green screen shots of a class standing in front of the capital in DC saying the pledge to the American Flag. This was really cool. I also got to use it to show a lego video of Indiana jones for about 2 minutes when I taught my map quest theme for 3rd grade. It should be used as a tool for teachers and the information station but keep it short and fun.
ReplyDeleteAudrey this was a very thought provoking post. While reading your post, I was transported back to my seat in homeroom watching Channel One News. I hated it, I never paid attention, and no one else in homeroom paid attention either. Later in my high school experience the morning announcements were changed to a student centered video format and I loved it. Now, as a future teacher-librarian I see those morning announcements as a way to promote the library and collaborate with teachers. Instead of ads running for corporations, the school could promote fundraisers, clubs, activities, and the teacher-librarian could promote books and services. One reason I think Channel One News didn't work well for my school was because of the language. I have found a site newsela.com that connects with children on their reading level or Lexile level. The daily current event article is tailored to connect with students who are on different reading levels but are being taught in the same class or the same material.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I completely forget about Channel One! I watched that when I was in elementary and middle school and I thought it was the coolest show ever. Oh, the memories....
ReplyDeleteAt my elementary school, we have a news crew that reports the school news, pledge, etc. It is recorded once a week but it is aired daily. The students are eager to be a part of the news crew and love seeing themselves on TV. I use Discovery Education's videos almost on a weekly to biweekly basis. In my opinion, it has a wealth of videos that are geared toward the Social Studies units that I teach. I do preview them before showing them to my students. I am often engaged in the movies and many times, I catch my family leaning over my shoulder watching them too! I have used PBS kids when I taught 2nd grade. As a 4th grade teacher, I can use some of the segments highlighted but it definitely depends on the make up of my class. As a mother, I allow my daughters to watch PBS kids. We often watch "Word Girl" and "Sid, the Science Kid" together. Your post has made me realize that I need to definitely peruse this resource some more to see what other videos, segments, etc. that I can implement in my own classroom.
I have to confess that when it comes to current events and news stories, I'm the worst at keeping up. It's a two part problem: One, I'm always slammed with other things to do so I don't get to watch much of anything at all, and two, my mother watched every news show that came on every day when I was a kid, so I really burned out on it. However, we all need to have a pulse on what is going on to be "informed global citizens" as you put it. I've never encountered Channel One and I'm a little surprised by that especially given that many of you have experienced it before. It sounds like a great way to keep kids caught up on real world events and coupled with a school news cast, could be a tremendous resource for discussion questions and even writing prompts. I wonder what the cost of subscribing is and how long the broadcast lasts. If, as you say, they include ads, then it must last a little while. I am very intrigued by this! I also wonder if the Channel One information would be beneficial at the elementary level. I will have to check this out. The other resource you discussed is also foreign to me and I'm truly bummed out about it! As a teacher, you want to get your hands on the very best stuff and the GA public broadcasting resources sound like something I'm going to have to check out. Like you said, hopefully I'll be able to use it as a media specialist even if I missed out on it when I was in the classroom. Thanks for such a great and concise post!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in school we would watch our school announcements on TV done by Student Council and immediately following that we would watch Channel One News, everyday. I loved it and just like you said not every story interested me but I was interested more often than not. Our school currently does a weekly news show done by students. The students love it! It is more than just announcements it is stories and interviews done by students, for students. Following the school news I always play Channel One News it has been a hit as well for the students. Although it is just once a week I feel students are benefiting from Channel One News and the School News done by their peers.
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