How
can we, as parents and teachers, get and keep children interested in learning? That
has been a questions pondered for decades.
A few pockets of people believe that learning should be intrinsically-motivated. Others believe learning can be
extrinsically-motivated. While others
assert that learning is a combination off extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. As I
watched the students of Eisenhower Middle School, I was bombarded with ideas of how something
as simple as producing a morning show or a “Kids on Kids” news show could make
the difference between a high attendance rate and a low attendance rate and a
school plagued with discipline issues and one with growing achievement
scores. I believe when students’ connections
with school grows so does their interest in attending school and learning about
content. The little ones at Orenco
Elementary were actively learning—whether they were aware of this or not. My mental connections and visuals of
learning were becoming more and more vivid as I watched both levels (elementary
and middle) working as news anchors. What if we were to rotate anchors every two
weeks based on some academic and citizenship criteria? What if students were given jobs as camera operator
or script writer based upon an improved-discipline or attendance record? Students need to feel included in their place
of academics. I do not understand the
reasoning behind starting student government and student council in high school. Students should begin to see student
leadership in elementary school. They
can begin to aspire to assume one of the leadership roles at an early age.
In
comparison to the school productions at Orenco and Eisenhower elementary, my
school is very behind the times. A
morning show is presented to the student body every morning via a closed circuit
on Channel 6. The show is not produced
in the sense of students writing the scripts, practicing, or even being aware
of the information they will be presenting.
The students receive the information maybe five minutes before going
live to deliver the information on T.V. The
morning show students are selected by the media specialist each year. She makes her selection of the students based
on her knowledge of them, their ability to read and enunciate difficult words,
and their ability to follow directions.
The LMS does not rotate students in and out of their morning show
positions. Currently, students deliver
school announcements, the Pledge (in English and Spanish), and moment of
silence. Any additional announce is
delivered by the principal or assistant principal. The “behind the scenes” position includes the
camera operator and sound check person.
The camera operator turns on the video camera and pans it to the left or
right depending on the need. The sound
check persons checks the out level of equipment and runs down a few halls to
ensure that the broadcast is being heard via televisions tuned to Channel 6. Obviously, the impromptu nature of the
broadcast lends itself to SNAFUs. There
have been times when the broadcast did not occur because the P.A. system was
inoperable. The microphones used in
the broadcast were linked to the P.A. system.
The only solution was contact someone at the county office to fix the
P.A. system.
It
does not take a rocket scientist to see that my school has a long way to go
from its Little House on the Prairie presentations to the ones produce by
Orenco and Eisenhower. The best place to begin is to add a
production format and time for production.
The goal of my county and Common Core is to get students “college and
career ready.” The broadcast could include some information
related to colleges and careers. What
are some other items my school could add to its broadcast?
I have never thought about using the broadcast as a daily or weekly motivator. I think it is a great idea to rotate the students depending on there improvements in class.
ReplyDeleteOur broadcast room has been updated from having a mixer, sound board, and title maker to laptops and cameras. The media specialist this year spent some out of her beginning budget for the new equipment and loves it. The only thing that I would say is that the students learn a lot more about the different machines if its not all controlled by a laptop and computer software.