New News!

Let's get ready! This week and next is practice week!

We have one of the most state-of-the-art news control rooms on the way to Eagle TV. Once set up and everyone is trained, Eagle TV will be incredible! I'm looking at one of the best fast-paced, graphic-heavy, informative and entertaining news shows EVER!

I have some ideas. Of course, your news packages will air; the ones you've already produced. But I would like to have some shorter pieces. Some funny ones, some serious live interviews, some teaching-type pieces, etc.

Here is Kell's second show show http://www.schooltube.com/video/68b640a8643f5cb05774/Hay-Kell-show-2

And here is Allatoona's show:

http://www.schooltube.com/video/36c29d5291495e2937dc/Bootleg-TV

Although, I don't condone too much silliness, a little is okay. Here are some of my ideas:

--An on-set interview called "Eagle Flap", or something like that, on topics that are current. Usually an interview with a staff member who knows a little about this topic.

--Student opinion poll..."Heard from the Bird" on current events.

--"We have Class" A segment on the interesting things we are learning in our classes, or a segment on how to do a certain math or science problem.

--Word to the Wise...a poll to see if students know a word, (funny answers) then the definition. (kind of an SAT word of the week or something like that.)

--"Say What?" a feature on something funny like a question that has no right or wrong answer, most mispronounced words, funny trivia, etc.

--Around Town, a feature on a new place to eat or place to go

--This day in History, a filler....usually without video that we can use on short news days.

--Healthy Choice, a fitness and health segment. Could also feature some type of medical segment

--Read Any Good Books Lately? , a segment about what students and staff are reading right now

--Where are We?, A segment in a different part of the campus that not everyone has seen before (particularly timely with the construction)

--Before They Were Teachers, a segment on what teachers did before, well, they were teachers!

--Talon Talent, a spotlight on someone who has an unusual talent

--Pimp my Locker, spotlight someone's locker that is especially decked out

--Life Lessons, Students who have learned life lessons like getting to class on time, solving arguments, completing homework on time, etc.

--Dress Code Diva - a segment on dress code rules hosted by someone who is a diva.

--Laughter is the Best Medicine - a funny segment such as the birthday segment from Kell.

--???? What's your idea?

Come up with some segment ideas and a solid idea on how to produce it. It must be able to be produced in one week. Only a 30-40 second segment and it's needs an Open (5-10 seconds).

In order to do this show, we'll have to be sure to be really polished production-wise. We'll need to be able to think quickly on our feet, be able to be sharp on the air while questioning people and have a good sense of timing.

What do you think?

In what ways are you lucky?

Of course, 'tis the season to give thanks. It's predictable that every year about this time, people ask, "what are you thankful for?" But, I'm going to ask it a different way: In what ways are you lucky?

We all have plenty to be sad and upset about. In my case, I have a good friend my age who is suffering through brutal cancer treatments that probably won't cure him. I'm not the (rich and famous) writer I had dreamed I'd be at this point in my life, I have terrible headaches that have plagued me since I was 15, I don't have enough money to travel like I had hoped in my adult life and I my body doesn't look or feel like it used to.

But, I'm lucky that I have relatively good health, I have many students whom I think the world of and I have a wonderful, healthy family. I still have time to write that book and I am lucky to have a comfortable home and a steady income. I have many close friends and I can find humor in a lot of things.

As far as work goes, I have a job that I enjoy, I get to play with cool editing and videography equipment, my students make me laugh (most of the time) and I look forward to what's in store for Eagle TV. I also have lots of colleagues who happen to be my friends and I have been very lucky to have seen many of my students succeed and care enough about my role in their life to come back to tell me of their successes.

Now, it's your turn. Talk about what you feel lucky about in your life, both personally and with school. Don't end by telling me...tell your family and your friends too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cobb County Short Movie Extravaganza

Short post...how are your movies coming? I'm excited that we'll have entries this year! Tell me how it's been going....exciting moments, tough moments, are you feeling good about your stories? etc. Fill me in, I can't wait!

Self-Motivation/Rewards Later

I always thought that Eagle TV was somewhat insulated from the spoils of regular public education. The students who have come through my (no longer existing) double doors have been driven, motivated, excited journalism students who can't wait to sink their teeth into a good story and do their best; if only for personal satisfaction and nothing else. But, alas, things have changed.

The traditional educational model, in my opinion, is that too many students are being told by teachers that if they do their work, in the end they will be happy that they did it. There is no internal motivation by the student to work hard and that the payoff will be personally rewarding. That has seemed to be the case in many classes in the last 5 years or so, but not so much in Eagle TV; until this year.

Whether I speak about student or teacher, child or adult, to do our best...to reach our highest potential, we have to care. We've all done something in our lives that we never thought we could do and had we never cared enough to try, it wouldn't have happened. Your amazing accomplishment began with caring. Getting to that pinnacle of accomplishment is peppered with setbacks, disappointments, discouragement and DEFINITELY hard work, but throughout the journey, we knew that it will be good in the end. We just had to be patient and do our very best in the meantime. I'm afraid that the number of Eagle TV students willing to play the game of "do-your-best-and-the-rewards-will-come" is shrinking. Student apathy is at an all-time high.

And I feel all alone. I just can't carry you anymore. I am exhausted from the cheerleading and encouragement that is met with mere blank stares and inactivity. I am running all over the classroom, getting equipment together for you, writing scripts for you, telling you which project to edit or handing you a tape of already-videotaped-footage and all you have to do is take it from me and finish it. But you won't take it. You won't do it. You just sit there.

I've run dry. I've got to refill my well somehow and it's not happening here, with you. You have had opportunities to send video to our local NBC affiliate for airing on their TV station - you haven't grabbed that opportunity. You've had phenomenal story ideas grab you by the hair (one of which already had the interview already lined up) and you turn around and walk away. It's too hard, you say. You've had the opportunity to participate in a nationwide video competition where I've volunteered to pay for your contest entry and you've just looked down into your laps. You flop around like fish out of water when you are faced with checking out equipment yourselves for a project that has already been started for you. Disappointing. It makes me cry.

I can't tell you anymore that the show, when our control room is done, will be unbelievable. And in an effort to give you a fun assignment while building content by doing MOS's, I'm met with dark, non-white balanced footage that you can barely hear. Bummer. So sad, Level II, III and IV. I give up. I suppose we'll start having to work out of the book.

You have to work for what you want. It's not handed to you and I'm certainly not going to run on reserves for you anymore. You all are some of the most talented students in the school, yet you're wasting the time you have in class brooding over the fact that we're not on the air yet, or that it's "too much work to carry around a tripod or check audio".

Show me some initiative. Show me some interest by asking me questions about how to do stuff yourself, not asking me to do things for you. Show me that YOU will be a big part of what makes Eagle TV great. YOU can stand out. YOU can become popular just by the amazing stories you produce. YOU have had the door opened for you, you just have to walk through it. It starts when you get out of your seat and WORK.

I will not ask you to respond to this with what I can do to help you get motivated and moving because I can't anymore, but what YOU can do to motivate yourself and others. This is our last chance. You're going to have to start running, just to keep up with the others racing against you in this field. Don't you want to be the best? Eagle TV will be on the air soon; how will it look? You came through those double doors expecting to be the best....now is your chance!

Sports News....

This blog appeared in part on the HTV Magazine Blog for Hillcrest High School and it contains information that I'd like you all to know. This was written by Dave Davis, broadcasting teacher at Hillcrest High School.

Football is Fun, Football is NEWS

Posted by davis on 04 Sep 2010 | Tagged as: Classroom, True Stories, The Story

"School is back in session and that means high school football takes center stage on Friday nights. Too bad, because in our town, that often means mediocrity gets the spotlight.

We have five public high schools in Springfield, MO. In years past, we have had our success stories. Some excellent teams have put together great seasons, but we have not had a state champion yet in the sport that dominates the headlines every September, October and November. And lately, it’s been ugly.

Here is the thing with football. It costs a lot of money. It brings in a lot of money. It involves a LOT of kids. Think team, band, cheerleaders, pep squads, dance teams, and so on. It is the ultimate squeaky wheel. A lot of people have an investment in the sport.

Another thing we TV teachers know. Football is one of the absolute best sports to cover. So many great visuals, so much wonderful sound, so much emotion. I just wonder if we actually “cover” our football teams like we cover other news topics. I mean, that is what a football game is. It’s a news event. People come together, things happen, and some go home happy, some go home disappointed. Money is involved, taxpayers’ money. The games bring in money, but it still takes our tax dollars to turn on the “Friday Night Lights.”

From what I have observed, high school TV shows rarely scratch beneath the surface of the game being covered. We get caught up in the action, the emotion, the school pride, and avoid practicing “journalism” at any cost. When is the last time our kids asked tough, but fair questions about the team, or the game? It almost never happens.

While we preach to our kids the importance of objectivity in journalism, where does objective news coverage go when it comes to the school football team? How long can losing seasons and poor participation continue to be ignored by the school NEWScast? Is your district pouring money into football when it may involve only 30 or 35 players, while it ignores classrooms with outdated technology, leaky roofs, a textbook shortage, or a library in need of a serious update? Those things impact your entire student body every day, not just on Friday night.

I challenge you, this fall, to teach your kids to cover football, and all sports, like you would cover anything else. Avoid tip-toeing around issues that deserve to be examined, questions that need to be asked.

If your school journalists continue to ignore serious issues related to sports in general, they might as well wear team jerseys when they anchor your show."

Recently, Shonda had an opportunity to "run with the pros" by shadowing the Marietta Daily Journal videographer during a Friday night football game. She got some of the best shots that have ever come back to Eagle TV after a weekend game. She observed storytelling by videocamera firsthand. So...what stories can you produce at a football game? Give me some ideas. Think outside the box and come up with ways to cover the news of sports!

Eleven

I'm going to start thinking about eleven as a magic number. I hope that when you finish reading this, that you also think that the number eleven is significant.

Let me start by saying that yes, I knew Kenny McKinley. He was in my beginning class and once you're a part of Eagle TV, you're always a part of Eagle TV. I even remember where in my classroom he sat. Just like everyone else, the most prominent thing I remember about him was his manners, incessant smile and seemingly constant happiness. I marveled one day to him about how I couldn't get over how he was so happy all the time and he said to me, "there just isn't anything to be unhappy about, ma'am." I used to joke with him about how he must be up to something to just sit in class and smile all the time. When I was teaching, if I caught his eye, he would just smile wider, right at you. He knew all along about a life skill that making others feel good around you makes you more interesting a fun to be around. Kenny had a lot of friends, not because he was a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, but because he made people feel good when they were around him.

I have a poster in my classroom that says that you should smile at everyone you come in contact with because you don't know what kind of day they are having. It is based on the premise that everyone can make a difference in the lives of others, just by how you look at them.

The one life skill that Kenny didn't remember in his darkest hour, however, was the notion that we all have choices. Many of them. And, even when you are at your darkest hour, or having such a bad day that you can't imagine climbing out, or when you feel stuck, you always have choices. You might just have to ask for help or list them in order to see them.

Kenny's choice has affected others. His mom and dad and sister, his 1-year-old boy, his Bronco's family, his South Carolina family, his South Cobb family, his fans and this teacher.

Nothing in this life of yours is too hard to recover from. I promise. Even severe depression. You just have to ask for help. Please just remember this trick: write down your choices....write down eleven of them...whenever you feel stuck or have to make a decision. Ask for help if you need to, but the important thing to remember is to reach out; to a person, or the universe or whatever.

Everything you do, apart from a reflex. is a choice. Everything. When you get up in the morning--choice; opening your eyes when you wake up--reflex. Pulling your hand away from a hot stove -- reflex; turning on the stove to make breakfast, choice. Completing your homework -- choice (a good one); cringing when you stub your toe -- reflex. Saying something nice to someone, or choosing not to say anything if it might come out mean might be a choice that would influence someone else's day.

Here is an example of how I might write down eleven choices I have about what to do on the weekend:

1. Sleep in

2. Wake up early

3. Sleep in then pad out to the living room and turn on the TV; watch TV in pajamas

4. Get up, take a shower and go hang out with friends.

5. Get up, take a shower and chill around the house.

6. Wake up early, walk the dog, feed the cats, go to the arts festival

7. Wake up early, decide I'm too tired and go back to bed. Sleep 'til 2 pm.

8. Wake up at 2 pm and call my dad to say hello. Finally get a shower and get dressed.

9. Sleep in, do homework in pajamas, watch TV in pajamas, take a nap.

10. Stay up all night Friday night, go to bed at 4 am Saturday morning. Sleep until dinnertime.

11. Sleep in a little, hang with friends a little, do a little homework, spend time with family.

I have been wrestling with a personal decision for a long time. This past week, I took the time to go to Florida to see my dad and the beach and list my choices. Putting them on paper or talking them out always seems to help when things don't seem too clear. It has put things in perspective for me and has made my life a little brighter knowing that I DO have choices. It was on this trip to Florida that I heard about Kenny.

If there is anything that you take away from this is the following: as human beings we need and influence each other more than we realize and we ALWAYS have choices. Be kind, help people, tune in to others, and be there for someone who might need help seeing that they have choices. Remember that you, too, have choices and you make them everyday. Make good ones and when you have trouble seeing the forest for the trees, ask for help. I wish Kenny had.

Please respond that you read the blog and that you acknowledge the advice I have given you.

American Idols in Eagle TV!

The outgoing American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, has the right idea.

Life is tough. Not everyone is perfect at what they are doing. You have to practice, practice, practice to get better. You also need a coach along the way.

That's where I come in.

I've never held back my comments with my students when they don't give me their best work. I can see right through it when they "phone it in" and I let them know. Most of my students think I'm too critical, but how will they get better if I don't set the bar high?

I try not to be mean about it, and with the constructiveness comes a suggestion or an idea for improvement or the offer to help. Here is where most teachers fail.

It is our job to make students better by holding the bar just out of reach until students can hit it. I'm not about to appease a student and his/her efforts just to make him/her feel better. I want to be brutally honest with them. They deserve that from me. If they are receptive to it, it makes them better.

I'll never forget a teacher I had in college, Dr. Jane Bick. She was one of my journalism professors and a teacher I had over the course of several semesters. She had given us an assignment to write a 20-page paper on an overview of a career field from a public relations-management point of view. I chose the airline industry. With my parents having been in the industry for many years, I felt as if I knew a little about it. I was flying on planes from the time I was months old. Many a summer was spent flying around the country visiting family, friends and even to New York city for a haircut!

When it came time to get feedback from Dr. Bick about our paper, she was brutally honest with me: "you are not the writer I thought you were, " she said. I deflated like a popped balloon. It was crushing to me. I left school that day so mad and upset that I wasn't sure how I was going to handle all my rage. I wanted to just give up writing altogether. Maybe I had picked the wrong thing to major in. I'll just go confront her on Monday and give her a piece of my mind about what an insult that was! I was ready.

In the meantime, I worked and worked on that paper over the weekend until I thought I had it so fine tuned no one could find fault. I was ready to turn it in. It was, now that I looked at it, much better than it was the first time I handed it in.

I went to class a little earlier than usual, hoping Dr. Bick would get there early too and I could have a few minutes with her alone. She did. I started to speak and told her that I was completely taken back by her brutally brutal criticism of my paper and my writing. She responded in a way I will never forget: "Lisa, you are one of the best writers in this class. If I don't hold the bar higher for you than I do for others, you will never realize your full potential. My criticism of you and your writing, I hope, will make you a better writer, not give up."

I've never forgotten those words. I saw Dr. Bick later on in life when I worked at the TV station and she told the folks I worked with that I was one of the best writers she had ever seen come through her program at Georgia State. I never expected that! She was incredibly critical of me. I didn't even think she liked me! I dreaded her classes because she was so hard, but over time, she and I became friends. I'll never forget her pushing me the way she did. She pushed me because she knew I had it in me to be excellent and I just wasn't giving it my all.

So remember that even though I may be hard on you (my job as your teacher) it is because I have faith in you and your skills. Blog about a time when you might not have done your best and I caught you. How did it make you feel? Did it help you to improve, or just get you down? What motivates you to get better at whatever you're attempting? How can a little reality check be good for you?

Because just appeasing you and filling you with sugared praise is not doing you any good. Simon has the right idea.

Cagle's Family Farm

Lions, Tigers and Bears...oh my! Well... not really, but lots of animals.

Four generations of the Cagle family have kept Cagle's Family Dairy Farm going, just north of Atlanta with cows, goats, a huge vegetable garden, ducks, cow-herding dogs, a sheep who gives back rides to chickens and a 5-acre corn maze.

Although no longer a working dairy farm, the current, twenty-something owners, Ben and Vicki Cagle and their brother, Levi, have redefined their farm to educate people about what working on a dairy farm really is like.

Rosie the cow is kind enough to offer us a demonstration of milking techniques, old and new, and Tip the dog, rounds up the herd to say hello to the hayriders at the end of the farm tour.

The baby animal barn includes a shy calf, a bunch of ducks, chickens and roosters galore and Mabelline the black sheep who gives rides on her back to chickens who perch on top of her.

Office manager, Isaak, has been working at Cagle's since he was thirteen. Now 19, he enjoys every minute of it.

((I love working here. The Cagle family really know what they are doing to re-define the farm and make it more attractive to the younger crowds.))

An enormous bounce pillow offers the young and old alike the opportunity to feel like they are jumping on the bed and a corn launcher shoots corn cobs way off in the distance. The 5-acre corn maze's two routes challenges visitors to lots of dead-ends and false turns, but it is not impossible to exit the maze. Usually, however, you are greeted by energetic, cheerleaders in the form of farm employees, encouraging you to explore all the routes.

The tours have been going on since the early '90s. The Cagle family thought it was important that everyone should know where their food comes from.

((Every urban child should learn that their food, including milk, is produced on a farm and not just a product of the local grocery store.))

Fall tours include a pumpkin patch and a haunted barn. Cagle's Family Farm is located in Hickory Flat, Georgia, just north of Canton.

I hope you enjoyed my story.... now tell me one! I hope that your stories are informative and entertaining with amazing video and great soundbites. What is the next story you plan to tell? How will you tell it? What video will you have? Start thinking about your next package now.

Expecting the Unexpected (or how to keep from pulling your hair out)

We've had some surprises this semester. How do you keep from going crazy when the unexpected happens? Well, you plan for it....the worst-case scenario. You plan for setbacks. That way, when they happen, it's not such a big deal because you have a back up plan.

Let me digress. I certainly didn't plan to have a flood in my room on Monday. And, certainly didn't expect it to happen again on Thursday. But instead of throwing up my hands, my (lesson) plans adapted well to the situation. We worked exclusively in the edit rooms or went out to shoot more footage (that you evidently needed anyway). Beginning class went out to do more interviews and I turned the dehumidifiers and fans on "stun".

So, extended deadline in place, talk about what set you back during this assignment and how you plan to keep that from happening NEXT time. What will you do in order to cushion yourself and your group from getting trapped by the ticking deadline clock? How will you work next week on your next assignment? What, to you, is the value of getting a project finished early instead of past deadline? How do you make that work? Please give me at least a paragraph of reflection here for your blog; but don't waste time staring at a blank page...you've got work to do!

Wasting Time

Allow me this observation before you accuse me of being critical; I noticed this week that you're wasting time. What I'm talking about is that instead of chewing on your stories to see what they are made of, you're spending time viewing them from afar. As a result, many of you....halfway into your allotted time before deadline...have decided to change stories.

There is one big problem with this. If something is wrong with equipment or your tape, or your edit bay, your interview doesn't come through etc., you don't have time to fix it before you reach the eleventh hour. Most professionals I know begin working as soon as they get the assignment BECAUSE there is likely to be problems. That way, they can account for that time lost and still come in on deadline.

I'm sure it's my fault, so here is what I want you to do: when you come up with your story idea (on the first day of the assignment...because you have been looking all week for story ideas, right?) I want you to begin asking yourself some questions. Does this story have visual elements? Are the experts that I want to interview for this story likely to be available in the time I need? Are there local experts available at all? Is there someone at the school who I could ask about this story? Are there any students at the school who have experienced this? How can I find out if there are? What do I want to accomplish with my story; entertain, inform, create action, manifest empathy? What will be the element in the story that will tell your audience something that they didn't already know about your subject?

Talk to me about your story. What have you been thinking about it over the weekend and what are you going to do this week to make sure that is it a well-done, well-researched, tell-me-something-new story. Will there be surprises in your story? Will your photography be different and artsy? What will make it stand out? What will make it the best? Time is NOT a renewable resource. Once it's gone, it's gone; make the most of it!

Welcome 2010-2011 School Year

Welcome to another great year of Eagle TV! This year will be full of exciting and innovative stories and shows!

You'll learn a lot more editing skills, shooting skills, classroom management skills and lots of outside projects!

Welcome back to the Eagle TV Family!! I can't wait to see you!

Please post a comment about your outlook for Eagle TV and your contribution in here. Let me know what you're excited about for this year.

Cliche' Advice from Your Video Production Mom...

You're going to get plenty of advice your entire life, but at graduation time the advice seems to be free-flowing and generic. I'm going to give you some of my own advice, based on what you've learned in BVP. Whether you're graduating or I see you again next year, remember these words:

1. You are more marketable when you know as much as you can. Know everything about editing, shooting, producing, Final Cut Pro, Live Type, Photoshop, etc. You should know a lot of this already and if you don't, you weren't listening or learning on your own. (Learn everything you can in life. You never know when you'll need to use that knowledge.)

2. I've told you before, that every video you do should be the best that you can do...every time. Your name will be on every project you turn in, every sentence that is uttered from your mouth and every action that you do. (Do your best, always.)

3. If you get so wrapped up in your video that you find yourself so put off that someone criticizes a part of it, you're too invested in your work. You will be disappointed throughout your life if you become unwilling to accept any constructive criticism about something that you do. Distance yourself a little from your work to let in another, maybe better, idea. (Don't be married to your work.)

4. I've always been impressed by your ability to not be shy to ask me for anything. Like, going out to your car to get your cd's or doing homework in MY class for another class that you failed to do over the weekend or give you Outside Project credit for just "being" at the football game standing near the camera, but, in the words of the Rolling Stones, "you can't always get what you want." (Ask for what you want, but expect nothing...you won't ever be disappointed.)

5. Don't expect to be a perfect editor/shooter/producer/reporter if you haven't studied or practiced. Don't even pretend to be. There will always be someone better than you and you will always be better at some things than others. You have to practice your craft. Even when you don't have a video project to work on, you should be playing with the edit machine to learn more. Additionally, you won't make a lot of money right out of school in your career, nor will you have a top-level job. You will most likely have a job that entails writing something for your boss, getting him or her coffee or making the phone calls that he or she doesn't want to make. You may have to work the odd hours that no one else wants. (Work for what you get.)

6. Remember that I am always the boss in the classroom. I get to make the rules and you get to follow them. That's the hierarchy. When you grow into a place of authority in your career or your life, you can make the rules. In the meantime, remember that I (and others who love you) have your best interests in mind when we say "no" or that we have a better idea. Enjoy the guidance. (Love your parents and family and those who help you.)

7. Getting along together is always a good job skill. You don't get to pick your classmates any more than you get to pick your family. You must still get along with everyone. I've always told you that working in a group takes skill and you must have a well-developed sense of empathy. You must treat each other's feelings gently and with care, as you would want to be treated. Involve others by encouraging, smiling and starting civil conversations about your ideas and thoughts. As much as Eagle TV is a family, I certainly hope you keep in touch with each other and me forever. (Cherish your friends and be a good friend to others.)

8. There are times in Eagle TV where we evaluate each others' work. It's an exercise in developing our sense of stepping away from our videos and looking at them from a fresh eye. Most of us have very definite ideas about what looks good in a video or sounds right in a story idea. We have to communicate with each other and be kind in order that we don't hurt others' feelings. But we always want others to know that we feel strongly about something...for instance a certain way to shoot a story or a certain angle or story idea that we think is great. (Be soft in your criticisms of others and but hard in your convictions.)

9. Some of the best videos I've seen you guys turn in are videos in which you took a chance on something unusual or on yourself. You must experiment and not every idea works, but some hit spot on. Although your deadlines loom, allow yourself enough time to experiment and try something new. Challenge your comfort zone and step out of your box every now and then. (Go out on a limb every once in a while.)

10. I've always wanted you to challenge yourself and work hard on every project. One of my favorite sayings with you is that if "you aren't working as hard as me, you're not working hard enough." You are studying a field FULL of hard-core, go-getters. People who will do anything to secure a spot in broadcasting. You MUST keep up. (The race of life is very competitive and you must run fast just to keep up with the guy running next to you.)

11. If you like a story idea and it's do-able, do it! Put 100% into your interviews, your shooting, your editing, your writing, etc., but stick with it. Don't give up. If you originally thought it was a good idea and it caught your interest, than there must be something to it. Put your all into it until it's done. Don't let anyone else discourage you. See #8 above. (Follow your dreams.)

11. Smile a lot!

There are more lists of advice, but I'm going to copy one that I think is a good one. http://www.fenichel.com/graduation.shtml Take what you want a leave the rest, but know that many people have experienced many things that yo haven't and they may have a perspective that you don't have...yet. Don't be so caught up in yourself that you forget to listen to others.

With that, I want to hear you. Tell me some advice that I can take with me into next school year or into my future. Give me some perspective that I don't have about myself. Tell me what I should or shouldn't do next year, over the summer, or when I move on to another adventure. Give me advice I should know about me, about my teaching style, about the way I motivate you, about my relationships with you, about how I influence you. Tell me what advice I need to do better or what I do that's good and need to develop or tell what to never change. But, be gentle. :-)

How Influenced by others are you?

Interesting story on Dateline NBC tonight. The title of the show was "What Were You Thinking" and it was all about a few social experiments that tried to prove that most people will follow a crowd, despite feeling that it may be risky or not the right thing to do.

http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/04/23/2233419.aspx

Here are a couple of their experiments: The first one (on the link above) was that they tried to convince an entire 5th grade class that their teacher had ESP. They showed the class and their teacher a video where a guy on the video was thinking about a kitchen utensil. The teacher appeared to guess correctly every single time, because when the moderator clicked on the corner of the "play" button for the reveal video it corresponded to the answer the teacher gave. The ENTIRE class was convinced she had ESP!

Another experiment consisted of a room full of people, only one of whom didn't know what was going on, filling out an application. Smoke began to fill a room from under a door and the people who were in on the experiment remained totally calm and didn't do anything but continue to fill out their forms. Although most of the subjects, victims, whatever you want to call them, became visibly disturbed by the room filling with smoke, they didn't do anything because everyone else appeared unconcerned.

Yet another one, and a little more disturbing, was one where a guy was hooked up to an electric probe in another room and he had to answer questions. When he got the answers wrong, the "unknowing subject" had to flip a switch to administer electric shocks, each one getting a little stronger for each wrong answer. There was a moderator in the room with the subject who continued to encourage the "shocker" to keep going, despite increasingly agonizing screams from the other room. (The guy in the room was never being shocked, just acting like it.) At some point as the subject increased the voltage up to 200, then 300, then 350 then 450 volts (regular house current is 120 volts), the guy being shocked quit responding to questions and the shocks, making the subject think that he or she was really hurting the guy in the other room; yet they continued. Only one person stopped the shock treatment saying that they refused to hurt someone any more than they already had.

Studies show that we are incredibly social beings and will go along with a crowd, despite our best defense that we make decisions individually. Sigmund Freud first theorized about it and called it "Crowd Psychology". Carl Jung called it "Collective Unconscious". A laymen's term that I've heard is "Mob Mentality" and although this collective thinking can bring about big social change, it also is very dangerous because individuals become unaware of the true nature of his or her actions. When you look at what is actually happening, it is not the crowd that is making a decision, it's really a few like-minded individuals or one person who is the leader who ultimately convinces others that his idea is worth supporting.

Standing out from a crowd is difficult when everyone else seems to be doing something different from you. It takes courage and strength to stand on your own against the majority. Most people want to fit in and follow the crowd; after all there is power in numbers.

However, here's some advice: I ask you that every decision you make be made with some thought, despite what others may do, or think. Don't just go along with the crowd. Stand on your own. If your decision is consistent with the crowd, then you can always say that you made the best decision for yourself, not what everyone else wanted you to do. If your decision doesn't go with the crowd, so be it. That doesn't mean you can skip Changing of the Chairs this week! Some of the best decision-makers in our history have stuck to their beliefs despite overwhelming opinions to the contrary. Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei come to mind.

For this blog week, I would like you to describe two things: a moment in school (or in video production) where you went along with the crowd or with someone else even though you knew it wasn't the best thing to do.

Then, describe a moment in school or in video production where you stood up to the common opinion and expressed yourself even though it may not have been the popular decision. When you went against the grain, so to speak.

And, still.....NO you can't skip Changing of the Chairs!

Be the Change You Want to See in the World...

You have a lot of power. Even though we've all been through a tough span of time lately, I see change. I see you getting more and more excited about the senior video, your video projects and your future. This change has begun a domino effect of EVERYONE changing. I feel it. It feels good. You're attitude and the way your carry yourself affects all of those around you. In that way, you have enormous power.

The thing that I've wanted you to realize this year, with some of our struggles, is that in order for things to change, you must change yourself, not others. You have to change the way you look at things, the way you interact with others, the way you think about things; you can't wait for others to change....it has to begin with you.

As most of you embark on the next chapter in your life, I want you to remember something: when things don't seem to be going well, look inside yourself first. Don't blame all the others around you for your discontent. As you look inside, you might discover that you didn't understand your perception at all and that the problem was with you all along. Most of the time, we are not always the best judges of ourselves.

I want you to read the article attached. http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spirit/archives/be-change It's a short article. I want you to carry these ideas with you as you head into your next adventure. I hope that you always enjoy learning new things in your life, but that you stay grounded and remain the person that you are; aiming to improve yourself each and every day.

You can do this...I've just seen us make a big change in class and I think it took us looking within ourselves to be able to make it. The senior video deadline looming was probably a motivating factor too! :-) We're still not out of the woods. We have another 5 weeks, but we can forge ahead with this newfound energy.

Let me know what you think about the article and tell me what thoughts go through your head as you read it and reflect on how it applies to you. How can you be the catalyst for change in your life and in the lives of others around you?

Dreams and Aspirations

Let's talk about something that's doesn't have anything to do with Video Production lessons. We will be completely immersed in it for the next 6 weeks, so I thought I'd give you a short break and start off the last few weeks of the school year talking about.... dreams.

Face it...our Eagle TV seniors will be leaving us in the next month and a half to pursue the rest of their lives. Certainly, we've all had dreams about our future and as a tight-knit Eagle TV family, it is our responsibility to propel each other into greatness. We need to see to it that none of us falter as we pursue that hard-knock road to success.

Even as you go head first into your future, there will be other things that you'll want to accomplish in your life that aren't necessarily career-related. Please don't ever tell yourself that you can't do these things. You MUST do them. It's your bucket list, of sorts. Always follow your dreams with enthusiasm and vigor and guide your life towards those dreams.

What is it that you want to do as a career? What are you most suited to? What do you want to do for fun? What do you want to be good at? What experiences do you want to have? What parts of the world do you want to see and why? How can you make your mark in the world?

I'll start:

All of you know I love to write and am working on a novel and another book. I would like to be a published book author.

I want to be a mommy.

I want to learn to surf.

I want to go to lay on a beach in Tahiti.

I want to ride on the back of an elephant and swim with a dolphin.

I want to be a public speaker and continue to teach others.

I want to travel overseas with my dad and brother again.

I want to hang glide.

I want to see the great pyramids.

I want to bike ride through France.

I want to learn to dance to African drums with an African band. (Actually, I've attempted this one!)

The list can go on and on.

I've thought a lot about my life lately and what would I do if I didn't have much time left and I can't imagine not doing all these things. I also heard a favorite author of mine say last week at a book signing that if you don't do those things that grind at your very being before you turn 80, it will be very sad for you. You will have had a lot of good things that happened in your lifetime, but you will be focused on the regrets. Lastly, another author...Wayne Dyer, says that "it is rarely those things that you do in life that you regret, it's the things that you didn't do."

So tell me what you're going to do. You have your whole life in front of you, don't waste it! What do you want to do? What are you thankful for and who are you thankful for? Have you told them? Tell me what you are passionate about and how will you fulfill your dreams? Then, get back to video production!

Spring Break

Friday is the last day before spring break. When we return, we will have about 30 days of the school year left. If I think I've had a hard time motivating you up until now, just wait until April 12th!

It has been a difficult year in advanced class. I can't seem to get some of you to understand the importance of deadlines, of the responsibility of doing a service for our school, the concept that once you miss something, that's it...it's over..you can't recreate it; like the entire swimming season, for instance, the relationship between shooting outside school events and the quality of our senior video; our ONLY fundraiser of the year for us.

We're missing taping opportunities and news stories right and left. Senior nights, the teachers cheering on juniors last week during testing week, plays and chorus concerts, GE tutoring for juniors and the list goes on and on. These are stories that are laying down right in front of your feet, and you have to practically trip over them to get to the computer to check your email.

All that being said, I'm still optimistic. There is so much incredible talent in the room, that there just has to be some way to tap it. I can nudge you by saying, "hey...why not do the best news story of the year in the next few weeks?" or "you can hardly believe the power you hold in your hands by doing this news story on the dangers of....fill in the blank!" "The entire school will be looking at our senior video and I hope that you're proud of it." "You have the Eagle TV legacy in your hands, let's go out this year with a bang!"

Yes, I know you have senioritis....it's a bad case, but we still have work to do. In fact, it's more work than we've had all year. When all other classes are winding down, we are ramping up. We have another package to produce, a senior video segment, a report on our favorite news story, videos for Mr. Hosey and others, preview DVD of the senior video, the DVD format for the senior video to begin, the VO/SOT that is due, more Friday Live! shows and Morning Updates to do. Your senior video needs to be complete in about 15 days after we return from Spring Break!

So, finish this week up by turning in a great assignment. Then, take your much-deserved spring break and rest up. because you will be doing your best work in the next couple of weeks. You're going to need to show me what you got; and I don't mean the sand in your shoes!

What Will You Make of It?

Time is blowing by. Before long, many of you will be walking across a stage and shaking hands with our principal and dreaming big dreams. Eagle TV will be in your rearview mirror and the image will get smaller and smaller. Although, hopefully, it will never disappear!

There is no denying that we've had our ups and downs this year. For the first year in the last 5, we were not able to go to the STN Conference; an amazing experience for any young broadcast student. I regret that we weren't able to attend and that we missed that opportunity to jump start and re-energize our skills as student journalists.

I also regret that, nationwide, they have done away with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Student (Emmy) Award competition. I'm afraid that our economy hits us all hard and because of that, there will be many missed opportunities to showcase our best work.

We've had a few tense moments and disputes within the four walls of our classroom, a process that happens to the best of ALL families. Many times those disagreements have had a negative impact on our work and our productivity.

Eagle TV members have experiences grief in the loss of a couple of our teachers and a couple of our friends. On top of all that, each one of us has had many a personal crisis that we've dealt with that we can't help but carry into the school with us every day. We've had a change in administration and the school "feels" different. It's been a very difficult year.

But I refuse to have a "bad" year. My 2009-2010 school year will not be defined by what happened to me, but how I react to it. The richness of the experiences that I've had can't be denied. We all have plenty of time left in the year to build many more good memories and fuel numerous personal successes.

I can't ask for a better group of students and a better program to be in charge of. Eagle TV has given me so many profound experiences as a teacher, colleague, friend, mentor, mother, coach that my life is so much richer because of it. Because of you. Because of the wonderful opportunities I get by spending time seeing you, my students, succeed. By seeing you stumble, but get up again to brush yourself off and plow ahead to try again. By the intense drive to "move on" that you exhibit when things don't go your way or succeed the way you hoped it would. By the support that you give to each other and to me. Complete with our ups and downs that we experience together, we are the Eagle TV family.

So, with months left to go, I intend to make the most of it. I will continue to push you to do better, to try harder, to experiment and to plow ahead when you feel like giving up. The best part of the year is coming up. I feel it. Just like I felt the energy in the show on Friday. It was palpable and electric. No one had to say anything....it was a common electricity felt by all of us. We are linked to each other. We are a team and we have to keep moving ahead together. Let's let go of the petty stuff and grab hold of the powerful. I can't wait to see what you bring to the TV screen! What you do to move people, to make them laugh and cry and then laugh again with your stories. The power you have to move people with your video and your writing can't be denied. You have the power, use it!

So I leave you with two things: the first is the question....what are you going to do with the time you have left this year in class to make your mark? To make the best of the semester? To produce your best work? Can you feel the energy? I can.

The other thing is a story that I got from Dave Davis, video production teacher from Hillcrest High School who recounts on his blog a comment made by the Nebraska football coach, Tom Osborne at their football banquet. He was recalling a conversation that Osborne had with another high school football coach in the area and Osborne had asked that coach what kind of year he had. The high school coach listed the wins and losses and commented that they just missed the playoffs.

Osborne looked at the other coach and said, "I didn't ask how many games you won. I asked you what kind of year you had."

Despite wins and losses, what kind of year will you have?

Good News....

No Blog this week.

Suitcase in the Middle of the Road

I am copying a link to an article from one of my favorite authors, Hollis Gillespie. She lives in Atlanta and has an amazing way with words.

I feel that it represents how class has gone this week and I'd like everyone to read it.

http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/a_suitcase_on_the_freeway/Content?oid=190708

Reinventing Television News

I can't tell you how many times I've heard a student say that they don't watch TV news or read a newspaper is because it's boring. Well, in many cases, I agree. I mean, after all, how many different times can we hear about a traffic jam, murder, fire, robbery, city council meeting, taxes, politicians, social security, homelessness, joblessness....you get the idea. Television news is often a steady stream of predictable stories, with predictable soundbites and predictable endings, often far removed from our own reality as students.

News can be varied and informative...not just sad. Case in point: Here's when news is crazy.... Zebra snarls traffic in Atlanta... (there are so many creative lead opportunities here!) or here's when news is unpredictable...wow, what a basketball player! (see video below)

Or when news invokes a certain awe or warmth in your heart...Unlikely friends or when news inspires us to be like others...Helping kids like Diane Parrish.

The one thing I want you to remember more than anything in this class is that News is About People. Not things, not events, but people. There is so much that is bad and sad going on in our world, but there is even more things that are going on that are good; why don't we see it?

11Alive News is changing the format of their news and I'm really excited. Their news stories are becoming much more of what we do here on Eagle TV. Uplifting, caring, happy, entertaining, REAL. Real stories that are about our neighbors, our friends, our family doing and experiencing things that we can relate to. Not some far-removed political movement or a tax hike aimed at the rich, or some depressing story about someone losing their life savings.

And although those hard news issues are important, there is so much more that is going on in the world that is good that it seems we ought to be focusing on some of that. Maybe the reason our society has become so disenfranchised, rude, selfish and callous is because we don't hear about the good in people much anymore. That is all changing thanks to 11Alive and its innovative, brave news director, Ellen Crooke. Ellen is going out on a limb to showcase some of Atlanta's untold stories and put the human touch back in news.

I challenge each one of you to watch WXIA at least once in the next few days and weeks and let me know what you think. At the same time, focus on your stories and what can you do to make your story humanistic. How can you create a feeling of awe or of warmth or inspiration in the stories we show on Eagle TV? How do you reach out to your viewers and get them engrossed in your story? Which one of you will air a story that gets the most "great show!" comments in my email? What are you doing to make an impression on people?

Keep in mind that people will remember how you made them feel longer than how much you teach them.

The order of things....

There is order to the world. I'm not talking about the precise angles and cubes that a crystal forms or the fact that the earth orbits and tilts around the sun which gives us days and nights and seasons, over and over again.

I'm talking about crawling before walking, walking before running, using training wheels before you use two wheels and so on. You can't write a book report without reading the book first nor can you be a doctor without studying medicine first. A diamond goes through many steps as a piece of coal before it becomes a diamond. It's a process.

I'm trying to teach you the "process" of producing news stories and you aren't listening. As a result, you get in the edit room, pull down various clips in no particular order, move this one here and that one there....dang, it still doesn't sound or look right! Then, you realize you need b-roll of this or that. Oh, that b-roll won't work because it's not white balanced or there is no audio. Ooops, what are we going to say in our VO? You don't know because there is no "order" to the way you produce a package. You have to go through the proper process; just like professional broadcast journalists/photogs/editors, etc.

I'm going to put it in a nutshell for you here, but I'm holding you to it in class. I am grading the process this time, not just the finished product. And, here's how I want you to do it....

Step 1. Dig for story ideas. There are story ideas all over the place. Find a topic that is visual, do-able, interesting, different and tell me something NEW that I didn't know before.

Step 2. Do research. Find out any organizations that are related to your topic. Find any statistics that will support your story and give it credibility.

Step 3. Pitch your story to me. Write your focus statement or angle that you're committing to, tell me why this is an important story and who might be interested in it. Tell me what I'm going to learn by watching your finished story and how it will look/sound/feel. How will your package open, will you have someone telling it through their eyes (most of the time the answer to that question is yes because news is about PEOPLE), how will you find that person and how will they add credibility to your story? Show me that you've done your homework and that you already know a great deal about this topic and that you've explored resources to make it a reality.

These above 3 steps should take one class period.

Step 4. Planning. Write a planning sheet. Who will you interview and when? Write down a shot sheet. What shots do you need to get? What are the necessary or primary shots? What might be the secondary shots? How about creative shots? Visualize your story and write down your vision on a planning sheet. What nat sound or b-roll must you get?

Step 5. Get on the phone. Call those people in those organizations and find out who is the expert that you can interview. Set up interviews.....don't take no for an answer. If the answer is an emphatic no, then ask them who else you could talk to. Set up times and dates. Tell them you're on deadline and need to schedule the interviews here at the beginning of your project...not the last days before your deadline.

Step 6. Draft interview questions. What questions MUST you get answers to? Then, don't stay married to your question list...you must listen to your interview to come up with additional, follow up questions. What things can you find out about this topic from research? Can you use that knowledge you got from research to come up with more in-depth, probing questions of your subject?

These next steps...4 - 6 should take the second day of class.

Step 6. Gather your elements. Shoot your interviews. Shoot your b-roll, nat sound, your stand up. And then shoot some more...........and when you think you're done, shoot even more!

This one step (6) may take a couple of days. Certainly, if you've set up your interviews for the beginning of your week, you should be done by day 3 or 4.

Step 7. Log your raw video on a log sheet. This is NOT the time to Log and Capture, but use the logging sheet to watch all the video you've gathered and write down the time code of the shots you got and the ones you plan to use in your package. This is on paper....not on the computer. Log sheets are in the form shelf.

Step 7 should take you a day to a day and a half.

Step 8. Now...write your script. No, you're still not editing yet. You MUST write your script now that you have looked at your footage, your nat sound, your sots and the b-roll that you've gotten as well as the information you've learned by doing interviews or research on your own. Come up with a creative way to tell your story.

Step 9. Record your Voice Overs. Since you have written your script, you know exactly what you are going to say in your video. You can record these on the same tape at the end of what you've been logging on your log sheet. Just don't record over your video...make sure that tape is cued to the end!

Eight and 9 should take one day.

Step 10. Log and Capture footage on the edit machine. NOW you get to edit. Because you have identified the SOTS and B-roll that you plan to use by time code, this should be very easy.

Step 10...one day or less.

Step 11. Edit A roll, then B roll. A-roll is the primary footage such as SOTS, stand ups and VO's; the backbone of your story. Place your voice overs on the timeline. Then, place your interviews on the timeline, then place your graphics (lower thirds, etc.) throughout your package and slate at the beginning on timeline last.

Step 11...a day or perhaps a day and a half.

Step 12. Write anchor lead in, TRT, etc. on your air confirmation form and turn it in! You're done and it only took about 8 school days! That's less than 2 weeks! You're on to your next awesome project! Right!!!???? (The answer is yes)

That, my dear Eagle TV student, is the order of things.

Tell a story with sound

I wrote about Natural Sound (Nat Sound) back in September, but I want to revisit it with you. News stories that are told only with Nat Sound and no VO are very powerful because the viewer feels more like he/she is IN the story.

Try to find at least one nat sound opportunity in your packages that you'll be editing this week. Telling an entire story with only sound is very difficult, but you should look for at least one bit of sound that will help transport your viewers into your story; give them an experience they'll not forget.

Most people remember what they FELT after viewing a news story, not what they learned. Check out these Nat Sound pieces from one professional photojournalist and see if you can at least find a way to tell your story with a little sound and not just voice overs. http://www.newslab.org/2010/01/13/natural-sound-stories-a-how-to-guide/

Study your story and tell me what kind of sound that you will look for while you are shooting video this week. Really learn how to do this well, and you'll be on your way to really nice packages.

Perfection is not necessary....yet.

Yesterday, I was driving down Barrett Parkway on my way to Target to return a few items when all of a sudden, traffic stopped. I was the second car behind all the activity, so when I drove around a wrecked car in the middle of the road, I looked to my right. A minivan had careened off the road and down into a 30-foot ravine, near I-575, landing on its driver's side. I had to stop.

As I watched the driver of the car in the middle of the road get out of his car and disappear down the hill to see if the driver in the van was okay, I, and several other people did the same thing.

It was raining and slick, but in 45 seconds there were about 7 of us down there with the van and the driver, who was trapped, in shock...and scared. She kept closing her eyes. I was afraid she'd go unconscious.

We spoke to her through her closed windows.

"Stay awake"

"Put the car in park!" Car wouldn't go into park.

"Take the key out" She was too much in shock to figure out how to do that.

"Are you okay?" She motioned that she hit her head.

"Are you alone or is there someone else in the van?" She was alone.

"Can you unlock any doors?" No. She was trapped and we couldn't get her out, despite someone climbing on to the top of the van to try to open the passenger doors, which were facing the sky.

The men were trying to upright the van, but it looked like it wouldn't stay upright because it was on a hill. The van was teetering, looking like it would go over on the top any minute, so it was decided that the guys would, together, hold the van up so it didn't go over until help arrived.

I, and another woman, positioned ourselves in front of the van where the driver could see us through the front windshield and we kept speaking to her, reassuring her that she'd be okay. We heard the sirens, we told her. Help was coming. She nodded. She began to tremble from shock. Don't forget to take deep breaths, I told her in an effort to help her with her body's reaction to shock and to put her mind on breathing and not on the fact that she was nearly upside down in a ravine of water and trapped inside her flipped car. I'm sure that's not exactly where she planned to end up when she was driving around running errands yesterday.

After help arrived, I smiled at her and made my way back up the hill to watch the rescue from a 20 foot distance. I was joined by another man who had also stopped to help. He asked me if I saw what happened. I said no, but was one of the first ones down to her. I also mentioned that I felt very helpless to do anything, other than talk to her. I'm not strong enough to right the van or force a door open and even if I could, I couldn't pull her out. He said something very significant to me. Something that I had lost sight of.

"It's not always your strength that helps, sometimes it's your heart."

In some small way, maybe I did help. Maybe having me and the other woman in front of the van to talk to and focus on helped that trapped driver take her mind off what she had just been through. Maybe it was enough to keep her awake and going until help arrived.

It made me think of the beginning of each semester with students. Particularly my advanced students. I don't expect perfection right away, just effort. You have 4 packages to do before the semester is over, among other projects, and I just want to see improvement. I want to see that you are trying and that you are putting your heart into each project. Your strengths will come later as you learn. I know that. Sometimes it's just your heart, not your strengths that are important.

So, do your best. Put your heart into each project and know that your skills will get stronger every day, as long as you concentrate on improving. Small, concentrated baby steps.

Respond to my blog by talking about how it feels to not be perfect when you try something the first time. How you deal with the fact that there are other people who are better at things than you are while you are learning? How do you improve yourself? How do you get better at things? How do you make yourself feel better while you're learning? What keeps you going when you get discouraged? Do you remember learning to ride a bike when you were a kid and you couldn't ride more than a couple of feet before you tipped over? What did it feel like when you finally "got it" and rode? You weren't perfect. You were wobbly, but your body learned what it felt like to keep a bike upright and moving forward. How did you get better at riding your bike? Did you eventually learn tricks on your bike? Talk about your experiences at learning something new and then getting really good at it.

On your mark, get set.....GO!

The beginning of a new semester and the new year does wonders to erase the past, start anew and motivate us to begin with a clean slate. Whether it's because you have a New Year's Resolution or you just promise yourself that you'll do better....here's your chance!

Our video production semester promises to be a busy one. You'll have 4 news packages to produce, 5 outside projects, a short documentary, a presentation on one of your news stories, a senior video segment, weekly blogging, bi-monthly news stories and other assignments as they come up. You only have 18 weeks to complete this, on deadline, with a high level of mastery.

Whoa!...you say? How on Earth will I be able to accomplish this? You can do this! I promise. I'll walk you through it all. I have made a new resolution myself and that is to spend more instructional time with you. You'll just have to hold up your end of the bargain to keep yourself motivated and in pursuit of excellence for yourself. Everything you put your name on should be the best you can do. Always.

So...on your mark, get set, let's go! Tell me what will keep you motivated this semester to stay on track, on deadline, and on target. What will you ask of yourself? How will you improve every package, every blog, every story idea, every interview and every editing session every time?

Can't wait to hear your responses. The race is on!