Ice breakers and introductions by Sarah Nichols, MJE
JEA president and JEANC board member Sarah Nichols, MJE, who advises at Whitney High School in Rocklin, kicked off the event with a few ice breakers. For the first, she had each attendee pick up a Pantone postcard in a color that reminded them of a specific memory, such as one's first car, old wallpaper or an important event. Attendees paired up with someone they didn't know and shared about their memory, and then introduced themselves to the large group and briefly shared their color experience.
Adobe Spark by Laura Zhu, CJE
Next, JEANC board member Laura Zhu, CJE, who advises at Toby Johnson Middle School in Elk Grove, shared about her experiences at the Adobe Conference in Las Vegas, including the magic of Adobe Spark. Zhu shared a 7-minute video tutorial that showcased Adobe Spark's page, post and video functions. She also referenced an article by JEA Digital Media Chair Aaron Manfull that is posted on JEA's site.
Using round-ups by Sarah Nichols, MJE
Nichols shared a bit about her design philosophy that good design principles are applicable to all publication platforms, form should follow function and the importance of establishing a strong visual-verbal connection. She shared about how she's used Newseum front pages, JEA Write-Off entries for print design, other student media publications and professional magazines as the conversation starters for round-ups in class.
Covering controversy by Don Bott
JEANC treasurer Don Bott, who advises at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Stockton, talked about how his staff handles covering controversy, using a recent #MeToo story as the central focus. Bott mentioned that controversial stories have a lasting legacy, what enrages people isn't always what one would expect and covering controversy for the sake of it is not a strong enough reason to do so.
Caption writing by Brian Wilson, MJE
JEANC membership chair and president-elect Brian Wilson, who advises at Palo Alto High School, discussed the importance of getting good photos in order to write strong captions. Wilson referenced Renee Burke's Walsworth video on writing ABCD captions before explaining the basics: A - attention-grabber or kicker, B - background of what's happening in the photo in present tense, C - complementary information and D - direct quote with the attribution after the first complete sentence.
Changing the narrative by Kristy Blackburn, CJE
JEANC co-president Kristy Blackburn, CJE, who advises at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, shared about how her students developed a special space on their publication website for stories of strength, healing, hope and recovery after a number of students died by suicide. Anyone in the community can contribute content as long as at least two thirds of the content is strength-based and solution-focused, meant to destigmatize a variety of issues.
Creating quick iPhone videos by Tripp Robbins
JEANC board member Tripp Robbins, who advises at Menlo School in Atherton, discussed tips to keep iPhone videos simple. He suggested considering the lighting, steadying the camera, keeping the mic distance at between two and five feet, the importance of being concise, utilizing voiceover and b-roll to decrease jump cuts and including a variety of shots including wide, medium, close-up and still images.
Trello and Slack by Melissa Murphy, CJE
JEANC board member Melissa Murphy, CJE, who advises at Burlingame High School, shared about how her staff utilizes Trello and Slack. Murphy referenced a C:JET article by California State Director Danielle Ryan titled "Solving staff communication breakdowns." Murphy's staff uses Trello boards to keep track of beats, a blacklist of overused sources, staff bios, social media assignments and page content. They use Slack as a way to communicate through the threads and channels, requiring students to get the app on their phone and turn their notifications on.
Scripts, rules and rubrics by Kelly Wilkerson
JEANC board member Kelly Wilkerson, who advises at Davis Senior High School, discussed take-aways from Atul Gawande's "The Checklist Manifesto," Doug Lemov's "Teach Like a Champion" and Malcolm Gladwell's notion that it takes 10,000 hours to get good at anything. When synthesizing these concepts, Wilkerson suggested developing scripts and checklists for a variety of situations to help students be more successful reporters, as well as rubrics to use as a teaching tool.
Best practices for online content by Julia Satterthwaite, CJE
JEA Director at Large and JEANC board member Julia Satterthwaite, who advises at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, shared about best practices for online content, including: using content to drive story format and design, chunking information, utilizing visuals, providing alternative story forms for non-readers, applying a transmedia or multiplatform approach, hyperlinking to additional resources or related stories and using social media before, during and after coverage. Satterthwaite also shared about how her students have utilized 18 multimedia storytelling tools to vary coverage and keep readers and viewers engaged.