Monday, May 7, 2007
The winner is...
Just to follow up, Kathleen Carroll and Jean Rimbach of The Record took home this year's Hechinger Grand Prize for their series "Lessons in Waste." We'll begin posting presentations from speakers and other materials from the annual meeting on the EWA Web site later this week.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Narrative writing tips from the pros
Dan Golden of The Wall Street Journal, Stephanie Banchero of The Chicago Tribune and Douglas McGray, who has written for West and The New York Times magazines, were all very humble about their narrative writing skills during Saturday's first post-lunch session at the annual meeting.
But all three offered some practical tips for reporters.
Read superior writing. Banchero recommended theNieman Narrative Digest for finding good examples of narrative writing.
But all three offered some practical tips for reporters.
Here are a few:
Choose great characters for your narrative. McGray, who as a magazine writer does have more time than most newspaper reporters to work on his pieces, said he interviewed, or screened as he called it, about 30 potential main characters to find the one for the story that EWA will honor him for at tonight's banquet. (Both Banchero and Golden will be honored too.)
Remember that reporting a narrative piece-- which should have scenes and characters just like a work of fiction-- is even more important than the writing of it.
Make sure every word and every scene relates back to the one-sentence theme of the story.
Be transparent with your sources. Prepare them as much as you can for what they will see in print, including the tone of the story. All of the writers on EWA's panel said they stop short of showing their entire story to sources. They do check facts and direct quotes.
When dealing with reluctant subjects, let them know how their story relates to the national or even international story of many other people. Let them know the story is much bigger than them. If they still have issues with being involved, try to find out exactly what they are worried about and resolve it, Golden said.
Read superior writing. Banchero recommended theNieman Narrative Digest for finding good examples of narrative writing.
Enjoy!
More EWA blogs
If you've been reading the comments, you've already seen links to other blogs coming to you from our annual meeting.
Here are a few more. Please let me know if there are any others...
Here are a few more. Please let me know if there are any others...
Scott Elliott of The Dayton Daily News' Get on the Bus blog
Paul Baker's blog at EducationPR
Jeff Solochek of The St. Petersburg Times' The Gradebook
Moctesuma Esparza takes the stage
Moctesuma Esparza, the executive producer of the HBO movie "Walkout" is speaking about now on media coverage of Latino students during lunch. The movie, in case you missed it, is the true story of a Mexican-American student who led a 1968 protest of the unequal treatment of students in East Los Angeles schools, according to IMDb.
Esparza's appearance caps off a morning in which reporters could attend up to three sessions.
After lunch, there are a couple more sessions before tonight's banquet. EWA will recognize the winners of its national contest and reveal the winner of the 2006 Hechinger grand prize.
Esparza's appearance caps off a morning in which reporters could attend up to three sessions.
After lunch, there are a couple more sessions before tonight's banquet. EWA will recognize the winners of its national contest and reveal the winner of the 2006 Hechinger grand prize.
Friday, May 4, 2007
EWA in the blogs
EWA isn't the only one blogging about our national meeting.
Alexander Russo is following at This Week in Education, as is Chad Livengood in Taking Notes, a blog on the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot Web site.
Anyone know of any others?
Alexander Russo is following at This Week in Education, as is Chad Livengood in Taking Notes, a blog on the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot Web site.
Anyone know of any others?
Schwarzenegger, Broad: 2008 the year of education
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was downright jovial today during his conversation with Eli Broad, EWA's 2007 Martin Buskin Lecturer.
There were some serious moments. Broad, co-chair of the nonpartisan Strong American Schools campaign focused at thrusting education issues into the spotlight in the upcoming presidential election, and Schwarzenegger urged journalists to force the candidates to pinpoint ideas for improving education, rather than settle for rhetoric.
Ask candidates whether they support a longer schoolyear and pay incentives for teachers, Broad advised reporters.
Schwarzenegger said he's hopeful the state's Democrats and Republicans will work together to resolve some of the California education system's problems. He wants to get buy-in from stakeholders first, then roll out a plan in the state of the state address he gives each January, he said.
But for the most part, the governor talked informally, repeating a joke about Paris Hilton and, when he thought some audience members couldn't see him on stage, simply picking up and moving the podium blocking their view.
He even gave us one of his famous lines. Schwarzenegger said he hoped he would be able to return with better news about the state of education in California. "I'll be back," he said.
We'll have more on the session in our May 14 newsletter.
There were some serious moments. Broad, co-chair of the nonpartisan Strong American Schools campaign focused at thrusting education issues into the spotlight in the upcoming presidential election, and Schwarzenegger urged journalists to force the candidates to pinpoint ideas for improving education, rather than settle for rhetoric.
Ask candidates whether they support a longer schoolyear and pay incentives for teachers, Broad advised reporters.
Schwarzenegger said he's hopeful the state's Democrats and Republicans will work together to resolve some of the California education system's problems. He wants to get buy-in from stakeholders first, then roll out a plan in the state of the state address he gives each January, he said.
But for the most part, the governor talked informally, repeating a joke about Paris Hilton and, when he thought some audience members couldn't see him on stage, simply picking up and moving the podium blocking their view.
He even gave us one of his famous lines. Schwarzenegger said he hoped he would be able to return with better news about the state of education in California. "I'll be back," he said.
We'll have more on the session in our May 14 newsletter.
Friday, Day 2, begins
After a breakfast of bagels, fruit and coffee, participants split into groups for the opening plenary. (Does anyone know exactly what a plenary is, by the way?) I joined about 70 or so people in the session called “Lessons from California Classrooms:English Language Learners” and learned this: About one-third of students nationwide are English Language Learers. While the issue of how best to educate those students has long drawn attention here in California, ballooning numbers, particularly in my native land of the South, has now made it a national issue.
This morning, EWA members had first dibs on a new EdSource study that examined how elementary schools are doing at helping ELL students achieve. They came up with a few things that are key, like the strength of the principal and whether the school had set specific goals and created concrete plans for reaching those goals.
Trish Williams of EdSource, Kenji Hakuta of Stanford University, Margarita Calderon of Johns Hopkins University and Maribel Childress, principal of a Springdale, Ark., elementary school where 76 percent of the students are English Language Learners, hashed out the results.
At Childress’ school, Parson Hills Elementary, there’s at least one other important factor in success not mentioned in the study, she said. The staff makes it a priority to develop relationships with all students. If she were in Arkansas, for example, she would probably be wearing a costume to mark Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, a day that many of her students celebrate, she said.
“Learning is personal,” Childress said.
Calderon added that she would like to see the study replicated in Chicago, New York City or elsewhere.
We’ll post the results from the study on the EWA Web site soon.
And don't forget, Gov. Schwarzenegger is scheduled to speak in about 90 minutes.
This morning, EWA members had first dibs on a new EdSource study that examined how elementary schools are doing at helping ELL students achieve. They came up with a few things that are key, like the strength of the principal and whether the school had set specific goals and created concrete plans for reaching those goals.
Trish Williams of EdSource, Kenji Hakuta of Stanford University, Margarita Calderon of Johns Hopkins University and Maribel Childress, principal of a Springdale, Ark., elementary school where 76 percent of the students are English Language Learners, hashed out the results.
At Childress’ school, Parson Hills Elementary, there’s at least one other important factor in success not mentioned in the study, she said. The staff makes it a priority to develop relationships with all students. If she were in Arkansas, for example, she would probably be wearing a costume to mark Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, a day that many of her students celebrate, she said.
“Learning is personal,” Childress said.
Calderon added that she would like to see the study replicated in Chicago, New York City or elsewhere.
We’ll post the results from the study on the EWA Web site soon.
And don't forget, Gov. Schwarzenegger is scheduled to speak in about 90 minutes.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Schedule change for Thursday night
Before I forget...
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings-- surely one of the highlights of this year's meeting for all of us education geeks-- will be here a little longer than we initially thought tonight. She'll do a Q&A about NCLB and higher ed accountability for about an hour beginning at 7 p.m. Then, the opening night reception out by the pool will begin at 8:15 p.m., instead of 9 p.m. So that gives everyone a little more time to mingle, eat and drink.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings-- surely one of the highlights of this year's meeting for all of us education geeks-- will be here a little longer than we initially thought tonight. She'll do a Q&A about NCLB and higher ed accountability for about an hour beginning at 7 p.m. Then, the opening night reception out by the pool will begin at 8:15 p.m., instead of 9 p.m. So that gives everyone a little more time to mingle, eat and drink.
New media mania
Ahem, I am a changed blogger after this afternoon's new media session with Robert Niles of Online Journalism Review, Scott Elliott of the Dayton Daily News' Get on the Bus blog and Alexander Russo of the This Week in Education blog, now on Education Week's Web site. The speakers gave tips for driving more pageviews and making a blog more relevant to readers.
Some suggestions: Do research, don't dive into a blog where you would like to develop a readership without understanding what the competition is doing. Try to get into a posting rhythm so readers can fall into a routine of checking every so often. The more local the news, the better. Also, Niles said bloggers should take an active role in the comments section of their blog. Respond, credit readers for their tips and step in (respectfully) when someone writes something out of line or off topic.
The last one is something that makes a lot of sense to me. But for whatever reason, I always thought that bloggers (or the writers of stories with comment threads at the bottom) had to leave that section to the readers. I know that's what the editors at the last newspaper where I worked believed too. Slowly but surely though, newspapers seem to be coming around to blogs.
We'll put more tips from the blogging session in our next newsletter, scheduled to go out May 14. Most, if not all of the newsletter, will be a wrap up of the meeting. Plus, we'll put lots of the presentations and tipsheets from our speakers on our Web site when we get back to D.C.
Some suggestions: Do research, don't dive into a blog where you would like to develop a readership without understanding what the competition is doing. Try to get into a posting rhythm so readers can fall into a routine of checking every so often. The more local the news, the better. Also, Niles said bloggers should take an active role in the comments section of their blog. Respond, credit readers for their tips and step in (respectfully) when someone writes something out of line or off topic.
The last one is something that makes a lot of sense to me. But for whatever reason, I always thought that bloggers (or the writers of stories with comment threads at the bottom) had to leave that section to the readers. I know that's what the editors at the last newspaper where I worked believed too. Slowly but surely though, newspapers seem to be coming around to blogs.
We'll put more tips from the blogging session in our next newsletter, scheduled to go out May 14. Most, if not all of the newsletter, will be a wrap up of the meeting. Plus, we'll put lots of the presentations and tipsheets from our speakers on our Web site when we get back to D.C.
OK, seriously this time...
It's a good thing we have a blog this year, because with so many speakers and events packed into just a couple days, the schedule is constantly in flux. In the latest change, Gov. Schwarzenegger is still set to join us at noon Friday. But instead of speaking alone before our 2007 Martin Buskin Lecturer Eli Broad, the session will be a conversation with Schwarzenegger and Broad. So we hope to see you at lunch tomorrow. Also, registration is still underway for the next 45 minutes or so, and several exhibitors have already set up tables with lots of materials (copies of their recent studies, notebooks and pens, etc.) for reporters to scoop up.
Thursday, Day 1
Good morning...
Today is the first official day of our annual meeting. We have registration, sessions on using new media, a Q&A with U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, a session on what's missing in reporters' coverage of Latino education with producer Moctesuma Esparza and an opening reception on tap. In case you didn't notice, we have updated the agenda on the L.A. meeting page of our Web site.
Today is the first official day of our annual meeting. We have registration, sessions on using new media, a Q&A with U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, a session on what's missing in reporters' coverage of Latino education with producer Moctesuma Esparza and an opening reception on tap. In case you didn't notice, we have updated the agenda on the L.A. meeting page of our Web site.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Time change for Gov. Schwarzenegger
Well, this is exactly why we're doing a blog...Just a few minutes after my post about Gov. Schwarzenegger, we hear that he'll actually be here about noon Friday, not 9 a.m. So if you're hoping to see him, please adjust your plans. I promise to let you know if it changes again.
Schwarzenegger confirmed
Hi there! Thanks for checking in at EWA's first blog. We hope to keep you updated on what's going on at our 60th annual meeting.
By now the entire EWA staff, many board members and even a few eager participants have arrived here at the hotel. But things will really kick off tomorrow at noon when some participants will head to USC's Annenberg School of Communication for sessions on using new media like blogs, audio and video and databases.
Members were supposed to sign up for this in advance and should have received some info on where to meet, etc., for a ride. In case you forgot, the meeting place is the 333 restaurant in Downtown Marriott hotel lobby at 11:30 a.m.
So yes, it's early, but we've already got one bit of news to share: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is confirmed for Friday. He's tentatively scheduled to show up about 9 a.m. (in which case the sessions that are supposed to begin then would begin immediately after he speaks).
I'll let you know when and if I hear anything different.
Notice we've spared you the cheesy headline with references to 'The Terminator" or any other Schwarzenegger movies here, but I can't promise the same in the blog that I write following his appearance...
By now the entire EWA staff, many board members and even a few eager participants have arrived here at the hotel. But things will really kick off tomorrow at noon when some participants will head to USC's Annenberg School of Communication for sessions on using new media like blogs, audio and video and databases.
Members were supposed to sign up for this in advance and should have received some info on where to meet, etc., for a ride. In case you forgot, the meeting place is the 333 restaurant in Downtown Marriott hotel lobby at 11:30 a.m.
So yes, it's early, but we've already got one bit of news to share: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is confirmed for Friday. He's tentatively scheduled to show up about 9 a.m. (in which case the sessions that are supposed to begin then would begin immediately after he speaks).
I'll let you know when and if I hear anything different.
Notice we've spared you the cheesy headline with references to 'The Terminator" or any other Schwarzenegger movies here, but I can't promise the same in the blog that I write following his appearance...
Thursday, April 26, 2007
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