Televised Broadcasts Meet Building-Wide
Goals
Updated Dec. 21, 2006
In middle grades the televised broadcast of announcements
in sixth, seventh and eighth grade homerooms began in 2002 with a pilot project designed by Dena Homme, then the middle grades art teacher. The current instructor/advisor is art teacher Michela Tehan. The Thunderbird Informer is now aired each afternoon on Channel 72, to meet
three goals set by the Middle Grades Building Team:
· improving communication skills
· building character by featuring student skits and recognizing special
accomplishments
· re-enforcing the block schedule with a broadcast at the end of each day
The Channel 72 broadcasts are designed for a middle grades audience and production
team, enhancing life skills and personal development more than broadcast
experience. Administrators and advisors hope to provide a positive opportunity
for students who hesitate to become involved in other school activities.
There are many ways for students to participate in the Channel 72 broadcast,
including:
· Taping announcements for clubs, special events and fund raisers
· Showcasing talents - music, readings, acting
· Performing original skits
· Presenting classroom reports and projects
The students involved have grown in
confidence and ability. Most of the students involved are eighth graders enrolled in the class, Introduction to TV. Three teams of students produce each broadcast: announcers, producers and
technicians. The announcer's position involves performance; reinforces
reading and language skills; and promotes interpersonal communication by
encouraging body language, eye contact and ad lib skills. The producer's
position involves writing and organizational ability; and locating and
disseminating information for the broadcast, from the computer e-mail and
middle grades office. The technician's position involves the physical aspects
of the broadcast: lighting, sound, camera operation, switching and titles.
Each group comes to appreciate the interdependence and pressures of a live
broadcast.
The broadcast team goals are:
· building self esteem and confidence for all the participants and specifically
for the announcers through peer recognition
· promoting team spirit through interdependence
· community identity through building school spirit
· broadening horizons through personalizing news of the world, the nation,
Western New York, and the Chautauqua Lake community
Student videographers are learning that the sound and framing must make the
activity clear and easy to understand in order to keep the audience involved
.
Teacher Chris Rammacher volunteers his technical
expertise. Following Phase IV construction, production facilities moved from a portable studio in the art room to the district's new television studio, which is also used for high school classes.
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