Бесплатный фрагмент - Growth journalism

Natalia Muravleva

Growth journalism

For those looking for new ideas

From the author

Ten years ago, I never thought that the union of journalism and pedagogy could have anything to do with me, and that my profession would be something like “journalist-teacher,” and it’s not clear who I am more of.

I used to be a good journalist, gaining experience from excellent practicing teachers, first on television, then in newspapers and magazines of various levels, and in my own publishing projects. However, everything changed when I started working with children, first with teenagers, then with young, 10-year-old journalists, and then with preschoolers. And I always felt a genuine childlike interest in my adult specialty.

I taught them how to interview, write news and reports, and how to edit their articles. I also taught them not to be afraid of the camera and how to record video. Over time, my students have become more attentive to detail, able to ask the right questions and find information quickly. They learned to be more organized and work as a team. Yes, sometimes I helped them write articles or scripts, but they edited, edited, voiced and commented on them themselves. We wrote and filmed stories about events, people and dates, as well as social issues.

Now I work with preschoolers in the middle, senior and preparatory groups of kindergarten and I never cease to be amazed at how easily they accept new knowledge. I try to teach them journalistic skills, through correct speech, through practicing sounds, through communication, and we succeed! Maybe it’s also because I am patient and understanding, because I know how to listen to children and listen to the questions they want to hear the answers to. I teach them how to use language and how to structure their thoughts correctly, and I rejoice with them with every little victory. Working with children has given me a lot of new knowledge and experience myself. I learned to be a more creative person, because each lesson is not only author’s methods applied in practice, but also the ability to find non-standard solutions. I learn from children, and they learn from me. I am sure that journalism and pedagogy can be successfully combined, and it is in this capacity that I can help children find their vocation in life.

Part 1. From journalism to pedagogy

Age: 14—17 years

Chapter 1. An Important Profession

Perhaps I should first tell you how I, a journalist by profession, came to be in the education system.

When I finished high school on Sakhalin, I was sure that I wanted to connect my future career at least with a newspaper, that if I didn’t enroll, journalism would lose a lot in my face! After all, I was always in the whirlpool of school and extracurricular events, and it was important for me to tell the world about them! Therefore, there was no question about the choice: only the faculty of journalism!

My first step in my new profession began in the youth editorial office of the Sakhalin State TV and Radio Company. I was responsible for youth topics, for preparing news and reports for the youth audience. But I quickly realized that too much of this important work depends not on you, but on the team. And not always the members of this team are conscientious and honest. Even then, for me, journalism was first and foremost synonymous with the word “responsibility”. So I went to a youth publication. Here I wrote articles about various events taking place in the region, about brigade contracting, conducted investigations on behalf of “Komsomolskiy Projektor”, went on exciting business trips to all the islands, including the Kurils, in short — I breathed in the aroma of printing ink with a full chest and thought that there was no more interesting profession than journalist. It was an incredibly exciting time!

Then I was invited to a trade union publication to cover social problems, and I plunged headlong into a new topic. Soon I became the head of the newspaper’s department and started managing my own small team of journalists. We really helped people. We traveled on readers’ letters (feedback was strong then), investigated some shortcomings in housing and utilities, education system, social services, wrote articles about problems in the construction of youth housing complexes, about the life of people released from prison… Everything from politics to culture and sports was in the reporter’s field of vision. I gained a lot of skills, as we would say nowadays, competencies, in editing and designing newspaper layouts.

By the time I moved to St. Petersburg, I already had a huge professional experience, a portfolio of not just articles, but entire files of newspapers, well-established contacts and a clean reputation. It was difficult, but I found a job in a St. Petersburg newspaper with the symbolic name “CHANCE” and a new milestone in my history began.

I didn’t just learn to write according to the requirements of local journalism (I realized very quickly that it was different from our local journalism) — I had to dive headfirst into completely new niches. The topic “Real Estate Markets” alone was worth it! I was also given a whole tab called “Education” and I was just dizzy with the opportunities that St. Petersburg offered at that time. I wanted not only to write about it, I wanted to learn, learn and learn again.

At the same time I got a job in the magazine “Style”, where the charming Svetlana Volkova was in charge. Here I spent my soul on “women’s” topics: I wrote about fashion, culture, art. I made reviews of restaurants, cafes, clubs, beauty salons. During one of these “deep dives” the idea to write a book on self-care at home was born, which I did. (It was published under the pseudonym Inna Polyanskaya in the Nevsky Prospect publishing house — that was the publisher’s condition).

Then there were courses by the well-known Sergei Asimov, “Business without Startup Capital”, which taught me not to be afraid of creating my own projects. And I threw myself into a new abyss: my startup was an information and advertising guide called “The Woman’s Question” (thankfully, the subject was familiar), then “The Man’s Question”… The projects grew like mushrooms after rain. I found talented designers and advertisers who helped me a lot. I made contacts with printers who were able to reproduce the right format, gloss and produce the product exactly in the quality I wanted.

There came a period when I realized that my projects were too small for me, that I wanted to share my experience and knowledge with other people who also wanted to become journalists. And the first step in this direction was studying at the Herzen Pedagogical Institute. Herzen.

With a diploma as an additional education teacher I came to the Kolpinets Youth House to help children thinking about their future to realize their dreams. I am still convinced that journalism is a fascinating and important profession that can bring both benefit and pleasure at the same time.

Chapter 2. The Youth House

I started with an information stand telling what we would be doing at our School of Young Journalists. I wanted everyone who came to the DMK to be able to learn about our classes and get acquainted with the schedule. Of course, we also started to create a printed organ, the newspaper “DMK-news”, because we needed to publish, to see the result of our labor, and the newspaper is the best platform for this! The guys enthusiastically participated in the contest for the best material, and winning it was the only way to be “printed” in our media. The district newspaper MoloKo (“Young Kolpins”), with a circulation of 10,000 copies, also sometimes published our materials, and it was considered to be the highest level. It was a great platform for honing skills and sharing news from the life of the Youth House and the entire district. Beginning journalists learned to express their thoughts on paper, participated in creative contests, made reports and interviews. The photo lessons held in May, when it was warm and green, were especially popular with us. The children were given specific tasks, shot in certain modes and angles, and then we all worked together to sort out mistakes and recognize the best works.

I must pay tribute to the director of the Youth House, Natalia Alexandrovna Soboleva: no matter what I did, no matter what projects I proposed, my ideas were welcomed and I was always given the green light.

After the first school year, the children and I organized a photo exhibition “Colors of May”, where the best works in large frames were presented. There were quite a lot of such authors: Egor Nikolaev, Daria Kopylova, Nastya Veprikova, Veronika Ivanova, Maya Egorchenkova, Sveta Karpova… Expressive portraits, bright flowers, juicy landscapes looked at the viewer. The exposition was preceded by a general portrait of the group, also expressive, emphasizing the emotions and character of each. The exhibition decorated the hall of the Youth House and everyone who came here, rapturously aghast. And I felt a genuine sense of pride for the pupils!

Working at the Youth House has led to the fact that some of the children became really interested in journalism and went on to study at the journalism faculty. I am happy that I helped them to discover new opportunities for themselves.

Workshop

There are a few basic steps to start teaching photography to kids 12—16 years old:

— Learning the basics. Familiarizing yourself with the basics of photography such as exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. This will help the kids understand how the camera works and how they can control the quality of their work.

— Study of Composition. Composition is an important element of photography, so the kids need to learn how to create interesting and effective compositions. For example, they can consider the rule of thirds, using lines and shapes, creating depth, etc.

— You need to start practicing right away! You can take some photos on a particular theme, for example, “City”, “Nature”, “People”, “Our Smaller Brothers”, “School”, etc. This will help students to improve their skills.

— Criticism and feedback. It is very important that the boys get feedback. The teacher can criticize and discuss the photo works, but in a way that helps the guys to understand what can be improved and how.

— Studying the work of other photographers. It is useful for the children to learn about, examine, and analyze the work of other photographers, especially well-known, reputable ones. This will help them to learn how masters work on composition, color, light, get new ideas and inspiration. Among St. Petersburg photographers I can safely name Peter Letunovsky, Sergey Kornilov, Taras Marchenko, Dmitry Loginov, Ekaterina Sladkova, Yuri Gusev, Ivan Smelov, Christina Savchenko.

Chapter 3. Holidays and Weekdays

To make the lessons more diverse, not boring, we invented various games, quizzes and practical tasks. We did not limit ourselves to the Youth House alone, we went on excursions, to plein air, to round tables, organized meetings with interesting people. It was important to show students how big and diverse the world around them is, how many topics and heroes there are to write and write about!

Take at least the Dog Riding Championship held in one of the districts of the region! The guys’ emotions were just off the scale. They not only became participants of the process, covering this event, but also made friends with the dogs, malamutes and huskies, and with the owners. They came back full of impressions. And for a long time we discussed the brought materials.

And once we got to the reconstruction of military events on the “Nevsky Patch”. There were a lot of people, as well as artists dressed in the uniform of the war years. Half depicted the Krauts, half — ours. By the time of the beginning of the “battle” journalists were finally immersed in the atmosphere: they tried on military overcoats, shot guns, talked with “Hans” and with “Russians” (guys from the club of reenactors). In short, it was no longer necessary to explain what war and the memory of it are — they seemed to understand everything.

Now, when they talked about trips to war graves or memorials, no one had to be persuaded, no one had to explain anything — they went even in the rain. That first impression was so strong.

In general, trips to the Leningrad Region were great adventures for the guys. They helped to unite and make friends, and the main thing was to learn a lot of new things, and even to make real discoveries for themselves. So, none of them even guessed that there is an interesting place called Lukomorye, not far from St. Petersburg, about which, according to the guide, Pushkin wrote about the “green oak tree”. This very oak was also shown to us, though without the golden chain, on which the cat scientist wanders… Whether it is the same or not, remains a question. But next to it is the family estate of Abram Hannibal, the famous arapist of Peter the Great. What is not a reason to write a series of interesting reports? After such a trip, the boys began to read more about Pushkin and Alexander Sergeyich himself…

We visited Vladimir Nabokov’s estate in Rozhdestvenskoe, the House of the Station Master museum, the museum of the founder of St. Petersburg photography, the famous Karl Bulla. We went to the zoovetcenter “Phoenix” to tell about the Aibolites of our time. And from everywhere the guys brought excellent materials, and the trips themselves became a real source of inspiration.

They also got acquainted with the work of their colleagues — real journalists, cameramen, TV presenters, printers, in short, all those people who in one way or another form the face of today’s media. In the printing house “LD-print” the children were shown not only the process of printing books, but also received a lot of gifts: textbooks, calendars. They left there inspired, full of interesting ideas. And soon Dasha Kopylova produced a unique material, where she spilled out all her impressions and for which she won second place in the school media contest.

One day we invited Nikolai Bulkin, editor of the St. Petersburg branch of the NTV channel, to the class. The conversation turned out to be very informative, but not finished. And Nikolai invited everyone to the St. Petersburg TV studio! It was an unforgettable experience for the students. You bet: we found ourselves in the holy of holies of a popular editorial office, saw the process of the birth of news from the inside, visited the role of cameramen and presenters, saw famous people “from the TV”!

The report from the media studio of the Faculty of Journalism at St. Petersburg State University stands out in our photo album. The children were seated at desks and for a few minutes they became real students of the journalism faculty, where the lesson was taught by university professors. We were allowed to stand behind TV cameras, sit at the mixing table, read the news on the radio and evaluate the work of adult cameramen!

From trips journalists always brought photo and video material, articles for our newspaper, it was an immutable rule, which everyone followed without objection. The best work was then sent to the contest. The best work would then be sent to a contest.

One of the most interesting events was the Dedication to Journalism. It was prepared for. They were waiting for it. Every time something new, unexpected and interesting was invented for them. These celebrations were held on a “hurrah”. The guys conducted mock interviews and reports, participated in contests and games, and at the end they lit candles and said the journalist’s oath. The evening always ended with the anthem of journalists, which we composed in the first year of study and later slightly adjusted.

And soon I had followers — those guys who were seriously interested in journalism and later entered the journalism faculty. We sometimes meet to discuss news and projects that my former students are engaged in. I am proud to watch them grow and develop in their profession. One of them, Alexandra Romaniuk, has successfully graduated from the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and is making wonderful documentaries and creating new projects. She has always been creative and skillful, her photo works were worthy of real, adult exhibitions, and I am glad that I helped her choice. Another student, Alyona Pavlova, has already moved on to the 4th year of journalism school and has begun to try her hand at teaching journalism at the Kolpino Center for Children’s and Youth Technical Creativity. Jomi Zhomov, just as he dreamed, became an unrivaled sports commentator. Denis Yelfin is graduating from journalism school. And recently he and I carefully prepared a work for the forum of high school students in the prestigious XIX International Likhachev Scientific Readings (I was a supervisor) and this work was appreciated: Denis received an honorable second place, and with it — the opportunity to enter one of the best universities of the northern capital free of charge. By the way, the same work, entitled “Memory overcomes time”, took 1st place at the International Festival “Cinema Kids”, about which I will tell you.

Workshop

Here are some simple journalism assignments for your students:

— Interview a classmate. Ask each student to choose one of their classmates and conduct an interview. Ask questions about what hobbies they have, how they spend their free time, what books they read, what movies they watch, etc. Then ask them to write a short text about their hero based on this interview.

— Exploring a location. Ask the children to choose an interesting place in their town or neighborhood and do some research. You can talk to local people, look at historical monuments and sights, study local culture and traditions, go to a museum or library, club or house of culture — collect more material, then write an article about your research.

— Travel Stories. Ask children to write stories about their travels or places they would like to visit. The children can describe their experiences, pictures and videos that were taken during the trip. Then ask them to share their stories with the group.

— News research. Invite the children to name a few topics that interest them. Choose one of them. Ask them to research the news about the topic they are interested in and write an article about it using a variety of sources of information: newspapers, magazines, television news, and the Internet. Then ask them to share their piece and discuss with them the topic, headline, pitch, and style.

Chapter 4. Our “youth newspaper”

We named our newspaper “DMK-news” in honor of the Kolpinets Youth House. There were those who were good at drawing and could suggest the design of the issue, those who wanted to edit, those who took photos more often than wrote. Yes, it was just like that: in 2014 we somehow managed without the active participation of the Internet, but it did not prevent the guys from mastering knowledge.

What did they write about in the newspaper? About everything! About holidays and everyday life of the district, the city. But most often — about events within the walls of the Youth House. Having seven subdivisions throughout the district, it lived a stormy, busy life. Every week something interesting happened and the guys, gathering for classes twice a week, could hardly keep up with the news… They wrote about their studies, because it was their main occupation. About relationships with peers, with teachers, with parents. After a round table meeting with representatives of the Trust Service, we wrote a series of articles on the psychology of adolescence… Sometimes we were required to cover more serious topics: prevention of AIDS, alcoholism, drug addiction among young people. The difficulty was that we had to write, but we couldn’t call things by their proper names: we couldn’t have the words “drug addiction” or “drug addict” in the text (teachers know what I mean). We got out of it as best we could, calling on the experience of the public organization “Common Cause”, which fought these same problems purposefully and very professionally.

I remember we were offered to do a work for a contest on the topic of fighting AIDS — even a poster, even a report, but be sure to participate! Nastya Veprikova chose the genre — an article, but we don’t know how best to present it, so that it would be scathing, on topic, so that it would be noticed. We stayed after class, we are sitting and thinking, but we are running out of time! I suggest to the girl: let’s write a touching letter to your sick friend, he is in a foreign city, lonely, no one visits him, and we need to support him… I don’t know what kind of motor I started in this talented girl, but the article-letter turned out so that the adults cried. In general, we left the final of the contest with a victory!

But there was, of course, more positive: sports, concerts, festivals. Everyone especially liked to cover the festivals “Theater + Me”, “Fashion Palette”. These were topics that were very clear and close to everyone. Besides, the organizers presented them brightly, remembered them easily, had something to write about. And the kids liked to introduce themselves to the jury and the audience: “We are from the school of young journalist, let me ask you some questions…!”.

They also told about important people who held meetings at the Youth House: deputies, officials, heads of youth structures and public organizations of the district. This is how my journalists learned to overcome the psychological barrier and gained experience in communicating with adults.

The year 2016 was particularly successful for us: at the Tsarskoselsky forum of school press (Pushkin) we won the competition among school and youth publications. The competition was of all-Russian level, with entries coming from all over the country, from backwoods and big cities, 68 cities in total. Newspapers and magazines, created by school press centers and youth associations, decorated the long corridor of Nikolaevsky gymnasium, where the forum was held. Everyone could see and compare their work with others. There was no hiding place for rough edges and bloopers — everything was in plain sight! We were very lucky with the theme: Year of Cinema. The children were bathed in cinematic issues.

We visited Smeshariki (at the Mill), the St. Petersburg Animation Studio, and Lenfilm. We talked to famous movie directors and actors. All these trips and meetings charged us with excitement, inspired us to creativity and our number turned out to be very successful, bright in form and rich in content.

The winner’s cup was held by a happy Sveta Karpova. And we all danced with joy on the spot… And when it became possible, we opened our own group in VK and began to duplicate the publication in electronic form. This was the beginning of our digital era, and many new tools and discoveries in this area awaited everyone!

Workshop

Assignments for young journalists to help them fill the school newspaper with interesting content:

— “Class Survey”. Ask each student in your class or a neighboring/younger class to answer a few questions related to school life. For example: “What is your favorite place in school?”, “What subject do you think is missing?”, or “What fashion, style would you choose for students in your school?”. Collect the responses and use them to create a “Thinking Out Loud” article.

— “Reporting on a School Event.” Ask journalists to attend a school event, such as a concert or soccer game, swimming competition or rock climbing championship, and report on what is happening. They can interview participants and spectators, coaches and judges, take photos and write an article about how the event went. It is possible to make several different such articles and prepare a whole special edition of the newspaper.

— “Comic strip about school life”. Ask journalists to create a comic strip about school life. Some can use their own stories or make them up, others can sketch and then perfect them.

The key is to create a fun and engaging comic that everyone can enjoy.

— “Interview with a teacher”. Ask journalists to interview one of the teachers at the school. We had this rubric called “Five questions to the teacher”. You can have much more, the main thing is that both questions and answers were interesting.

Scenario of the New Year’s party “Snow Party”

Host: Hello, dear friends, today we are gathered at our “Snow Party” to celebrate the winter vacations and the coming of the New Year! And also to try ourselves as real journalists. We will have a lot of fun games and contests that will help us have fun and spend time with benefit. In each game someone wins and gets a snowflake star. At the end of the party we will count the number of snowflake stars earned by everyone and award the winner. Let’s get started!

Game 1: “Snow Balls”

Host: For this game we need two teams and white napkins. Each team has to make as many snowballs as possible in 1 minute. The team that makes the most snowballs wins.

Game 2: “Snow Battle”

Host: For this game we need to divide everyone into two teams. Each team should choose their captain who will stand at the ends of the field. The rest of the teams should throw snowballs at the opposing team. The captains must protect their team from the snowballs. The team that stays alive wins.

Game 3: “Snow Race”.

Host: For this game we need to divide everyone into two teams. Each team should choose their captain who will stand at the ends of the field. The rest of the teams should throw snowballs at the opposing team. The captains must protect their team from the snowballs. The team that stays alive wins.

Game 4: “Snow Relay Race”.

Host: For this game we need to divide everyone into two teams. Each team should choose their captain who will stand at the ends of the field. The rest of the teams should throw snowballs at the opposing team. The captains must protect their team from the snowballs. The team that stays alive wins.

Game 5: “Snow Woman”

Host: For this game we need to divide everyone into two teams. Each team has to make as many snowballs as possible in 1 minute. The team that makes the most snowballs wins.

Host: But that’s not all. My friends! At today’s party, we have to choose a snow queen. So, you had to prepare costumes, and we and the jury must choose the winner. Costume number 1 — welcome to the podium (girls in carnival costumes go one by one and line up in front of the jury). The winner of the contest put on the crown of the Snow Queen, handed a souvenir (or medal, or ribbon) party continues.

Host: and now — Competition!

Contest 1: “What is written on the photo?”

Host: For this contest we will use photos that our journalists have taken. I will show the photos and the participants will have to give an original title to the story.

Contest 2: “Guess what’s in the bag”.

Host: For this contest we need Santa Claus with presents. Let’s call him!

Everyone shouts: Santa Claus — come out!

Ded Moroz and — numbers of guys. The costume can be stylized: belt, cap, white beard. The main thing — a large cloth bag.

Presenter: we will use a bag of snowballs (Santa Claus demonstrates his bag to the audience). You have to take turns going to the bag and determine by touch what kind of object you have in your hands. If you guessed — it’s yours! (in the bag are all sorts of little things wrapped in a pile of napkins so that the shape of it resembles a snowball, and that as difficult as possible to determine what is there, inside)

Contest 3: “Snowball Run”.

Host: For this contest we will use a target on which to throw snowballs. The participant who hits the ten, gets a prize. (Targets — from the game of darts).

Contest 4: “Snow Race”.

Host: For this contest we will use snowballs, which you must keep on the shovel, and even on an outstretched hand. Your task is to go the distance, running with the shovel to the finish line without dropping the snowball. The participant who will pass the fastest, gets a prize.

Host: And now pay attention: the game!

Game 6. “Mittens”

Host: We’ll divide into teams. I need two people, one from each team. At one of the factories began to produce Christmas mittens. But here’s the trouble — the machine broke down at the wrong moment, and the pattern on the second mitten was not embroidered in time. Please, finish the machine, put a drawing on the second mitten. And you have to do it blindfolded and with two hands at once — that’s how our machine works!

Then the eyes are blindfolded and… the process begins! The one whose drawing looks more like the original wins.

Game 7: “The Editor”

Host: there are still two teams. Each team must choose an editor who will edit the articles. The other team members should cut out a few words and phrases from newspapers and stick them on a small roll of paper (40x50cm) in a chaotic order. The editor’s task is to compose a text from these words. The team with the best article wins.

Game 8: “New Year’s Report”.

Host: For this game we are again divided into two teams. Each team should write a report about the New Year’s tree. But we will write it on a roll of toilet paper. The roll is rolled up. Each person who is writing reels off one strip to write a sentence. They write it down, then roll it up so the next person can’t see it. And so on. The team whose roll contains the most interesting and witty report wins.

Host: Here comes to the end of our “Snow Party” We hope that you had a great time and learned something new. All we have to do is summarize the results!

All contests and games can be mixed with each other, diluted with your own games and tasks, here — just the basis of the scenario. And then your imagination works.

Part 2. Journalism at school

Age: 11—16 years

Chapter 5. School Press Center

The moment came when I became a teacher of supplementary education at a school in St. Petersburg. I was responsible for organizing a press center and a journalism club.

At first, I had to combine my work; it was a pity to leave the School for Young Journalists at DMK. But after a year my new management insisted on dismissal there, and I finally parted with the House of Youth, turning this page of my history with regret and sadness.

The school turned out to be a somewhat different platform for practicing my author’s methods and techniques, but the more interesting it was to work. The age was also different, after all, in the Youth House the guys were older, more serious, and probably more focused on their goals. Here they came to the club just out of curiosity. And we had to do everything we could to keep it alive, but on the contrary, to strengthen it, so that the kids would bring their friends and classmates here as well.

And for this you need a team, a backbone that will lure everyone into this vortex of creative ideas. Somewhere long ago I read about the event “Big Press Day”. I took it as a basis and added my own “tricks” based on my observations of school life. I conducted a quest with questions, the answers to which were to be found on pictures hung around the school. Its winners became the first creative team, the brain of the future press center. They turned out to be very diligent and talented students, with whom we were able to create an interesting and high-quality school newspaper with the proud name “FIVE” (LEARNING, ACTING, LIVING).

Every year they grew up, moved from class to class, but they always came to the studio. During this time they became much more literate, mastered all genres, learned to communicate, to be a real team, which could always be relied on. Many of them improved their knowledge of Russian language and literature, so much so that teachers were amazed by these changes. I think they just realized that others were looking up to them, that they were the front group of the class, and they could not afford to slip in the mud. This imposed a certain responsibility, prevented them from being lazy, passive, insecure. The “Alley of School Journalism Stars” was a strong motivational activity. We planted it in the school yard, in a prominent place. There were only two stars — Alina and Jomi — but the rest of us wanted to plant our own thuja with a silver plaque! Launching Japanese lanterns into the darkening sky, everyone dreamed that our alley would grow to an incredible size. But...someday everything comes to an end. The boys graduated from school, went their separate ways, and there was no one left to take care of the alley.

Workshop

Examples of tasks and contests for the holiday “Dedication to Journalism”

— The first task is “Interview”. Children are divided into pairs, one of them becomes the “journalist” and the other becomes the “interviewee”. The journalists ask their partners questions and write down their answers on paper. Then they read aloud the finished material. You can mix up the questions and answers to make it funny and fun.

— The second task is “Photo Hunt”. Children are given lists with different objects that they must photograph. For example, “a man on a bicycle”, “a cat in a tree”, “a flower in a pot”. Children take pictures of the objects, think up a name for their photo story and give it to the jury.

— The third task is “Reportage”. Children are divided into two teams. Children are given a topic about which they have to make a short report. For example, “how is summer in our city”. But they have to “write” their reportage with the help of facial expressions and gestures and involving members of their team.

— The fourth task is a quiz. The questions are not difficult, but all on the subject of journalism.

— Contest: choosing “Miss SuperPress”. During the evening the guys will have to vote by closed ballot for the one they consider worthy of this title. The results will be summarized at the end of the evening. A prize awaits the winner.

— The culmination of the Dedication: Devil (representative of all negative) and Angel (representative of good) are chosen in advance. They stand on both sides of the chairs, holding brooms in their hands and forming an arch. The newcomer, who undergoes the rite of initiation, passes through the arch, the Devil and the Angel bless him with their opahalom, and the “old men” (those who have been practicing for more than a year), lined up along the path, sprinkle him alternately with buckwheat, salt, sugar or flour. The meaning is as follows: buckwheat is the benefit of learning, sugar is the sweetness of victories, salt is the bitterness of defeats, flour is a symbol of bread, and our bread is the extracted information (warn the guys that you can wear transparent raincoats, because they are waiting for an unusual rain — then no one will be offended that his uniform is dirty). Sometimes the Devil can add some “mischief” — to smear the face of the newcomer, and the Angel will rush to wipe, explaining to everyone the secret plan… It’s important to tie everything logically into one scenario.

— The kids are given press badges (or credentials), presented by “veterans” or, better yet, “stars of school journalism”. Each newly initiated person is given candles, usually electronic, safe candles, and in the dark, by candlelight, the Journalist’s Oath is recited.

Chapter 6. “Learning. Acting. Living.”

The school principal bought the equipment and immediately one problem became less. Previously, we had to print our school newspaper on the side, and to find a printing house, negotiate and bargain for a lower price — a difficult and time-consuming task. We started publishing the newspaper on a regular basis, every 1—2 months. We would have liked to have a real editorial team, editor, deputy editor, designer, layout designer, proofreader. But the lack of computers and software did not allow us to teach everyone the layout program, we had to take it upon ourselves.

The groups grew. Now in the “Jur-Bird” were engaged in children from the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. And it was possible to observe how different the approach to the lessons was among children of different ages. The most responsive and responsible were and are the 5th-6th grades. They greedily absorb all the information, are not afraid to grab any topic, not counting on time, write, film, prepare interviews and reports, listen to criticism and quickly correct mistakes.

Seventh graders are more inert, but they write better. However, they will not overload themselves with knowledge and even do not always attend classes. There is already some kind of withdrawal: whether to go to journalism, or to a sports relay race (All-Union Academic Review, iso, dance class, etc.). Sometimes the second wins. Then they come and ask to repeat again what they missed. This can go on indefinitely, and it is necessary to develop criteria that will outline the boundaries of their freedom.

Grades 8 and 9 are a special caste. They always cover their failures, failures, tardiness by preparing for the USE and USE, by being busy. But they love and want to get prizes, so they try their best. Sometimes it turns out great, and then we become winners of creative competitions, favored by teachers, on which the younger kids from our “journaltychnik” look with lust. With them it is both difficult and easy at the same time. It is easy because they have a certain experience and do not need to spend so many hours on theory. They go and write and shoot, even without adult participation. And difficult — because all these USE and USE take away a lot of amazing creative thoughts, which children never manage to put into practice.

There was a lot of practical training, and we were constantly “out in the field” to practice being journalists. We shot video in the school swimming pool, in the yard, in the sports complex, in the house of culture, on the square. Sometimes it was possible to go to the city center and then our editorial portfolio was replenished with video and photo material and excellent reports, which were not ashamed to send to the contest. The children learned to observe and notice the most interesting and important things and to bring them to others.