I really enjoyed our "mentor lunch" today with Deb Van Tassel, a features editor for The Arizona Republic. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of feedback, but I think I can speak for my group by saying that she provided invaluable input in helping us develop our story ideas and taking us down different roads that might have have popped up on our "story maps".
It was also enlightening to see Deb echo some of the visually appealing advice Steve had mentioned earlier in the week: just barf it out. She brought up a story from earlier in her career where she had come back from a scene and was struggling to find up with an angle as she frustratingly combed through her notes. A grizzled newspaper veteran saw her and said "Just tell me what happened." Deb said that ever since that moment, she has had a much easier time developing stories. This is advice that I not only hope to deliver to my students, but wisdom that I will impart for myself.
Dave Anderson
Christian Brothers High School
Sacramento, Calif.
"Just tell me what happened" seems like such a simple idea, but it is solid gold. Thank you for sharing this in the blog.
ReplyDeleteI think it is funny sometimes how easy it is for students, or people in general, to tell each other all about a fight in the cafeteria or the latest way some teacher "tried" them yet they struggle to "barf out" a simple retelling of a basic news story.
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