The wheels of Spokesman

This morning, we had a school-wide mandatory assembly. It was a presentation called "Rachel's Challenge." Rachel Scott was the first student killed at the Columbine shootings in April 1999. This presentation covered her story and challenges participants to five challenges to make the world a better place.

Students packed the bleachers and the chairs on the floor. Teachers squeezed next to each other along empty wall space. The room was silent while the speaker made his presentation. I have never been to an assembly at WHS when the student body has been so quiet and attentive. It inspired me.

I was hoping my students might be inspired to do good things too.

If they were, it wasn't apparent in the Spokesman room. Instead, I feel like the staff is coming apart at the seems. For the first time, I saw Elizabeth so frustrated that she seemed about to give up. Apparently, Jake was just as frustrated. I think the shortened issue schedule is taking its toll and I'm not sure we're going to pull through.

I was shocked to look up from my work during seventh period and see people sitting around the room with seemingly nothing to do. The people who missed layout yesterday did not seem phased that they lost points, or more importantly, that the jobs they needed to do didn't get done by them.

I want my students to learn how to deal with deadline stress. This issue is definitely deadline stress. Maybe I am just not prepared to help them through it. Really, the key is to just make a decision and stick to it, follow it through. The more you change your mind on a short deadline, the more time is lost and the less work gets done.

If the staff gets this paper out, which I know they will one way or another, I hope they learn how much teamwork means to the success of this paper. Maybe that will be the pep talk I give tomorrow. Getting mad and frustrated doesn't accomplish much.

So, Rachel Scott, here I go. Maybe if I can point out the little teamwork things staffers can do, I can start the chain reaction for them to accomplish the good work they are capable of. Keep your fingers crossed!

I think my attitude got the best of Spokesman today. I've been pretty stressed the last week. There have been a couple of days where I go to work and despite having 2, almost 3, blocks when I don't have to teach a class, I still get nothing done that I need to get done. It seems I'm answering people's questions, putting out fires, going to meetings or just generally getting distracted by office goings on.

Today I hit my limit. I lost patience with my Spokesman staffers' work. Now, part of it was deserved. I know the issue is short, but a week should still be plenty of time to write two stories. It might mean doing more homework, but it can be done and done well. The stories this issue, based on what I've seen (or not seen) so far, are not done as well as my guys are capable of. So I strongly encouraged the EICs to do a 10-page issue. I also went off on staffers about the crappy writing and lack of sources in the stories.

Then I crossed the line. One of my students found me during lunch to ask me a question. I made a comment in front of other teachers. It was totally inappropriate. The student called me on it later, and rightfully so. It was a wake-up call for me. I need to be aware and "on my game" even when I'm feeling stretched to my limits. It's not fair to have my Spokesman kids bear the brunt of my frustration. I think this is a lesson I will keep at the forefront of my mind from here on out. I apologized, but that really doesn't fix what happened.

Now I have to find a way to keep this staff motivated through the rest of this short issue. To make matters worse, we do not have school on Monday and therefore we lose a day of Quarking. I'm hoping that having a 10-page issue will help with this.

Now, it's back to the grindstone. Lots of papers to grade... and a good attitude to cultivate.

Grades are due at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. And for the first time in a very long time, I have all of issue 1 graded (well, everyone who turned in their stories and grade sheets). It felt pretty good to be able to have an accurate grade for these guys at the mid-term.

I'm also really happy about grading their stories now. Instead of discussing them during a grade meeting, I take them home with the grade sheets that I use in JW1 and I evaluate them and write comments. I feel like I'm giving them better feedback than when I tried to fit it all into a five minute meeting. We'll see what they say when they get them back.

This Tuesday is layout for Issue 2. I'm a little nervous because we only had one week to work on stories. I'm not sure everyone did a thorough job on reporting. We'll see though. They have surprised before.

Okay, now I have to get to work on JW1 grading.

So we did not have a list of Spokesman Stars for week 4 because it was our first issue distribution week, and Elizabeth decided everyone was a star. In fact, she brought them each a little paper star with a chocolate attached. I think it went over well. I like chocolate.

Issue 2 is well underway though. So this last week there was plenty of opportunity for starness. Here they are:

*Andy sold an ad to the new indoor pool where he got a job this week!
*Sarah and Claire held their first new photo meeting on Tuesday and everyone attended!
*Jake and Andy were hot on the trail of the Wheeling plane crash this weekend. They were the first reporters on the scene.
*Photo editors and page editors decided to try out the Maestro system for the feature theme page and the focus section.
*Diane suggested a great idea for the editorial regarding the end of peer counseling.
*Tami's Trips is going to be a trip to the pumpkin patch! She's doing a great job appealing to multiple audiences.
*Anna and Elizabeth started extensive reporting for their News story on dropping classes.
*Rachel was not only a great editor this week, but also a very comforting friend to her fellow staff members.
*Hillary volunteered to go with Tami on her pumpkin trip.
*The staff worked diligently during the first week of a short issue.

- Devi and Tami worked together to design and layout centerspread with limited information.
- Rachel worked through her frustrations with the Sports section.
- Andy designed a fresh-faced News page.
- Tami spent ALL week working hard on ads - and sold quite a few.
- Karolina took awesome girls cross country pictures.
- Hillary came in to work multiple periods to get back on track for issue 1.
- Nikki and Elizabeth passed out, collected and tabulated the water survey.
- Jake wrote his first column for the Countryside.
- Sarah worked on finishing headboxes.
- This week, staffers were very supportive of each other's Spokesman-related problems as well as other everyday struggles.

- Fernando had a very detailed interview with his subjects at Pico de Gallo and had stories to share from the interview experience.
- Andy contacted the Buffalo Grove yearbook adviser in search of a Corey Diamond picture. He was complimented on the professional message he left.
- The photographers started utilizing their new calendar.
- Diane got all of her interviews done (and good ones too!)for a story that was starting to really stress her out.
- Sarah and Shivali brainstormed and created a new plan for mandatory photo meetings.
- Anna took control of the T-shirt orders, finding sizes and preferences and emailed the T-shirt company.
- Devi provided Elizabeth with crucial names for her Eris/Erik story.
- Andy and Neal worked together to find, meet and interview subjects for Neal's Jewel checkout people story.
- Stephanie finished her photo assignments early.
- Seventh period staffers worked together to help Hillary create her survey for the centerspread.
- Tami put the finishing touches on the advertising contract.
- Shivali was so on top of her game that she turned in her Unsung Hero sports story a day early.
- Jake and Andy designed "This Day in WHS History" for News' latest standing element.
- Spokesman staffers were very supportive of each other the second week!

I finally have all of the papers I need to post the Spokesman Stars!

Without further adieu...

- Hillary began working diligently on a story she didn't realize she had to write and observed her interviewee.
- Shivali took on a challenging new feature story, getting her first interview done right away.
- Krissy came to the Editorial Board!
- Claire used the mailboxes to communicate with other editors.
- All the editors showed up for the Editorial Board Meeting.
- Neal discussed his column confusions and sought help from the rest of his Spokesman period.
- Andy helped Shivali get in contact with her Unsung Hero.
- Lora set up her own section meeting and made goals for her section.
- Anthony finalized his decision to write for Spokesman this year.
- The staff had a fantastic first week!

I'm so tired right now that I can't be that creative, hence the title. Sorry. I've never seen the movie, so if that titles conjures more than just a person sleep walking, please disregard any meaning other than a person sleep walking. See, I'm really not that coherent this morning.

We made it through our first Paste-up, and overall it was great. Most pages were done by 9 p.m. La Voz was out early with a beautiful design. Jake even had to go back and change rule lines to gradients and we still finished most pages by 9 p.m.

Of course, things get a little crazy after 9. I finally finished the Spokesman soundtrack, or at least as much of as it as I can. Some kids are bringing in their songs today. We did have some fun with it last night though... my favorite being Krissy realizing Abba's Fernando was playing.

So now we see where we are and start to focus in on some project areas. Already, I know we need to focus more on writing... especially Sports. That will be the first workshop: Sports Writing. I think we also need to focus in more on our Ideas Goals. I think many staffers forgot about the goals in the efforts to "just get it done."

I'm proud. I'm tired. I'm done.

Today was our first layout. I'm a little up in the air about how it went. We have 11 page layouts (one sports page has to be done tomorrow), so that's a good thing. Page one has a great new design, so I am really proud of Andy for holding to the goals. However, we were missing one section editor at layout, and that made designing that section pretty difficult.

I feel like no matter how many times I say something and tell them how important it is, they just don't listen. For instance, I made a big speech on Friday about how EVERYONE needs to be at layout at 3 p.m. for a few minutes before they head off to their other obligations if they have them. I still had 2 people (and experienced staffers at that) not show up. This caused some hang-ups in communication.

I'm also tired of people blatantly ignoring me. Tomorrow might be an interesting day. I sent a student home with stories to edit, as is every page editors job, and the student left them at school. I make a big deal out of being at layout and doing their jobs because when they do it, everyone's life is easier; when they don't, my stress level and other staffers' stress levels rise and things don't happen as well as we are capable. It drives me crazy.

Okay, I think I have sufficiently vented without naming anyone. I also went to Pilates tonight, so I'm hoping that helps me stay calm throughout the rest of pasteup week.