Building a Stronger Community and School Culture

TIPC Ratings

Approaching: Students are assigned a “beat” or area of the school for which they have responsibility. The students research all activities, report, write, and edit the information and have it broadcast-ready according to the time schedule. They had to construct questions to guide their research and assemble that information to address an authentic task. All information gathered and delivered on-air had to be obtained from valid reliable sources.

Ideal: Students may work in self-selected teams, but they must communicate with other students in the broadcast communication pipeline. The technical staff can work inside and outside of class, but must have the finished product inserted into the proper segment for broadcast by a specified deadline. Rotations and frequency must be communicated so that the videos run properly and in the desired time frame. All information is posted daily to the WUWW wiki where the students, faculty, staff, and community can access pre-recorded video, transcripts and podcasts for the day, canned video segments, as well as important links. Student and community comments can be communicated by texting or leaving a voice mail by dialing the WUWW Google Voice hotline at 804.396.3292. The students also stream the broadcast in real – time using Justin.tv. The live stream can be viewed world-wide. Students have had the opportunity to chat with people in Brazil and Turkey who have seen the live broadcast. Recently our live stream has been relocated to an unblocked server where students and teachers can watch the broadcast without having to authenticate the HCPS filter – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wuww10.

Ideal: Students select assignments, but they are responsible for how that assignment is accomplished. Each student has a time frame and a due date, but are on their own as to how this will be accomplished. Teachers and other students are always available for help and advice, but students are ultimately responsible for how the project will be completed. The overarching goal of this project was to have the students formulate ideas and concepts that could be communicated to the school and community by various means. In group discussions, students had to justify ways to improve morale and school perception. Once student artifacts were created, the students would self-reflect and critique the final products to make sure it was of the highest caliber prior to airing or posting online. As a side note, SOL related questions are asked on-air throughout the school year to the student body. Students must perform independent research and are able to submit their answers via a Google form found on the WUWW wiki. The winners who answered the questions correctly are read on-air the following day.

Ideal: This is the heart of WUWW. Students are encouraged to make the broadcast their own. Content is dictated by need, but each student may contribute other segments according to interest. A new opening and sound track was developed entirely by students. Teacher input was minimal with general guidelines (time constraints, general music suggestions, and readability) while the students collaborated on stories that reflected their own sensibilities. The school community’s perception of Wilder was low at the beginning of the school year, so the students determined it was time for them to begin an all-out PR campaign in order to highlight all of the great things going on in the building. The students used their creative abilities through the WUWW venue in order to debunk any myths about Wilder that had been circulating in the community and to build a sense of school spirit and pride within the student population. This mission has been accomplished and all of this can be witnessed by the plethora of student artifacts submitted for Henrico 21. A video prepared for the 2011 PTA Back to School Night (See artifact) was received with thunderous applause by the parents in the Wilder auditorium. The students prepared this video in less than three days.