Jay's STUDENT NEWS CONFERENCE Post - We Call It a CELEBRATION OF STUDENT WRITING - Students Share Their Best Work In Front of a Live Audience

  This idea came to me a few years back when I bumped into one of my students on campus before class.  He was dressed in button-down shirt and a nice pair of slacks – like he was heading to an interview in a café, restaurant, or retail store.  But he wasn’t.  He was coming from a communications class where he presented a three-minute speech to his teacher and classmates. I commend his instructor’s lesson plans.  Inside the classroom, beyond the reading and writing, students can benefit by presenting themselves as professional, mature, and serious enough to commit to a job. I wish when I was his age, I had taken this class.

This may have been at the beginning of theTrump presidency:  I mean, we were all watching news clips of Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Sara Saunders, Rod Rosenstein, presenting important information to a roomful of reporters.   And taking questions!   I thought what a great format to generate and perpetuate student engagement at semester's end.   The communication goes two ways.  Everyone wins!

My Spring 2024 students shared their best writing of the semester in front of a live audience in the library patio.  We brought in a professional podium.  We reserved a large screen for students to support their discussion with meaningful visuals.  In a brief three to five minutes, they highlight the most interesting aspects of their writing projects and writing experience.  This past spring, we read a sixties novel and researched a sixties topic.  In the foreground of the picture above is English 105 student Cassandra Macias. In the background ( on the big screen) is her sixties research topic, Charles Manson.  

I can't imagine how I would of fared in this type of class when I was the age my students are right now.  Probably not too good.  I was very shy, fearful of speaking in front of strangers.  But the memory I maintain of those expereinces make me a much stronger teacher today.  I understand what it takes to overcome these types of anxieties before they happen. I do my best to help each student prepare for the Big Day.

To prepare my students  for the BEST PERFORMANCE/BEST GRADES on their FINAL EXAM PRESENTATION - I ask them to prepare SIX NOTECARDS for their presentation.  They will be required to share their props:  Research Binders, Display Boards, Mind Maps.  These visuals will help them get through THREE MINUTES.  I encourage THEM to step up to the podium PREPARED and CONFIDENT.   Let's Get Focused - LET'S WORK TOGETHER!  We practice in groups in our classroom workshops. The goal is  to engage their audience through thought-provoking questions, revealing anecdotes, interesting details, and effective visuals.  This is where we work on a  HOOK! - How are they going to introduce their Topic in a way that their  audience will PAY ATTENTION - Don't Be Boring - I ask them to Write their HOOK on their FIRST NOTECARD ( See my Marilyn Monroe example a little father down this page.) 

Jay's Tip:  DON'T BE ONE OF THOSE GUYS - THAT DOESN'T PREPARE.  Have something to say.  So now, I recommend they spend some time looking at their research inside your binder.  Notes.  Annotations.  Freewrites.  Look at their Mind Map.  No one expects them to report on everything.  1-2 things would be NICE.  

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT - Below I practice with notecards for a Final Exam Presentation on the Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe:

Step One - RESEARCH - This is your HOOK - Why did you choose this topic - Where did you first hear of your subject - Why do you care - You must have read something or seen something somewhere. What inspired you to learn more.

(Jay's Sample for Marilyn Monroe:) On the first day of class,  Mr. Lewenstein showed us a video about the Death of Marilyn Monroe.  She died of a drug overdose at age 37.  At the time, she was the most famous woman in the world.  This would be like today finding Taylor Swift dead, alone in bed - EMPTY PILL BOTTLES on her nightstand.  There were a lot of questions but few answers about how and why Marilyn  died.  I wanted to find out more about her life.  This became the basis of my research paper

Step Two - CONTENTION - This is your THESIS - What's your most important point? - Why should your audience care about your project?

Of the hundreds of  thousands of beautiful young women that came to Hollywood with dreams of becoming a star, Marilyn rose to the top like no one else.  Yes she was beautiful, but so were the others.   She was determined to do whatever it took to become a serious actress. Unfortunately, the movie studios didn't take her seriously.  They realized they could make a lot of money SELLING her as a SEX SYMBOL.  They didn't care what she thought.  She had no control over her career.  She was USED and ABUSED.  She was treated like a CASH COW.  This is what may have led her to DRUG and ALCOHOL abuse.

Step Three - KEY ARGUMENTS - These might be the KEY ideas that make your topic so INTERESTING.

Marilyn grew up in a life of poverty - This was during the Great Depression - Marilyn's mother was mentally ill - She was committed to a mental institution - She spent her childhood in a series of orphanages and foster homes.  Later in her adult life, Marilyn would show signs of bipolar personality disorder - She was always frightened that mental illness ran in the family. Acting made Marilyn feel like she could be somebody - Maybe that's what DROVE her to work so hard - It's all she had.

Step Four - KEY INFORMATION - Come on! - What can you tell your audience so they will want to read your essay?

During World War II - Marilyn's husband was shipped overseas - This left Marilyn to fend for herself - She became A ROSIE THE RIVETER - She worked a traditional man's job in an aircraft plant - because there were no MEN - this was WAR TIME - This gave her a sense of INDEPENDENCE It was in this aircraft plant where a photographer asked if he could take pictures of the women working - When he developed Marilyn's picture, he saw something he had never seen before - She SPARKLED before the camera - This inspired her to do modeling work - and later become a movie actress. In the fifties, beautiful women were often forced into sex by powerful studio executives - Marilyn was a prime candidate - She wanted so desperately to be an actress that she was willing to do  most anything they told her to do - Later, Marilyn would have the courage to share her story of sexual abuse and harrassment with the rest of the world - You can say she was the "ME" in the "ME TOO MOVEMENT

Step  Five - LANGUAGE - Here is where you can bring up your DEFINITION PARAGRAPH - This will be STRONG

Sadly, Marilyn was LABELED early on as a SEX SYMBOL - This made her a lot of money - It also may have KILLED her - She was marketed as a SEX BOMB! Marilyn wanted to be regarded a serious actress, but she couldn't get serious roles. No one cared about how she thought or felt - All they seemed to care about was how she looked. It wasn't until she had the power and the money to create her own production company that she was able play a serious role - The movie is called Bus Stop - Mr. Lewenstein reads the stage version in his English 110 class - Most critics agree it was her greatest role and best performance.

Step Six - WRITING - Share a SNEAK-PREVIEW of your Research Project - How does it start - How does it end - What did you learn?

* My Marilyn Monroe research paper begins with a Quote Sandwich -  “I knew how third rate I was,” Marilyn once said in an interview. “I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes, I was wearing inside.  But, my God, how I wanted to learn!  To change, to improve!  I didn’t want anything else.  Not men, not money, not love, but the ability to act. With the arc lights on me and the camera pointed at me, I suddenly knew myself” (Steinem 69). My Marilyn Monroe essay ends with drugs, alcohol and distress - As a woman who fought her way to the top, she confronted forces would bring her down. Sixty years later, we are not sure what led to her death.

Jay's Friendly Reminder:  Student Presentation of their Research Project  Is Their Final Exam Project -They are to  BRING all PROJECT BINDER FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES!

      They will be graded on the following:

• Professional behavior and preparation - effective use of time during presentation.
• Knowledge of subject matter - Ability to share 2-3 SIGNIFICANT elements of research
• Postive attention and feeback directed towards classmate presentations

Here are few suggestions/requirements for their class presentation:

• Their presentation must last SIX minutes - THREE for the presentation - THREE for ANSWERING QUESTIONS
• They  must display and discuss a visual that you made to accompany your presentation - Your Mind Map
• They may  explain what they made in a logical way -  They should think back to their  SELF-REFLECTION exercise - WHAT DID THEY LEARN?  - WHAT WAS THE CHALLENGE?
• They  should offer supporting evidence and alternative viewpoints from their own RESEARCH. 
• They must maintain eye contact with your audience while they present.
• They must speak in an appropriate volume of voice so that everyone can hear you, and you must speak clearly.
• They must be prepared for your presentation and speak with confidence.
• They  must use language that is appropriate for a class presentation.

For the last two weeks of the semester, it becomes LESS OF ME and MORE OF THEM.  Students work together to exchange their best ideas and writing to represent on their Group Display Boards (see the example above).  They copy and paste a digital version of their writing for submission on Canvas Group Pages.They also interview each other in our classroom workshops about their experience.  The ask and answer questions like these:

* What do people need to know most about your topic? * What are some of the misconceptions people may have about your topic? * What is your personal involvement in the topic?   * What was a challenge to putting this project together?  * Imagining your life ahead (not strictly academic), what elements of these projects can you see helping you the most?  Explain and give examples to illustrate.  * Has this class changed the way your approach or view your life in any way?  How?  * Imagining your future studies here or elsewhere, which of our writing strategies or study skills do you thing might help you succeed in those courses.   Explain and give examples. We've all WORKED SO HARD to GET TO THIS POINT.  Everyone should have something to say.  THREE TO FIVE MINUTES WILL JUST FLY RIGHT BY!

For our Semester-Ending Student News Conference, I do all I can to reduce any sense of PRESSURE.  I’m happy with the hard work and  engagement that leads up to the event. I envision our Student News Conference as an exciting, non-threatening collaborative atmosphere to reinforce our semester learning and motivate my future students to do the same.  Thats why I call it a “Celebration of Student Writing.”