Student Newsletter on a Roll
February 7, 2024
For the second year in a row, the AIS-Salzburg Journalism Elective is taught by resident assistant Ali Welch, a New Jersey native who holds a Masters of Education from Harvard Graduate School.
The class of Yegor C., Vladyslav M, Jennet B., and Joshua F. meet for two hours a week and start each new newsletter cycle with a feedback session where they review the latest publication and discuss what went well, what was missing, and what could have been done better. This is summarized in a Keep/Change/Add table that they use when brainstorming the next newsletter.
The class then looks at the next newsletter publication deadline and works backward to think about what stories will still be relevant: usually, the monthly publication happens 3-4 weeks after the initial article brainstorming session. Students then choose the article topic they’d like to write and begin writing an outline that details their main purpose or argument of the article, a quote from an outside source (either online or through an interview), and the general flow of their article with a “hook” to catch the readers’ attention, the main body, and a conclusion to summarize why readers should care about this topic.
“I think the students enjoy the fact that it is such a collaborative process and they’re able to build off each other’s ideas in class,” said Ali when asked how the students are enjoying the class. “Everyone is always willing to help each other, whether someone is experiencing writer’s block or can’t figure out how to make an article fit into a specific layout on the page. I think it’s hard to constantly think of new content that they will be excited to write about, but they’ve done an excellent job finding something that fits their curiosities each month.”
After submitting their outlines, Ali provides feedback before students write their first draft. Each student reads at least one other student’s draft of the article and provides feedback in both written and verbal form to help authors shape the article into something engaging and relevant to its audience. Students then create a second draft, integrating the feedback from peers and from Ali, to make something close to the final product. At this stage, students get another round of feedback—usually consisting of small edits for grammar, punctuation, and spelling—before they paste their article into the Canva (design program) template.
| This is where they can choose which photos they’d like to include, of which at least one photo for their article they must take themselves. Students create the design for their article within the Canva template by choosing where to put the photos, captions, text, and any additional graphics they select from Canva’s vast library. Once all articles are pasted in Canva, students must read and review each other’s articles. Students are graded based on their collaboration in the editing process so they are expected to help with the layout of the entire newsletter, making sure text and photos are aligned, within margins, and uniform across the three to four pages. Once they finish this final step, Ali then combs over the newsletter for any missed errors or final edits, followed by printing some hard copies for readers to enjoy while Mr. Burns posts it on the website and Instagram! |
| Ali is quite impressed with the continued growth of the students through the first four publications. “The students have come a long way since the beginning of the year as shown by the feedback I gave them on their first outlines to their outlines now. Since they are comfortable with the process and have found an easy routine to follow, I can now expect more from their work to make articles more engaging. For example, students are now required to use at least one outside quote, requiring them to do more research and preparation before writing. They’ve also learned various writing techniques for integrating quotes and changing sentence structure to make their articles smoother and more polished.” Despite the progress, the second half of the school year will prove to be the most challenging for the Journalism class according to Ali. “As we look ahead, we will have a busy end of the year keeping up with publishing one newsletter a month and working on creating this year’s yearbook!” The student newsletter is accessible to anyone interested at: https://www.ais-salzburg.at/student-newsletter/ |