Design an Elementary Broadcasting room that is useful and inviting for you and your students! I would love to share with you how I accomplished this along with the logistics of how I plan for the space to run.
Where we began…
When I first arrived in my schools broadcasting room, I knew immediately that there would be lots of things that I would like to change. I knew that if I didn’t want to be in that room, my students would not like to be in the room either. I decided to make an impact with a realistic and fun broadcasting room that included all the necessities for creating a creative atmosphere. I envisioned a clean space with lighting, color, and appropriate technology to make the best broadcast for our school. Aside from this goal of creating the perfect space, I also wanted to ensure that there were areas for each Broadcasting job: interviewing, weather, editing, reporting, planning, wardrobes/props etc.
Here are few BEFORE pictures of the space:
At our school, we worked on weekly broadcasts that were pushed out to teachers and students via a YouTube link on Mondays. I used iMovie to create and edit each broadcast. During the 2020-21 school year, I was in survival mode, just ensuring that something got sent out to students in regards to a weekly news report. At the beginning of the 2020 school year, students were sending in news clips that they had recorded at home, since we were fully remote. This gave me some time to plan out how I would like the news room to run in the coming years.
Future plans…
In the coming years, I decided that students would be able to choose which job they were interested in before auditioning for a spot on the news cast. I’ve realized that some students aren’t comfortable in front of the camera, but still want to be involved in some way (editing, planning, etc.). This way, we can develop students interests and become an expert in one area of the broadcasting experience. I also planned to incorporate a few weeks of “training” for each student in their chosen field. In future years, current Broadcasting students can train the next years chosen team. This training (following auditions) will take place at the END of the year, so that everything is set up and ready to roll at the beginning of each school year.
It would be great to set up a field trip to the local news station each year as well! This way students can see real professionals in each position, ask questions, and get inspired.
Here’s a look at the AFTER of our Broadcasting Room!:
Products I used…
Neon Signs:
Lighting:
Interview Furniture:
Technology:
Glide Gear Prompter: I used this with one of our district iPads and the SmartPrompter app! The app projects onto the prompter. For recording I simply used my iPhone! There is an adaptor in the Glide Gear package for attaching your iPhone inside for recording the actual broadcast. I liked this option vs purchasing a new/separate camera because it was so easy to simply airdrop my just recorded segments to iMovie on our Mac desktop so quickly!
Wardrobe/Props:
Beach Ball
Apps:
Prompter Smart
iMovie
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