August 23, 2022

Agenda

1. Complete the New Staff SMART Goal Assignment.

   Directions: Every person that was on the staff last year partners with someone new to the staff. New to the staff can double up with experienced staff if needed.

   Objective: To have a thriving and productive newspaper, you must have a staff that can communicate openly and works together comfortably. Experienced staff play a key role in making new staff members feel welcome.

   Experienced staff: Please quietly view your “Welcoming New Staff Members” instructions. Please read these discreetly (for experienced staff’s eyes only).

2. Homework Discussion: Please retrieve your homework (five bullet points about what went well and five bullet points about what didn’t go well).

   • Please share as many of your bullet points as you feel comfortable. When you share, please explain the meaning of the bullet point. I will frequently ask you, “Why?”

   • Think of what you want to carry forward with you next year.

   • Discussion Ground Rules:

     • You have one minute to explain a bullet point, and we need to move on.

     • We will not attack people personally, even if they aren’t here now.

     • We must remain professional and look at each issue as an opportunity to improve.

     • Consider your bullet point and what can be learned or improved from bringing this to the group. 

       1. Students like to air grievances or focus on the details.

       2. I will help steer the conversation towards productivity, but I will allow each student a chance to discuss improvement.

3. HOMEWORK ASSIGNED:

   • Write down one goal you want to achieve individually regarding journalism.

     • It could be something like learning a new skill (headline writing) or a personality weakness (“I will work on showing my emotions when upset”). Anything goes as it relates to your job on the staff.

   • Write down two goals that you want the staff to achieve this year.

     • It could pertain to learning a skill (the non-writers need to write a story), or it can be related to culture building (“we will write thank you notes to those who have done favors for us”), or it can be business-related (we will increase readership 10%). 

   • Ensure these are both SMART goals.

4. Review the “News Defined” PowerPoint.

5. Complete the What is News? Assignment.