HOW IT
STARTED
In 2017, the journalism adviser community began to be very active in Facebook groups. Many advisers were generous to share, but I observed a clunky process of sending and receiving the resources. (This was before Facebook allowed documents to be uploaded to groups, and before cloud storage was widely used.)
The process typically looked like:
1
NEEDY* ADVISER
posts in group asking
for a resource
*Used descriptively, not derogatorily!
2
HELPFUL ADVISER
has a resource and
leaves a comment,
willing to share!
3
LOTS OF OTHER NEEDY ADVISERS
tag along on the post,
asking for the resource
to be emailed to
them as well.
4
HELPFUL ADVISER
spends LOTS of precious time copying and pasting email addresses from Facebook group to share their doc.
The next year, someone else asks for the same thing. If they are savvy enough to use the Search feature, they may find the old post, only to find out that HELPFUL ADVISER has left teaching, retired, moved school districts, changed publishers, etc. They are no longer in the group, email is inactive, or they are just simply non-responsive.
With a background in web design, I had the ability to create a solution.
I launched organizedadviser.com as a hub for advisers to upload their own resources, in a way that would provide a permanent link to them to be shared in perpetuity.
EARLY CHALLENGES
COPYRIGHT CONCERNS
First and foremost, I set out to ensure that resources being uploaded were shared with permission from the creator. Sadly, it is very common in education to pass around lessons without any regard for the creator. This is usually done with good intentions, as we all have the same goal of providing our students with a quality education. However, especially due to the very subject we teach, copyright and ownership of intellectual property is of utmost importance.
This turned out to be a tricky venture, as many resources were (at least in part) compiled from unknown sources, from generations of advisers past, or retrieved from publishing companies. No matter how helpful, I did not feel comfortable posting these resources under the Organized Adviser brand without expression written permission from the original author.
TIME CONSTRAINTS
Additionally, I was simply being a busy teacher with very little free time to maintain the site, and with very little brand awareness in the community, the resources were scarce. The first few years, Organized Adviser was mostly a collection of my own resources.
But I knew it was helpful and important to have to have a publisher-agnostic space to share resources. Made by advisers, for advisers…
THE TURNING
POINT
I left the classroom in 2019 and wasn’t sure what the future held for Organized Adviser. I knew it was needed, and I was still very passionate about journalism education, but quite frankly – I had to focus on freelance projects in order to pay my bills. I maintained the website in order to provide some support to advisers during this time, and I began teaching workshops as much as possible.
Then, as it did for everyone, COVID-19 changed everything. Advisers were figuring out how to teach virtually, scrambling to finish their publications remotely, then having to distribute books with social distancing protocols, etc. I was able to step in for several advisers and help them across the finish line. From then until now, we have seen a mass exodus of advisers leave, either for corporate positions, retirement, or simple other (less-stressful) teaching assignments.
I took this as an opportunity to refocus Organized Adviser with two simple goals:
REDUCE OVERWHELM
Create resources that help advisers build a thriving program, automate processes, delegate tasks to their students, and build community.
TRAIN NEW ADVISERS
Publish content that trains teachers who may not have a background in publications learn how to be successful advisers.
Our Mission
To equip advisers with the tools they need to confidently build a thriving journalism program
POPULAR RESOURCES
posts
DOWNLOADS
videos
WHERE
WE ARE
now
Now, Organized Adviser has grown into
so much more than I originally intended.
We are currently in a season of significant
growth and continue to see an upward trend.
CLICK AN IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT thE INITIATIVE
Resources
Always 100% free to teachers, we continually add content to give advisers what they need, when they need it.
• Posts - relatable experiences & practical advice
• Consumables - downloads, guides, worksheets, posters, etc.
• Videos - quick to digest and easy to understand tutorials and explainers
TRAINER TEAM
I do not claim to have all the answers - especially since I am not actively in the classroom anymore. But, if I don't have a resource, I can find someone who does!
We now have a team of 20+ advisers across the country (from all publishers) to help produce workshops, create content, teach sessions, provide consultations, etc.
SERVICES
With our trainer team, we are able to offer more services to the journalism education industry including:
• in-person & virtual workshops
• one-on-one consultation
• full-service workshop/event planning
• new adviser coaching
• emergency advising
• sales rep training
• consultation to publishing companies
PLANNER
Our first-ever planner was specifically created for publications advisers. The first half of the planner is the "Ultimate Survival Guide" with tons of forms, planning guides, worksheets, trackers, reference guides, checklists, etc. to help advisers stay on top of their never-ending to-do list, crush goals, and ultimately… relieve some of that rude adviser-stress. #aintnobodygottimeforthat
WHAT'S
NEXT?
We're not shy about the ambitious
goals we have heading into 2023.
MORE FREE RESOURCES
There are several content areas that are lacking resources such as writing, newspaper staff management, and photography.
We aim to populate these categories with resources as soon as possible, in addition to potentially adding more content for broadcast and literary magazine advisers.
ADVISER
TRAINING
Our next big idea is called TOAST: The Organized Adviser Summer Training. Think summer camp, but for journalism teachers.
The first workshop, aimed to serve brand new advisers, would be a crash course to cover necessary content, stress management, team building, and networking while having a ton of fun along the way.
MORE
VIDEOS
We plan to increase our video content tremendously, creating quick easily-digestible nuggets.
Our intention is that the YouTube channel will be a library of easy-to-follow tutorials, explainers, and ready-to-hit-play videos that teachers can present in their classroom without any prep.
PARTNER WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS
We are always looking to partner with industry leaders who align with our mission.
We have several initiatives with strategic partners and hope to expand our partnerships with additional service-providing vendors and organizations.
STUDENT
ADVOCACY
Having been personally affected by an administrator's censorship, the New Voices legislation is a priority to me.
We will continue to educate teachers on the legal implications of scholastic journalism advising, direct them to resources and advocate student voice.
INTENTIONAL
WITH SEO
Our resources are only helpful if advisers can easily access them.
We plan to overhaul the backend of the website in order to optimize it for search engines.
We will also work to post more consistently on social media platforms, to increase our brand awareness.
APPLICABLE JEA STANDARDS
All of the JEA standards are evident through the Organized Adviser mission, content, resources, and services.
Here are a few examples of direct application:
The “Teaching” section on the website aims to educate advisers about the pedagogical aspects of being student publications adviser.
Advisers must first teach their students about what makes something newsworthy, how to determine publish-worthy content, the fundamentals of content creation, journalistic writing, etc.
EXAMPLES
- educational explainer videos
- posts
The “Advising” section of the website aims to provide teachers with tools specific to advising publications and managing a student staff.
EXAMPLES
- workshop sessions presented by Organized Adviser trainers
- educational explainer videos
- Posts
There are so many life-skills that journalism students learn. Organized Adviser content often highlights these teachable moments, so advisers can emphasize real-world application.
EXAMPLES
- Using Design Thinking to Craft Your Yearbook Theme – same process used by Google and Apple to innovate new products but adapted for yearbook theme development
- Utilizing Adobe InDesign – industry standard software that allows students to gain marketable skills before graduation (video coming soon)
There are many activities on the site that encourage differentiated learning that are intended to cater to all types of learners.
EXAMPLES
Creating a family-like environment is integral to forming solid bonds, effective teamwork, and ensuring students have fun while creating the publication. A lot of our posts touch on how to create this environment, such as Putting the YEA in Yearbook!
There are many examples available on the website for grading including rubrics, checklists, and techniques. There are also a few included in the planner.
EXAMPLES
Community is one of the driving factors behind Organized Adviser. We feel it is incredibly important to network with other advisers, contribute to the collective, and engage in the community.
Our most recent contribution in this regard is a workshop session called Island Advising. When presented in person, we begin with advisers playing Beach Bingo to connect with each other, and ends with sharing their best piece of advice.