The SNO Report: Resources for journo advisers

At SNO, we’re focused on making the life of a journalism educator a little easier. With that in mind, here are 8 online resources we think are worth checking out:

EditTeach.org:
Here you’ll find a collection of useful journalism teacher/adviser goodies, including headline challenges, editing resources, ways to improve content, and even a lesson on “math for journalists,” though we don’t know why anyone would be interested in that.

AP Style Quizzes:
Want to focus more exclusively on AP Style? Here is a collection of 18 AP Style Quizzes to give your students. Make sure they’re experts before you send them off into the “real world;” they’ll definitely impress their future J-School classmates at whatever Ivy League school they are sure to get into after taking these quizzes.

Verification Junkie
Here is a blog dedicated to collecting tools for all of your fact-checking needs. The site gives reviews of each product, as well where you can find it.  An invaluable resource for verification and assessment of your user-generated content, especially information gathered from social media.  Basically, an absolute must for all journo advisers everywhere.

Covering sensitive content:
Resources and guides that help your students tackle the difficult topics with grace. This has been a frequent concern in High Schools across the country, especially given varying school policies and audiences.

Make Cool Photo Spheres:
Create Photo Spheres (360-panoramas) similar to what you see on the Google Maps Street View to embed in your stories.  It may not be a feature you’re going to want to use frequently, but, when you do, it will really make those stories stand out.

Berkeley.edu:
Have you always wanted to go to Berkeley to learn more about digital journalism, but it’s not physically possible for you to be there? Now, California education comes to you; Berkely has graciously provided us with this compilation of resources, tutorials, and inspiration for digital journalists. Educate yourselves.

Using A Camera:
Here are some helpful tips on taking photos with a DLSR camera, for those staffs lacking photographers, or for the writers who want to dabble in professional-esque picture-taking.  Sometimes, that iPhone camera just doesn’t cut it.

Have you SEEN these hashtags?:
A super-easy way to search hashtags and create “Seens” (which organize the content and make it accessible to anyone you want to share it with.)  It may seem redundant, as Twitter already allows you to search through hashtags and trending topics, but this user interface is not only more aesthetically pleasing, but also a bit nicer to navigate. If your program uses Twitter regularly, this is definitely worth checking out.