Fair Use and Copyright for Educators

Ever find yourself asking questions like these:

• Can I play “The Telltale Head” episode of The Simpsons in class as part of my unit on Poe?
• Is it okay to include a clip from The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in my ReadWriteThink lesson plan?
• I want to show a screen capture from a video game in my conference presentation. Is that okay?
• Can a student use the chorus from Dire Straits’ "Romeo and Juliet" in a PowerPoint presentation on the play?
• The class made a video adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book. Can we post it online?

The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education (HTML – PDF) provides guidance that can help answer all these questions. Released today and endorsed by NCTE, this document provides an overview of copyright and fair use practices and includes five principles that address specific situations teachers encounter when using copyrighted text in the classroom.

In addition to the code, be sure to visit the Media Education Lab website, where you’ll find key resources and curriculum materials. The site includes links to My Pop Studio, which focuses on media literacy for girls 9–14, and Assignment Media Literacy resources for elementary, middle, and high school students. You’ll find songs and video clips that you can use with students or in your professional development workshops. The Teaching about Copyright and Fair Use section of the site includes case studies and lesson plans.

In addition to understanding copyright and fair use, you should know something about Creative Commons. For a great overview, check out “The Beauty of ‘Some Rights Reserved’: Introducing Creative Commons to Librarians, Faculty, and Students” from the November issue of the Association of College and Research Libraries publication C&RL News. The Learn More section of the Creative Commons website offers movies, comics, and FAQs.

Oh, and the answers to all those questions I started out with? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Read the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education (HTML – PDF) to see why. :-)

Use Doodle to Cast Your Vote

Trying to plan a time to meet friends at the Annual Convention in San Antonio? Want the class to choose a destination for the next field trip? Need to choose the best day for an after-school committee or club meeting?

No matter what you’re trying to decide, Doodle is a free online tool that makes it easy to gather preferences from teachers, students, families, and anyone else you want to connect to. Whether you need to schedule an event or choose among several general options, you can use Doodle to accomplish what you want simply.

So how does it work?

1. Go to the Doodle website.
2. Create a login (or login if you are already set up.
3. Choose either to schedule an event or set up a poll.
4. Name your survey and enter all the options.
5. Click finish.
6. Check your email for a link to the survey.
7. Send the link out to everyone you want to respond.

That’s it. Doodle does all the tallying for you. People who respond do not need to set up an account or even have an email address. Just give them the URL. That’s all that’s needed—which makes it a nice choice for school systems where students cannot post personal information online.

When your survey is complete, you can print out the results or export them to a spreadsheet or PDF.

Wondering how you might use it? The options really are extensive. You might schedule any of these events:

• Convention, affiliate, or assembly meetings
• Student-teacher or parent-teacher conferences
• After-school study sessions
• Teacher inquiry/study group meetings
• Committee or departmental meetings
• Professional development workshops
• Extra-curricular meetings or special events

The Poll tool in Doodle can be used for anything students might vote for in the classroom:

• Literature circle texts
• Collaborative research topics
• Name for a class pet
• Class rules
• Expectations for an assignment (class-generated rubrics)
• Field trip destination
• Next read-aloud text
• Favorite characters, texts, or authors
• Movie to watch at a class party

Doodle can help with any decision you need to make. If you can state the options, you can use Doodle to gather opinions and come to a conclusion. Because the tool is Internet-based, it’s perfect for distance ed and online courses as well as for finding ways for colleagues spread across a region, the nation, or the world.

If you have Internet access, you can cast your vote with Doodle!

Tell Me about Your Convention Session

The 2008 NCTE Annual Convention is only 3 weeks away. Before you know it, you’ll be in San Antonio attending sessions, giving presentations, and connecting with friends and colleagues.

How can you get your presentation underway now, before those 3 weeks fly by? Simply log on to the 2008 NCTE Annual Convention Ning and follow the instructions to post information about your session.

Once you kick off the discussion in the presentation forum, you’ll be able to

• Build interest in your session before you even pack a suitcase! Share details about your presentation for other attendees who are looking for more than the online program tells them!
  
  
• Post longer materials and additional resources—anything from a bibliography to a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t print out copies. Just point people to the materials online.
  
  
• Introduce yourself with your profile page. Use your Ning Profile to tell people who you are, where you teach, your educational interests, and more.
  
  
• Share session materials with educators who won’t be in San Antonio. We’d all love to attend the Annual Convention, but realistically we know everyone won’t make it. Use your discussion forum as a way to reach out to colleagues who are interested in your topic
  
  
• Get reactions from friends and colleagues to the ideas and materials you’ll be sharing. Why wait? You can start the discussion now, and include related information during your session in San Antonio.
  
  
• Point to other resources you’d like to attendees to know about. Are you a member of an NCTE affiliate or assembly? Do you do work with the National Writing Project? Want to encourage others to participate in educational events and advocacy? Just share the details in your session’s discussion forum.
  
  
• Distribute follow-up materials and information after the session easily. Once your presentation is over, you can post any additional information or resources right in your session’s discussion forum.
  
  
• Invite people to share their related handouts and URLs after the session. Session attendees mention similar projects or useful websites? Just point them to your discussion forum to post the details.
  
  
• Ask for feedback and responses to your session. Want to hear what others have to say? Use your session’s discussion forum as a space for ongoing conversation about your presentation.
  
  
• Document your participation in the session. When you’re gathering resources to share with your administration about your trip to NCTE’s Annual Convention, everything will be in one place!

Just visit the 2008 NCTE Annual Convention Ning to share details on your presentation—and read about the many other sessions that will take place in November in San Antonio.

Tips on a Good Blog Entry

You're starting out as a blogger. You have a blog set up. You know how to work the blogging software. But how do you write an entry that gets read? Here are ten tips that make a blog entry grab readers:

1. Choose an attention-getting and accurate title.
   Like a newspaper headline, a good blog title draws readers in. It’s your chance to convince a reader to take a look at what you’ve written. But no bait-and-switch! Make sure that your title reflects the content of the entry.
   
   
2. State your opinion clearly.
   Take a stand and make it clear. Your blog isn’t the place for meandering. If your opinion isn’t appropriate for the general public, choose a different subject. If you wouldn't stand up in front of your colleagues and share your opinion, don’t post it on your blog.
   
   
3. Back things up with specific stories and examples.
   Once you state your opinion, explain it. Share stories or examples that show why you hold your opinion. The advice we give students applies: Show. Don’t Tell!
   
   
4. Keep it short.
   You have a few seconds to catch someone’s attention. People rarely read all of longer posts. Focus on one specific topic, state what you have to say, and end the post.
   
   
5. Chunk your text.
   People read webpages quickly. They scan more often than they read every word. Because of the way people read on the Web, it’s best to use short paragraphs and lists to chunk your content.
   
   
6. Use visual clues.
   Headers, boldface, use of color—all these visual clues help people scan and read online. As you chunk your text, make the key ideas and sections obvious with visual clues. As readers scan a page, they’ll linger on these highlights.
   
   
7. Include photos, video, and/or audio.
   Take advantage of the multimodal nature of the Internet. Use photos, videos, and audio recordings to help make your point. These multimodal additions draw readers’ attention and can emphasize your points.
   
   
8. Link to outside sources.
   Add examples and explanations to your text by linking to outside resources. Studies have shown that links build ethos by indicating that the writer is connected to the greater blogosphere and web.
   
   
9. Go with an informal, first-person style.
   No need to use formal, academic prose. Go ahead and use words like I, me, and mine. Be conversational and informal. You’ll draw in more readers.
   
   
10. Proofread!
    Take the time to reread your entry before you publish it. Use a spellchecker if one is built into your blogging software. Little errors can slow readers down. And when your readers are other English teachers, they’re bound to notice any typos.
    
    

In Search of Teacher Bloggers

This week’s topic comes from an email response I received to last week's blog entry from Jen Sekella of Dozier Middle School in Newport News, VA:

I would like to start a blog - but I don’t know where educators hang out and blog on the ’net.

Jen’s question isn’t about what a blog is. It’s not about technical how-to’s. It’s about community. Where can you find other teachers and like-minded folks?

There are lots of places you can start a blog. Free blog hosts include Facebook, Wordpress, LiveJournal, MySpace, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, and Xanga. Additional sites are listed in the Wikipedia Weblog Software entry.

There are teacher bloggers on all those blogging sites, but you have to know how to find them. If you want to write short updates, Facebook could be for you. Look up some colleagues you know on Facebook, and build your network from there. Don't miss the opportunity to look at your colleague’s friends too. You’ll connect to other teachers quickly and easily that way. There are also some Facebook groups for teachers:

• National Council of Teachers of English
• NCTE/CCCC Facebook Friends
• Educational Technologists
• 4Cs: Conference on College Composition and Communication

The easiest solution is to join the 2008 NCTE Annual Convention Ning. Once you sign up, you can blog on the site and you will be immediately connected with other NCTE members. Everyone is welcome, whether you will attend the Convention next month or not. It’s a great way to plug into the sessions and connect with people. The process is simple:

1. Sign Up (or sign in if you already have a login).
2. Back on the Ning Homepage, click the My Page link.
3. (optional) Add any details to your profile (the info on “My Page”).
4. Click Blog Posts in the left column.
5. Start writing your blog entry on the next page.

It really is that simple. So no excuses. You don’t even need to know HTML codes. Sign up on the NCTE Ning and get blogging!

NCTE Blogs to Note

On NCTE blogs you’ll find great discussions of educational issues and teaching ideas ready for the classroom. Read the entries below and share your feedback in the comments.

• Curt Dudley Marling comments on “Adequate Yearly Progress” on the Elementary Section Blog
  
  
• Kate Kellen shares “A Conceptual Approach to the Works Cited Page” on the Secondary Section Blog
  
  
• Joyce Middleton enters “CCCC Conversations on Diversity” on the CCCC Blog

And don't miss the blogs that have been posted on the NCTE 2008 Convention Ning and elsewhere by NCTE members!

• Christopher Faull on “Collaborating with Students to Promote Positive Peer Relationships”
  
  
• James Bucky Carter on “What’s Wrong with Calling them Proto-comics?”
  
  
• Georgia Hedrick on “A tribute to wisdom”
  
  
• Jan Spohn on “Clay Shirky video at Web 2.0 conference”

How about you? Do you blog about your teaching? Share details on your blog in the comments below! I'm building a blogroll, and I want to include YOU!

Celebrate National Newspaper Week

National Newspaper Week is October 5–11 this year. Sponsored by the Newspaper Association Managers, the 68-year-old celebration draws attention to the role that newspapers play in daily life. This year’s theme, “Public Notice—Good Government On Display,” focuses on how governmental notices in newspapers keep the public informed and involved in government.

Use the National Newspaper Week Kit to explore this issue further with students, or try any of the ReadWriteThink lessons for additional ways to explore and celebrate newspapers:

• Creating a Classroom Newspaper (E)
• Weekend News! A Weekly Writing Activity (E)
• Imagine That! Playing with Genre through Newspapers and Short Stories (M)
• Technology and Copyright Law: A "Futurespective" (M)
• Book Report Alternative: A Character’s Letter to the Editor (M)
• Persuading an Audience: Writing Effective Letters to the Editor (S-C)
• Novel News: Broadcast Coverage of Character, Conflict, Resolution, and Setting (S-C)
• The Feature Story-Fifteen Minutes (and 500 Words) of Fame (S-C)

You’ll also find useful classroom and teaching resources on these websites:

• CNN Student News
• High School Journalism
• History News Network
• Journalism Education Association
• Newseum
• Newpapers in Education Online
• The New York Times Learning Network
• Time for Kids
• USA TODAY Education