Insider Spotlight: Tom Shannon
Welcome to the Insider Spotlight, where we feature real questions from our team and answers from educators who are making a difference teaching news literacy. This month, our featured educator is Tom Shannon, a library automation specialist in Dutchess County, New York.
As you’re making your own plans to teach news literacy this school year, explore the Start Strong with News Literacy resource hub. You’ll find free lessons, classroom activities and other resources to help students build lifelong skills from day one.
Q: Back-to-school season is a great time to establish classroom routines. Why do you think educators should prioritize news literacy topics this fall?
A: The fracturing of the news ecosystem into several hundred thousand pieces over the last generation has created great opportunities for new voices to be heard. However, this proliferation of content has made robust news literacy skills even more essential. Students need the skills to know who is producing the news they consume, who is paying for that production, how the delivery of news can be designed to provoke emotional responses, etc.
Q: For educators who are new to teaching news literacy, where do you recommend they begin?
A: I think encouraging students to think about the concept of information environments, and particularly their own information environment, is something that can be incorporated into almost any lesson and scaled to any grade level.
Q: How can library specialists partner with classroom teachers to weave news literacy into existing curriculum?
A: Know the databases that are available to you. Become familiar with quality open source databases. Design your lessons in a way that educates and inspires your colleagues as well as students.
Q: What news literacy resources have generated the most interest or positive feedback from educators in your district?
A: One of my favorites for teaching middle and high school is the Pew Research Center website. Students can access survey data about nearly any topic, including the digital news landscape. It is also great for teaching how to interpret infographics as they typically appear in news sources. I also love the News Literacy Project’s News literacy unplugged resources.
Q: How can districts create a culture that supports news literacy across grade levels and subject areas?
A: Have a fully functioning school library program that incorporates news and media literacy into its teaching. Encourage faculty and students to focus on how each content area is presented in the news media.
Q: Which fictional character would you most like to have coffee with?
A: Mack from Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. I’d try to cheer him up after his party destroys Doc’s lab.
