Fall Final: Journalism Haiku

Today is the last full day of school for the fall semester here at Western Plains High School (we have a half day Wednesday during which the entire school will be doing nothing but watching movies . . . a bit of a waste of time that makes me wonder why we have to have school at all Wednesday), so most of the teachers are giving their finals today.

Personally, I believe every day is a final in a journalism class because you have to constantly produce content on a deadline, but it is hilarious to watch the students freak out over the word “final.”

So Monday I decided to mess with them a bit. I told them I was going to give them a final and it was going to be tough. Something near terror went through each class, but I knew the truth.

I quickly typed up a final that had very clear, easy directions: write a Haiku about journalism. After all, it is National Haiku Day.

The relief on the students’ faces when they saw this was great, and it was made even better when they figured out I was tossing them a softball exam to just help give them easy points.

But enough rambling on from me. The reason I am posting this is to showcase the work of the students. None of them gave their poems a title, so their names will just have to do.

Here they are:

Dylan Moore

Reporting the news,
Interviewing people quick.
Always make deadline.

Amber Richardson

Writing the stories,
Trying to catch the deadlines,
Is serious work

Renee Horton

I write articles.
I enjoy taking pictures.
We all have deadlines.

Dakota Foos

Editing takes time,
Makes me want to pull my hair.
Oh, journalism!

Ashley Stull

The cat in the hat
Wrote a phat deadline story
About Mr. Vogts.

Extra: Ashley Stull

The cat is in the
Refrigerator for the
Last can of tuna.

Kate Hagans

Stories tell the truth.
Meeting deadlines just in time.
Cameras show proof.

Extra: Kate Hagans

The jingle of bells.
Christmas light bulbs shinning bright.
Christmas time of year!

Ruth Mendez

Journalism life
Is having fun doing fun
Articles for life.

Joel Hernandez

Typing hurts my brain.
I hate writing long stories.
Articles can suck.

Beth Lutters

Newspapers are cool.
Blogging is pretty sweet too.
Journalism rocks!

Kaitlyn Flax

Reaching, finding all
The information. Writing,
Journalism fun.


Katie Bretton

I enjoy writing.
Journalism equals beast.
It makes my day great.

+++

I think these students did a great job. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

Oh, and here is one an elementary school teacher in my district tweeted to me:

Who? What? Where? When? Why? 
Constant questions, pen, notepad.
Information spread.

Good work! ?

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About toddvogts 849 Articles
Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of media at Sterling College in Kansas. Previously, he taught yearbook, newspaper, newsmagazine, and online journalism in various Kansas high schools, and he ran a weekly newspaper in rural Kansas. He continues to freelance as a professional journalist from time to time. Also, Vogts is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Journalism Education Association (JEA), and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), among others. He earned his Master Journalism Educator (MJE) certification from JEA in 2022. When he’s not teaching or writing, he runs his mobile disk jockey service and takes part in other entrepreneurial ventures. He can be reached at twitter.com/toddvogts or via his website at www.toddvogts.com.