Special Series: Newsroom to Classroom

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Brett Jordan and used here under Creative Commons.

During my last full-time stint in a newsroom, my night-side colleagues and I used to sit around the bar at a little dive called the Calderone Club in Milwaukee. We would drink beer, eat garlic bread and tell war stories.

There was the time features accidentally ran an advice column signature reading “Dead Abby.”

And the one when the state university sent a press release about the retirement of the head of its “Office of Pubic Information.”

And, of course, the time I almost threw up on then-U.S. Senate candidate Herb Kohl’s shoes.

But in my two decades of teaching since, I’ve learned an essential truth: War stories are great over a pitcher of Miller High Life. They’re death in the classroom.

If you’re a professional making the jump from reporting or editing to teaching or an educator mentoring adjuncts or professors of practice, consider it the First Commandment: Thou Shalt Nix Thine War Stories.

Here’s why: Newsrooms are a different animal from classrooms. With newsroom colleagues, you’re building a shared culture — often marked by humor, crisis and human failings. You’ll encounter those same elements in a classroom, but with students, you’re also building knowledge and skill. It’s a different environment that requires more delving and planning and less waxing about what you’ve seen in the alleged real world.

Feel free to season your sessions with a story or two. I’ve definitely trotted out that “Office of Pubic Information” when talking about accuracy and humility. But always recognize that teaching is a different enterprise than reporting, editing or producing. This EducationShift series explores how professionals are finding their way in teaching and how to tackle the challenge if you’re contemplating a similar move.