Friday, June 18, 2010

An old friend


I remember my first encounter with The AP Stylebook my freshman year in Introduction to Journalism. When we first met, we didn't always see eye to eye, and even now, we don't always see eye to eye, but we've come to an understanding...

Going through some of the sections of the book reminded me how helpful it is, if you know how to use it properly. Tips like using the Quick Reference Guide so students can see the main points without having to go through the whole book are great starting points to introduce the book to our students.

When I start teaching AP style to my students, I always get comments from the composition teachers in my school about the fact that they know I have started teaching because they have noticed their students not using a comma before the article in a series. After our discussion today, I now have a great response. Just because our style is different from what the composition teachers are using, it doesn't make it wrong...besides I like that rule!

In our session on AP Style and Grammar I found out about the online subscription and can't wait to get a subscription for my classroom this year. The fact that the kids can search for specific entries without the twisted road map that is the book version, will make for some happier and less confused students.

However, I'm not going to retire the old stand-by book version of the AP Stylebook. You are not a true journalist until you have had to struggle looking through the stylebook, searching for the rules on numerals...ahhh...the memories.

Laura Schwinn
Emporia High School
Emporia, Kan.

4 comments:

  1. I remember the days of copy editing class in college where I had to memorize that big ol' guy... We use the Iowa little yellow stylebook that is similar to AP, but man... there are differences. Do you give quizzes and stuff to your kids? I do and kids find that they are brutal. Thoughts.

    Tracey Ward
    Olentangy Liberty High School
    Powell, OH

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  2. Oh, the journalist's bible that is the stylebook. What a magnificent beauty it is.

    Allison Denman
    Spring High School
    Spring, Texas

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  4. I love having the AP Stylebook to answer most of the style questions students have. I'm excited to have an updated version as mine is from college days......not as many web entries! I will also subscribe to AP Style online which I didn't even know existed before today.

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