ASNE Chat is picking up speed as the new meeting place for journalism advisers from around the country to gather, ask questions and share ideas. Administered by the American Society of News Editors’ Youth Journalism Initiative, the forum features discussions divided by topic, and anyone can join for free.

One of the most popular discussion topics on the site is “Advice for new journalism teachers: what I know now that I wish I knew then.” Here are just some of the great ideas being shared in that thread!

“As simple as it might seem, the best advice I can think of to give any new journalism teacher is be brave and jump right into the doing the work. Don’t worry about getting everything perfect at the start. Worry about accuracy, obviously, but never let not knowing stop you from doing and trying things. Most improvements to teaching are iterative in nature anyway. So find ways to get the students right into doing the work as fast as you can and learn as much as you can to help them along the way.”
— fhaas

“Something I wish I knew as a first year journalism teacher is to have very clear roles and expectations for roles for every student. I learned that if students didn’t have a job, they felt that they had the right to do whatever they wanted. This caused resentment among my editors since they felt that they had to pick up after someone else’s slack. When everyone has a role, everyone feels like he/she is part of a team and contributes to a meaningful part of school history.”
— mseldang

“The thing that has helped me the most has been acknowledging the help I get from the secretaries and custodians. Treat them to coffee and donuts every once in a while. You will be surprised at how far that gets you when you need help.”
— bdperez5

“I wish someone had told me that it’s OK to repeat things and you can never ever say things enough in the classroom. Someone is always tuning you out. I have learned to write it on board, say it, text it, etc. And then I get my student leaders to echo everything I say. I have also learned that it’s important to train your leaders on how to be editors and to constantly coach them and give them feedback. And I remind them that I’m always learning too.”
— lilharris

Join the discussion at ASNE Chat! You can sign up using your email address or Facebook or Twitter account.