Hello! My name is Michelle Lichtstein! I am a first semester senior in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences studying history and film & media studies, with a minor in museum studies and a certificate in broadcast and television arts. I am from Livingston, New Jersey which is about thirty minutes from New York City. In my free time, you can commonly find me working at KDKA-TV, or at Pitt Studios, and hanging with my two best friends who happen to also be my roommates!
This semester I am the undergraduate teaching assistant for Television News Practicum: Pitt to the Point. The professor for the class, Kevin Michael Smith and I get the unique challenge to create a class using experimental learning, meaning that the students learn from doing practical projects instead of a traditional class experience. In my CUTF project, I am using my organization and teaching skills to enhance the class by creating ways to provide resources to the students, so they can learn while making a weekly news cast. The weekly newscast is titled Pitt to the Point. Pitt to the Point, is a news magazine show, that airs on the University’s YouTube channel at 8am on Friday mornings, and re-airs on KDKA+ Saturday at 10:30am. This class is completely run by the students, they edit, report, anchor, pitch stories and design the show. For the students, there is not greater way to learn how to work in news then by doing it themselves. By creating resources to support the students, they get to learn, make mistakes, and grow as a team. In addition, for those who would like to go into media, they are able to have resume material content that will aid them in the job finding process.
Throughout the week, the students must pitch stories Monday, and be ready with all the content for the show by Friday. Because of the fast-paced expectations of this course, I provide them with all the resources to succeed and make a successful show. Before the start of the course, I created many different handouts to help each of the students: video submit checklists, editing guides, courtesy rules, contact sheets and role expectations. By having these handouts, the goal is that students have all the resources they need to succeed, and with having Professor Smith and myself as aids, they can learn each week by doing their roles. While there is a lot of independent learning in this course, I am on call day in, and day out to answer questions, give advice and help whenever needed! I always say I love being asked questions as it shows you care and want to grow. This type of class brings out the best in students, it allows them to make new friends, work as a time and gain confidence, no matter what field they ultimately want to go into.
My ultimate goals do lie within the broadcasting field, hopefully being a station manager or news director, but I have found a new passion for teaching. This is the third class that I have been an undergraduate teaching assistant for during my time at Pitt, and I am so happy to be a part of the CUTF this semester! I believe that because of my experience teaching, my broadcast skills have grown significantly, and now my favorite part of the field is the ability to teach. Ultimately, I plan to continue teaching broadcasting while working in the industry.
Pitt to the Point Website: https://pitttothepoint.com
