Don Hewitt

Don Hewitt, the recently departed creative force behind the way we get our news and 60 minutes, has really gotten into my bones. I woke up at 4:30 this morning thinking about him and his role in the early years of news, not to mention how he created 60 Minutes, a show I've enjoyed for over thirty years. As I watched the segment about on 60 Minutes last night, it hit me that he would have made a brilliant teacher.

Great teachers, like great journalists, have to respond to their audience's desire which can be encapsulated in four words that Don used to advise a cub journalist: "Tell me a story."

Don had contagious enthusiasm for what he did. He worked full time until his mid 70's, never losing his juice.

Don used his firing from directing the CBS nightly news broadcast as inspiration; this was a crucible that helped him form the idea of 60 Minutes.

Hewitt exemplified creativity by merging two disparate entities: then staid, cerebral nightly news and touchy-feely format of Life magazine. He spiked the news with entertainment and birthed 60 Minutes.

Like Don, great teachers need to take risks and sometimes go "off book."

Don realized the importance of having segments last no longer than 15 minutes. Most people get itchy after viewing something longer than this time. Teachers should break their 48 minute time blocks into similar chunks instead of blathering on about the same topic for nearly an hour. Why not make it a ritual of having the students stand up and shake it out after 15 minutes or so, as we can do for commercial breaks?

Don knew the importance of beginning every 60 Minutes show with provocative teasers of the three segments that will follow. Shouldn't teachers excite students' interest in the same way?