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Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Scholarship opportunity
Monday, December 19, 2022
Thursday, December 15, 2022
2022-23 Semester Final Newspaper - publish 12/15 2 pm
1. Final exam with reflection
If you were in Newspaper last year, please skip to #13. If you were not in newspaper last year, please start at the top!!
You may have to watch the videos on your phone!!
Please watch the video until 1:22 and then stop the video and answer question 1:
Please watch the video until 1:22 and then stop the video, on your google doc please answer the following questions:
1. What did she write?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU
Now continue watching the video.
2. How did this video make you feel inside?
3. Why would I show this video to you?
4. How can you "Change your words" to impact the readers of your school newspaper?
Now watch this video:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2012/feb/29/open-journalism-three-little-pigs-advert
Answer the following questions about the video on your google doc, go back and watch if you need to:
5. How many different ways did the Guardian cover the story of the three little pigs?
6. Is the story the same as you remember it as a child?
7. Who did they interview?
8. What aspects of the story did they cover?
9. Were there any aspects of the three little pigs story that were not covered?
10. Did the Guardian ever offer their opinion of what happened, who was guilty, who was not guilty?
11. Can we do this for events on our campus on a daily basis?
12. How can you help make this a reality?
It's reflection time. Please write at least two paragraphs on the following prompts on your blog:
13. What is the most important thing you have learned this semester being on newspaper staff?
14. What can you do next semester to continue your scholastic journalism career in a fulfilling and positive way?
15. What suggestions do you have to improve any part of this class? For example, you could address editor/staff relations, editor/editor relations, staff relations with the advisor, how we can better serve our community, direct suggestions on the newspaper itself, equipment or supplies we might need, computer program instructions you need, or even stories we should cover. I am open to anything. Part of my job is to make this a positive experience, yet it is also an educational opportunity for all of you and the other part of my job is to teach you new skills.
If you do not write enough, I refuse to give you a 100. PERIOD. Please make sure you write enough. A sentence or two is NOT ENOUGH!! I will not reward you with a 100 for garbage. No matter how much I want to be Santa Clause and give everyone a 100, I can turn into a Scrooge really fast when I see half-ass effort on this reflection.
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Scholarship-based Journalism Convention - One for current sophomores and one for current juniors
Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. High school juniors (class of 2024) who are interested in journalism are encouraged to apply. |
Students from across the United States will be selected to participate in an all-expenses-paid conference in Washington, D.C. on June 24-29, 2023, and receive a $1,000 scholarship to the college of their choice. The in-person conference features sessions with journalists focused on news, storytelling and the First Amendment. |
Applications are due March 1, 2023. |
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Final Exam and Gift Exchange
On the day of the final we will have a holiday gift exchange and a celebration with some food. Here is all the planning stuff we need to do to make this happen.
Gift Exchange
Please fill out the form Reeves gives you today. I will shuffle them up and give them back to you before the end of the period. DO NOT tell anyone who your person is. This is a Secret Holiday Gift Exchange. The form will help you figure out what to do/get for your person.
DO - make or craft something, bake or cook something, BE CREATIVE. Take some time to find or make them something special.
DO - consider if socks are the best gift....
LIMIT $10 or so
DO NOT - just buy candy for your person.
DO NOT - buy gift cards.....boring
DO NOT - bring or give LIVING things other than a plant or succulent. No PETS!
I will remind you about this repeatedly including the day before the final. DO NOT FORGET!! We can't have a great party if someone doesn't get their gift.
Holiday Celebration
Reeves will provide the main course - either breakfast tacos, Pizza, or something similar.
You will bring everything else we need to have a party!!
2nd period - sign up to bring something here:
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/9040f49afab28a4f94-2ndperiod
6th period - sign up to bring something here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040f49afab28a4f94-sixth
Double Blocked people - yep, you do this twice...thanks!!
I will remind you about what you offered to bring the day before the final. DON'T FORGET!!
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
CATEMA
You are enrolled in a CTE course which articulates with Austin Community College. This means by completing the course, maintaining an 80 or above average and passing the ACC end of course exam you will receive college credit for free.
This should be the link. There are instructions there on how to create a log-in if you do not already have one. Make sure you click the STUDENTS button at the top of the link below.
Students Quick Start GuideSTEP 1: FIRST-TIME USERS--CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
- Go to our Tech-Prep Home Page at catema.net/capital/
- If you created an account in a previous year, you may try your login, as described below. If it does not work you may need to create a new account.
- Click on New Student => select Create Account. Follow the prompts to create your user account & click Submit.
- Your School Student ID is a 9 character ID starting with A followed by your student ID, if you have an 8 digit student ID, start with an A, add 1 zero, then your student ID, if you have a 7 digit student ID, start with an A and add TWO
- 0's followed by your student ID.
- e.g. A02036754
- Your “Username” and “Password” will be automatically generated, based on your personal information (See the explanation below).
- If you already have an account, please go to Student Login Assistant.
Here are links to more information, including how to create an account and register:
https://dualcredit.austincc.edu/career-programs/
Friday, September 9, 2022
High 5 Friday (and Monday!!) and Deadlines
https://high5test.com
When you get your results, THREE STEPS, but first:
Read these shorter summaries about your strengths (starting on the second page)
1. On a piece of paper (put your name at the top), write down your High 5 Strengths in, with a few words from the above summaries to describe that strength.
2. Then write a response telling me your five strengths and why they sound like you. (Bonus, if you're interested: you can email your results to a close friend and have them weigh in on which strengths they think sound like you).
3. Go write your name on the board five times (legibly), under each of your five strengths. We want to see what strengths we have as a group AND what strengths we have in each class.
SO:
If you're in 6th period, write your name in blue.
If you're in 2nd period, write your name in red.
If you're a doubler, write your name in both colors!
Story draft deadline: Fri. Sept. 23
Story final deadline: Wed. Sept. 28
Saturday Workday - Sat. Oct. 1
Pages complete deadline: Mon. Oct. 3
Final work day: Tue. Oct. 4
Send pages to printer: Wed. Oct. 5
Distribute to campus: Friday, Oct 7
Issue #2 - pub date 11/4/22
Story draft deadline: Fri. Oct. 21
Story final deadline: Wed. Oct. 26
Saturday Workday - Sat. Oct. 29
Pages complete deadline: Mon. Oct. 31
Final work day: Tue. Nov. 1
Send pages to printer: Wed. Nov. 2
Distribute to campus: Friday, Nov. 4
Issue #3 - pub date 12/9/22
Story draft deadline: Mon. Nov. 28
Story final deadline: Wed. Nov. 30
Saturday Workday - Sat. Dec. 3
Pages complete deadline: Mon. Dec. 5
Final work day: Tue. Dec. 6
Send pages to printer: Wed. Dec. 7
Distribute to campus: Friday, Dec. 9
Issue #4 - pub date 2/17/23
Story draft deadline: Fri. Feb. 3
Story final deadline: Wed. Feb. 8
Saturday Workday - Sat. Feb. 11
Pages complete deadline: Mon. Feb. 13
Final work day: Tue. Feb. 14
Send pages to printer: Wed. Feb. 15
Distribute to campus: Friday, Feb. 17
Issue #5 (tentative) pub date 4/7/23
Story draft deadline: Fri. March 24
Story final deadline: Wed. March 29
Saturday Workday - Sat. April 1
Pages complete deadline: Mon. April 3
Final work day: Tue. April 4
Send pages to printer: Wed. April 5
Distribute to campus: Friday, April 7
Issue #6 (tentative) pub date 5/12/23
Story draft deadline: Fri. April 28
Story final deadline: Wed. May 3
Saturday Workday - Sat. May 6
Pages complete deadline: Mon. May 8
Final work day: Tue. May 9
Send pages to printer: Wed. May 10
Distribute to campus: Friday, May 12
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Visual Journalism for web....
I thought this was really interesting and it is something that we could utilize for our website if you want to try to tell a story in a different way.... There are lots of these out there....go searching if this is something you found interesting.
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/09/politics/mar-a-lago-documents-numbers/
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Notes in advance of Issue #1
FINAL STAFF BOX - Please check this one more time and if you see anything you need corrected go so Reeves RIGHT NOW. Thanks
Everyone
Deadlines are crucial - you must make deadlinesDon’t procrastinate
Interview early and often
If you need help with interviewing, get support. Lots of people want to help, if we don’t know what the problem is, we can’t help.
Everyone should get help sooner
EVERYONE IS responsible for art/graphics/photos for your story!! If this is an issue for you - please talk to your Editor. They can help. In select cases, they can assign a photographer (we only have a few!!) to help with your image.
Lead writing
Write how and why leads. Narrative.
Follow up with a good nut graf with the who, what, where, when
No WHO, WHERE, WHEN leads
Do not use the word Bowie or Bowie High School if possible
You can talk to me and I will help you brainstorm your lead writing if that will help
Which of these leads makes you want to keep reading?
Sitting down in front of the small electric piano, she adjusts her microphone to a perfect height. She places her hands on the black and white keys, takes a deep breath, and begins to play.
Bowie’s choir group has been gearing up for the first choir concert back in person on Sept. 30, and they have hours of after-school practice to show for it. The choir concert was held in the Bowie cafeteria where they all performed nine songs together.
Caulin Wagner knew something was wrong when he felt extreme pain in his left leg.
COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March of 2020. Since then, there have been many regulations implemented to mitigate the spread of the virus. Common recommendations for protection against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated, wear a mask, get tested, washing hands, and social distancing.
Helmets clash, and bodies slam against one another, leaving a student-athlete laying
awkwardly on the turf. The spectators fall silent, but Bowie’s newest addition in the training room, trainer Lauren Maldonado, has prepared for this moment, understanding she’ll be a vital part of the athlete’s recovery.
On August 10, 2021 the US Senate passed a $1 trillion dollar infrastructure bill. The bill was crafted by Senators under President Biden in an attempt to rebuild the country's bridges and roads as well as to fund a new climate resilience plan. After weeks of negotiation and debates, the final vote in the Senate was 69 in favor and 30 against the legislation, which was uncommonly bipartisan in 2020-21.
Transitions
We need to work on transitions. The goal of a transition is to provide facts and data that help to tell your story. You should avoid “leading” transitions where you restate the information that is coming in the following quote. We also need to avoid editorializing in transitions. This happens most often at the end of the story where writers often try to summarize the piece.
Example of leading with opinions:
The choir students are excited for the positive effects being back in person will have for them and their performance in choir.
“Now you can’t fake certain things that he might not have heard and couldn’t tell you because we were online,” Tapia said. “Some people sing more confidently with other people around too, which we couldn’t do.”
Leading with opinions:
Both teams are filled with many hard working students and have provided them with life lessons and values that they will carry on for the rest of their lives.
“Band has given me a sense of comradery, and I think most importantly an understanding of responsibility that I think will be so critical to the rest of my life,” Bloder said.
Leading, but acceptable:
With the combination of these hate crimes and in-class discussions held in UT OnRamps Rhetoric classes, senior Yuni Kim believes that these things have had an impact on her.
“I was inspired to join SOAR when I had to confront reality where the anger that I've
felt for a long time about violence against my community became more focused on wanting to stop"
Transition with source transition that avoids leading:
There’s been some debate as to whether or not the facility equally distributes space for both genders of sports. As a girls’ coach, Benson has first-hand experience with battling adversity, and is able to analyze whether or not the whispers of mistreatment are actually present in the environment for all parties involved.
“We have more males involved in athletics here than we do females, and there are hundreds of football players and not as many girls’ athletes, so the fact that they have more coaches is rightfully so,” Benson said. “I want to make sure the picture is painted properly because
there may appear to be more representation for boys’ sports, but there’s a reason for that, because they’re two different things. If you have 100 on one side and you have 30 on the other side, both sides have the resources that they need for their size.”
Transition without leading, or sourcing:
Besides just physical health, climate change has been shown to exacerbate mental health issues as well. In what has now been dubbed “eco-anxiety” or “climate anxiety,” thoughts of climate change have been linked to worsening mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse.
“I definitely think that with climate change, there is this ever-encompassing dread,” Amnesty International Club co-president junior Jake Stachura said. “ There is uncertainty that I won’t have a good life in my future. That affects me and my decisions now, if I do something is it even worth it? If I’m going shopping for something, I have to be conscious of hey, how does this affect the environment? Does this increase pollution? Does this increase carbon emissions? Is it green? Is it locally sourced? How does it affect the climate?”
Editors
Check docs sooner - and do NOT wait to talk to writers who don’t make progress between classes
Design basics still need to get better here - look at old issues. Let’s start getting creative. I have lots of resources both digitally, books, and other school’s newspapers
No art for art’s sake. It either has a message like a political cartoon or it is an infographic with data and visuals to support that data
Editor design links:
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/award-winning-newspaper-designs/
https://www.canva.com/learn/editorial-design/
https://bashooka.com/inspiration/30-stunning-newspaper-layout-designs/
https://www.freedomforum.org/todaysfrontpages/#1
You can also just do a google image search for newspaper design ideas. I have lots of books too.
Online
Make checklists of what you need in support so we can give people who need something to do, something to do.
On Interviews:
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/isaacs/edit/MencherIntv1.html
1. Know your subject
I can’t stress this enough. You need to know as much as possible both about the person and the topic. Use our modern tools: there are great chances that you’ll find a whole bunch of information on the Internet. Read previous interviews of this person if you can find some, dig further into the person’s job, their interests, and more importantly the subjects you’re going to ask them about.
Thus, first of all, you’ll understand what they say if they get in deep details. Moreover, you won’t be trapped if they are testing you. There’s nothing more embarrassing than having to admit that you didn’t do enough researches.
However, it doesn’t mean that you have to know everything. You can, of course, ask further explanations as the conversation goes on. But don’t get trapped on basic things.
2. Don’t send questions in advance
It would be like blowing the candle before even lighting it. Even when asked, don’t send the questions in advance. Let them know about the topics you’re going to discuss, so they know what to expect, but don’t go any further.
There are two reasons for this. First, the person will get prepared, and be more likely to recite a ready-made speech. You don’t want that. You want to surprise the person, observe their reactions, extract who they truly are. Secondly, interviews can’t be reduced to a matter of questions/answers. It’s a discussion that one person leads more than another. If you send the questions, you’re reducing your job and the process into this very scholar questions/answers things.
3. Humanize the interaction
Don’t dive into your topic right away. Humanize the interaction. Start with questions centered on the person you are talking to. Not their job. Not their career. Not their role in any political organization, or whatever. Get to know them a bit.
It shows your interest while building the foundations of a more personal exchange and a confidence-based relationship. It’s not pleasant to feel reduced to a job, a role, or a position. First and foremost we are human beings.
4. Get your questions ready
I always prepare a list of questions in advance. It’s a two steps process. First, while doing researches, some questions naturally come to my mind. I write all of them down. Then, when I’m done researching, I think about what I want to find out, what I want to get out of the interview, to which subjects it can open up. The more you’ll think about it, the more questions will come to your mind, and the more interesting they’ll be.
However, don’t stick too much around your questions during the interview. They are kind of a safety net, and a way to remind yourself what you mustn’t forget to ask (you can highlight some of them so you know which ones are crucial and which ones can be skipped). Adjust along with the conversation. If you feel like the spark is appearing, drop your questions and go on. It’s where the most interesting things happen.
5. Use a voice recorder
This one doesn’t work all the time. But as soon as I can use a voice recorder, I do. This technique has both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages are: you don’t have to take notes, so you can focus all your attention to the exchange happening and keep eye contact; you’re sure not to miss out or forget any information; you’ll be able to write complete quotes to the nearest word in your article; you protect yourself from accusations — it’s more difficult to call into question what you wrote if you’ve got the voice record of it.
However, not every interlocutor accepts this. You always need to ask them before, and precise what’s your purpose with the voice record. Another disadvantage is that you’ll have to listen again to the whole thing, which is a longer process than just taking notes.
6. Ask open-ended questions, and allow them to drift away (a bit)
You will sometimes need to ask closed questions, such as “for how long have you been…?”. But more than 80% of your questions should be open-ended ones. It’s the fundamental condition to effectively revealing the person you have in front of you, thus leaving with the feeling of a great interview.
Let them drift away. Not too much, because you don’t want them to fall in the “corporate speech”. But let them talk and bring the conversation somewhere else. You can still refocus the discussion later, using formulas such as “may I go back to…”.
7. Use silences at your advantage
Whatever the situation, silence is a very powerful tool that you have to use at your advantage. When you feel like the person is not saying everything they would want to, or they might be lying to you, just keep silent a bit after they’ve stopped speaking. Not too much, you don’t want to be awkward. But a few seconds. They might be surprised, and feel a bit ill at ease, therefore great are the chances that they’ll add further information.
8. Reformulate answers
This is another trick to getting more information. When your interlocutor keeps silent, and you feel like things need to go deeper, just reformulate the answer of the person: “If I understood you correctly…”, and drop an interrogative intonation at the end of your sentence. They might add further details.
9. Pay attention to the answers you get
Human communication is about words, but also about intonations and facial expressions. Pay attention to all of this, as it is your raw material. Is the person stating something? Hesitating? Do they seem angry? Shy? Are they maintaining eye contact?
It’s a great tool to make sure that you’re not misinterpreting what is said to you. And it’s another reason for me to use voice record, as I can focus on all of this.
10. Listen to the little burst
When you feel the little burst, the little excitement, the “here we are” thing, it’s a sign that you’re getting close to the core of the interview. Dig deeper. Ask further questions. Focus all your attention on the moment.
Each successful interview kind of has this “turning point” when things slightly shift. It’s this exact moment that you’re looking for. It’s the reason why you’re doing it. When you have it, don’t let it fly away, go deeper.
All of these can seem like tools intended to extort information from your interlocutor. It’s not. Please see them as tools to lead a great interview. Always show respect to your interlocutor. If they don’t want to go any further on any topic, you have to respect their choice. It’s a matter of confidence. You don’t want to be this kind of journalist.
A great interview is when something magically goes on a higher or deeper level that the basic questions/answers thing.
Monday, August 29, 2022
InDesign practice - day 1 - Remake a page
Today we are going to start basic InDesign training by taking an existing page and re-creating it so it looks like the original page created by an editor last year.
This is a spatial test, among other things. You should NOT change the dimensions of ANYTHING. All you have to do is to use the Black Arrow tool to move the objects around.
DO NOT change dimensions of ANYTHING
DO NOT grab the little white dots in the corners.
DO learn to see the little boxes in the background.
DO learn to see the pink/purple lines that act as the border.
DO learn to see the gutters.
DO learn that spacing matters.
DO notice how far apart objects are (hint those little boxes mean something)
BE PRECISE - everything will fit EXACTLY as the newspaper page you have in front of you. The objects are set up to do all the work for you - they will shift the text around, and they will fit just like a jigsaw puzzle.
For the first 15 minutes you are on your own - try to put the puzzle together. At the 15 minute mark - the leadership team and I will come around to help you figure it out.
Let's see how well you can do this.
Here is the link to the folder you need to DOWNLOAD to your desktop. I will walk you through the steps once you have the folder downloaded. We will open the file together:
On word counts:
The classic advice on word count is always "write as much as you need to achieve your purpose," which is vague enough to drive everyone crazy -- though it nevertheless remains good advice.
Composition and Shooting in Manual
Here are some links to help you with your photography.
Composition first:
Second, let's move on to today's full assignment. We are going to add a few more composition rules. Earlier this year you learned the 6 basic composition rules of photography. Those included:
Rule of Thirds
Balance/Balancing Elements
Lines/Leading Lines
Simplicity/Background
Framing
Avoiding Mergers
Today we are going to add 4 more rules for you to think about as you continue to shoot for this class. They are:
Symmetry and Patterns (repetition)
Viewpoint
Create Depth
Cropping
We are also more clearly defining the first six rules, so their names are changing slightly, be aware of those changes.
Check out the new rules here, you can ignore the one at the end called Experiment and sub in Avoiding Mergers:
http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules
Please pick a theme, I don't care what theme you choose: football, guitars, Justin Beiber, whatever.
Then use google search and find photos relating to your theme.
Find photos that show good examples of the following photo composition rules. Show me that you understand these rules. Make sure to tell me which photo = which rule, i.e. label your photos with the proper rule title.
Here are the rules again, in case you forgot in the last 2 minutes:
1. Rule of thirds
2. Balancing Elements
3. Leading Lines
4. Symmetry and Patterns (repetition)
5. Viewpoint
6. Background
7. Create depth
8. Framing
9. Cropping
10. Mergers and avoiding them - here I want you to find me a COOL merger photo.
MANUAL photography next
So I am just going to share a link to a camera sim. For some of you this is a good starting point to messing around with the MANUAL setting. It is easy to manipulate and you see very accurate images once you push the shutter button. You can easily transfer this knowledge to a real camera. It would help you if you played with this right before you used a camera so you can practice at home.
Illustrator basics
Illustrator is another Adobe product we use a lot in class. It is a super-paint program. I am not very well versed in Adobe....but...it really isn't a complex program to begin. Of course, as you get better at basic skills, you will want to enhance your work. There are people around you in class that are far better at this program than me. Ask around - Anna H, Isabella D, Arushi S, and Azul L, among others, are all very capable in Adobe products and Illustrator.
The good news is that if you have any training in Adobe products in other classes or areas of campus, there is a TON of cross-over between the programs.
I am going to show you a few things today, and then I would like you to play around in Illustrator for a few minutes. To help you, once I am done talking, here are some videos that might help you get further. They are fast, so you will want to listen, pause the video, practice, and then move on to the next part in the video. They use command-functions, so learning those will help. They are also cross-program in the Adobe platform, so learning them for Illustrator, will probably help you in InDesign and Photoshop.
Here are a few video options. Please use headphones if you can. I have lots of extras in the back, if you need some.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GzumUieDPY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AinkCNooh2A
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/tutorials.html
I do have three Wacom Pen Tablets that we can set up to use at your computer if you would like to go more advanced. We need lots of artists, so if this is something you are interested in, please speak to me or the leadership team. We need your help in this area.
Final thoughts - we ALWAYS need people to make art, especially POLITICAL CARTOONS. I would also love to publish a true comic strip, like a 3-4 panel ongoing strip that would tell a complete story over a period of time - maybe 40-50 panels total. We would likely publish that online but if we could get a good 24-panel strip, that we could publish every print edition - I am on board.
Here are some basics to Political Cartooning:
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Political-Cartoon
https://www.toonsmag.com/how-to-draw-political-cartoons-quick-guide/
Photoshop basics review - just for you to access if you need it.
This is a quick tutorial on how to edit photos in Photoshop in case you missed the presentation in class or were not here on that day. If you need help to do these steps, please ask and I will help you. Missing last class was BAD BAD though so you need to get this done ASAP so you know what to do.
Color
Color changes take a little longer and can be much more evident to the eye.
1. Open the photo in Photoshop (there are multiple ways to do this, use whichever way you remember)
2. The first thing we want to do every time is to SAVE AS and rename your photo and save it in the correct folder. For right now that folder is your folder on the desktop.
3. Go to – Image>Adjustments>Levels
A box should pop up on your screen. In that box is a drop down box that has RGB in it. Use the drop down box and go to >BLUE
Move the black and white slider tools (the hershey kisses) and move them as needed to be underneath the mountain.
go to >GREEN
repeat
go to >RED
repeat
go to >RGB
On this step you move ONLY the middle one which is brown (do not move the black or white slider) just slightly where the photo appears a little lighter than perfect.
Now - here are some new instructions - I will show you this quickly today, but I wanted to give you the instructions here as well.
4. The final step, go to >Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen
You should only do this one time
5. Crop and make sure you have the correct resolution as requested.
6. To change the photo to black and white go to: Image>Mode>Grayscale
When the pop up appears asking if you want to discard the color information, hit yes or okay.
7. Save and close the file