News and Notes: Week of 10.17.11

Monday: The Dirty Dozen, covering Homecoming, continue editing, blog post due Wednesday night

Tuesday: Introducing Gotta or Notta and Just Sayin' short writing rules, continue editing

Wednesday: no class for A period, blog post due (you should have a minimum of four posts on your blog).
      Topic for blog post: your choice

Thursday: short writing (either Gotta or Notta or Just Sayin'), continue editing


Friday: blog reading day, editing as necessary. Worknight is tonight!

News and Notes: 10.6.11

Today is BLOG READING DAY! Read and comment upon the blogs in the appropriate column for your group. All commenting needs to be completed by Friday at 9 pm.

Bloggers, your next post, on a topic of your choice, is due by Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 9 pm.

Check the spreadsheet for story assignments and act upon those immediately. You will need to bring a hard copy of your story to class (typed, double-spaced) on Thursday, October 13. No printing after 7:10 am.

News and Notes: 10.3.11

Blog posts: Your next blog post must be posted by Wednesday, 9 pm. The topic is your choice. Length minimum 300 words.

Today: review inverted pyramid and story practice


After today, class will often be split into different groups. We will be doing peer editing in class more frequently. To participate in those assignments, you will need to bring a hard copy of your story, double-spaced. No printing after 7:10 am.

News and Notes: 9.29.11

It's BLOG READING DAY! Each week, you will need two documents for this assignment. The first is the group list. Check that list for your name. Find your group number, then check which blogs you are reading for that week. For example, if you are in Group 7, this week you are reading blogs in column C.

• Reading blogs is a weekly assignment
• You will read EACH blog on your weekly list
• You will comment on EACH blog on your weekly list. Comments must be substantive and move the conversation forward about the topic. If you don't know anything about the topic at first, say so. Ask questions. Maybe the author will write a post addressing your questions! Keep your comments on topic, but feel free to expand on the topic as needed. You may also comment on other comments.

Story pitches are TOMORROW. Come to class with at least THREE story ideas in THREE different Departments (News, Sports, Feature, Arts). Be prepared to discuss the angle for the story and why that story is important to your readers. Also, what research needs to be done and who needs to be talked to (these are NOT the same thing). Stories that are off limits for purposes of this assignment:

• update on the fall play
• update on the solar panels
• anything about specific games for any of the fall sports teams
• update on the plastic bag ban

Interesting ideas that could be entertained by your editors:

• school/district disaster plan
• student and staff parking (unless the issue is already resolved in a satisfactory manner)
• ???

News and Notes: 9.21 and 9.22, 2011

Please check to see that your blog is listed on this chart. If it is NOT, immediately send your URL with your name and the title of your blog to Wojo.

See yesterday's announcements for your assignment that is due no later than Sunday at 5 pm. That post is right under this one.

News and Notes: 9.20.11

Don't forget worknight is Friday. Your editors will tell you if you need to attend.


Blog Assignment:
Today: Read about Zoe Strickland who started blogging when she was 13.
By Sunday, September 25 at 5pm do the following with your blog:

• fill in the About Me section. Remember, this is a professional blog, so be careful about what you write here. Also, be careful about putting personal information out there. Generally, it's okay to say you live in California or Northern California or maybe even the SF Bay Area. Don't put the name of your city.
• Add a hit counter to your blog if you can add widgets/gadgets. All Blogger blogs can take widgets. One free widget is SiteMeter. Another is ClustrMap. Feel free to add both since they do slightly different things.
• Write a post of not more than 750 words explaining to your readers why you started a blog on this particular topic. Generally speaking, bloggers write a first post of this nature to let their readers know what the blog is about and where it's going. Your post should not be fewer than roughly 300 words. Describe your passion to your readers.

Updates for 9.13.11

Check here each day for updates and reminders.

Tuesday: paper blogs
Wednesday: no class
Thursday: resume due, roots quiz,
Friday: roots and vocab quiz, Banned Books Week presentation.