What's Happening: 11.30.10

photo by KimNowacki, used under Creative Commons license.

 Should teachers be able to take your cell phone and scroll through your text messages? What if they think you are bullying someone? The Virginia Attorney General says that teachers have the right to take cell phones and do just that. Read the article and post your thoughts below (as a comment on THIS post). This assignment is due by 9 pm tonight.

It's WASC time! A period, we will finish up the task from last week. Second period, you will work on School Culture and Climate.


Do NOT complete web assignments for this week. They are undergoing a major overhaul and will be ready by Wednesday at which time we will discuss the changes.

Worknight is December 10 immediately after school until the cows come home. Well, actually, it will be after that time since cows come home at dark. So, really, it's until 9 or so.

What's Happening: 11.29.10

Hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving weekend. Though we had three very cold mornings, the weather was pretty good.

There are two major international news stories brewing. Both of them had major developments yesterday. What are the two counties at the center of these stories? Get a Post-it note, put your name on the Post-it along with the names of the two countries and put it on the door behind Wojo's desk. This is an assignment.


Do NOT complete web assignments for this week. They are undergoing a major overhaul and will be ready by Wednesday at which time we will discuss the changes.

Worknight is December 10 immediately after school until the cows come home. Well, actually, it will be after that time since cows come home at dark. So, really, it's until 9 or so.

What's Happening: 11.24.10

Update any edits you might have for your story, then get thee to the game table. Have a great holiday weekend!

Don't forget WORKNIGHT is December 10th beginning at 3:30.

What's Happening: 11.23.10

Assignment: Since we're talking about multimedia today, think about what that means. What does it mean if a journalist is a multimedia reporter? What does it look like? How is the reporting similar or different? You should have a few solid ideas BEFORE the presentation, then you will be revising them after the presentation.

Write your notes to the questions above on a piece of lined paper. Take any notes during the presentation on the same paper. You will be turning this in.

Today: Introduction to Multimedia


Wednesday: Get your game face on!

What's Happening: 11.22.10

Today: Work on stories, work on WASC Focus group. There were no volunteers for the WASC group, so I will be selecting a few of you randomly.


Tuesday: Introduction to Multimedia; work on stories.

Wednesday: Get your game face on!

What's Happening: 11.19.10

Welcome Mr. Alvarez to class! Wojo is at a TAH Project meeting today.

Take the initiative: Someone had suggested doing a feature story on HHS grads who become subs at our school. This would be an excellent opportunity to interview one of them.

Your Thanksgiving Present: Do not complete your Web Assignment for Week 8. The Introduction to Multimedia session will be next Tuesday.

Friday: You should have your assignments for December. Start your GoogleDoc. Add questions you need answered to write the story and who you will be interviewing for the story. Schedule your interviews. You have a short turnaround on this paper, so you CANNOT delay.
Share your document with Wojo. If there is nothing on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. If there is nothing meaningful on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. Yes, Wojo is out, but she will be checking your document....

Next week is a three-day week!

Monday: Work on stories, work on WASC Focus group (volunteers to serve on this group will receive credit for professional development for the quarter. You will spend 2-4 class periods on this task. If you volunteer, you get professional development credit. If you don't and are picked anyway, it will just count as a regular assignment. Up to 8 staff members each period may volunteer.).

Tuesday: Introduction to Multimedia

Wednesday: Get your game face on!

What's Happening: 11.18.10

Today is the last day to vote for Rachel's film! Don't miss out on the chance to show your support. Vote Team SF at http://www.fresh-films.com. Vote often.

Your Thanksgiving Present: Do not complete your Web Assignment for Week 8. The Introduction to Multimedia session will be next Tuesday.


Assignment: Due today by 9 pm. This is actually a really important story, so read it carefully. Thomas Friedman write an opinion piece for the NY Times called "Too Good to Check." In his piece he discussed the President Obama's trip to India and how much it cost. He also describes Anderson Cooper's examination of the alleged cost. Many of us heard this story and even talked about it in class (along with the coconuts being harvested so they wouldn't fall on Obama's head). Read this story carefully, then post the lesson learned from it as a comment on THIS POST. Here's the catch though, your comment cannot be more than 140 characters (it's a Tweet). Think carefully about what lesson student journalists need to take from this entire incident.

Friday: You should have your assignments for December. Start your GoogleDoc. Add questions you need answered to write the story and who you will be interviewing for the story. Schedule your interviews. You have a short turnaround on this paper, so you CANNOT delay.
Share your document with Wojo. If there is nothing on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. If there is nothing meaningful on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. Yes, Wojo is out, but she will be checking your document....

Next week is a three-day week!

Monday: Work on stories, work on WASC Focus group (volunteers to serve on this group will receive credit for professional development for the quarter. You will spend 2-4 class periods on this task. If you volunteer, you get professional development credit. If you don't and are picked anyway, it will just count as a regular assignment. Up to 8 staff members each period may volunteer.).

Tuesday: Introduction to Multimedia

Wednesday: Get your game face on!

What's Happening: 11.17.10

Today: In class writing assignment. You will construct a story for a school newspaper in class. You will be given all necessary notes and will have the class period to complete the assignment. This will be for a grade. Review the inverted pyramid. Your story will be typed in a GoogleDoc, then it will be printed (double-spaced) before you leave the class. Your story will be 125-175 words and will include quotes.

Rumor has it that there is a hallway check today for tardies AND lanyards, so get to class on time unless you want an automatic 2 hour detention. THAT MEANS YOU TERILYN CHEN, WENDY CHEN, ERINN KUEHNE, EDISON LEI AND KIMMY NY.
 

Don't Let Chicago Win!

There's only 3 days left. You guys cant vote tomorrow because of the in-class writing assignment. We're still down by a lot.

Translation: Start voting. Now.

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT. PULL IT TOGETHER AND GIVE IT YOUR ALL. 3 DAYS. THEN ITS OVER. DONE.  


You guys vote like crazy during class, but that isn't enough. Do you know that it pretty much goes back down if you don't vote at home?


Voting ends on Thursday, but at 1pm. Lets turn the tables and win this thing!




Please. Really. Please. I've personally spent almost every day staying up until 2 in the morning voting. I'm asking for help with this one thing. Please, please, please help me. 

Thursday: Introduction to multimedia. We have a website to feature multimedia stories, yet no one is using multimedia. Learn how to do your web assignments using audio, video and photography.


Friday: You should have your assignments for December by today. Start your GoogleDoc. Add questions you need answered to write the story and who you will be interviewing for the story. Schedule your interviews. You have a short turnaround on this paper, so you CANNOT delay.
Share your document with Wojo. If there is nothing on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. If there is nothing meaningful on the document, you will receive a zero for the day.


Next week is a three-day week! All of your stories should be to your editors by Wednesday of next week.

What's Happening: 9.16.10

Today: Pitch your story ideas. We'll do it the way we did for November. Make sure you have a list of several story ideas because you will need to pitch something that has not been pitched before. You will need to fully explain your idea so don't just say "we should do something on the play."

We are currently planning an 8-page issue, but may have to go to 12 page to accommodate new advertisements. Congratulate the ads team (Davidson, Christian, Melissa and Joyce) on a job well-done.

Please note that some staff members have tasks other than pitching stories today. Do not bother them.

Don't Let Chicago Win!

There's only 3 days left. You guys cant vote tomorrow because of the in-class writing assignment. We're still down by a lot.

Translation: Start voting. Now.

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT. PULL IT TOGETHER AND GIVE IT YOUR ALL. 3 DAYS. THEN ITS OVER. DONE.  


You guys vote like crazy during class, but that isn't enough. Do you know that it pretty much goes back down if you don't vote at home?


Voting ends on Thursday, but at 1pm. Lets turn the tables and win this thing!




Please. Really. Please. I've personally spent almost every day staying up until 2 in the morning voting. I'm asking for help with this one thing. Please, please, please help me. 

Wednesday: In class writing assignment. You will construct a story for a school newspaper in class. You will be given all necessary notes and will have the class period to complete the assignment. This will be for a grade. Review the inverted pyramid. Your story will be typed in a GoogleDoc, then it will be printed (double-spaced) before you leave the class. Your story will be 125-175 words and will include quotes.


Thursday: You should have your assignments for December by today. Start your GoogleDoc. Add questions you need answered to write the story and who you will be interviewing for the story. Schedule your interviews. You have a short turnaround on this paper, so you CANNOT delay.
Share your document with Wojo. If there is nothing on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. If there is nothing meaningful on the document, you will receive a zero for the day.


Friday: Introduction to multimedia. We have a website to feature multimedia stories, yet no one is using multimedia. Learn how to do your web assignments using audio, video and photography.

Next week is a three-day week! All of your stories should be to your editors by Wednesday of next week.

What's Happening: 11.15.10

 Today:  Finish November paper and generate story ideas for December. The paper will come out December 17. Assume there will be something in the paper about holiday gifts. We will also have something on the play and a preview of winter sports teams. DO NOT suggest these as story ideas. It's fine to discuss national or international stories so long as they have a local angle.

Tuesday: Pitch your story ideas. We'll do it the way we did for November. Make sure you have a list of several story ideas because you will need to pitch something that has not been pitched before. You will need to fully explain your idea so don't just say "we should do something on the play."

Wednesday: In class writing assignment. You will construct a story for a school newspaper in class. You will be given all necessary notes and will have the class period to complete the assignment. This will be for a grade. Review the inverted pyramid. Your story will be typed in a GoogleDoc, then it will be printed (double-spaced) before you leave the class. Your story will be 125-175 words and will include quotes.


Thursday: You should have your assignments for December by today. Start your GoogleDoc. Add questions you need answered to write the story and who you will be interviewing for the story. Schedule your interviews. You have a short turnaround on this paper, so you CANNOT delay.
Share your document with Wojo. If there is nothing on the document, you will receive a zero for the day. If there is nothing meaningful on the document, you will receive a zero for the day.


Friday: Introduction to multimedia. We have a website to feature multimedia stories, yet no one is using multimedia. Learn how to do your web assignments using audio, video and photography.

Next week is a three-day week! All of your stories should be to your editors by Wednesday of next week.

The Bay has the World Champions in baseball. 

Why not the World Champions in film too, Rachel asks?

Ist off, I want to thank 1st period, and all other journ and yearbookies, for their awesome support Wednesday. ;)
Makes me really happy . Seriously. Really.
Special thanks to Myron for his vote calculations and stuff on the white board. :D


You guys are voting and supporting me more than my friends are. That means A LOT to me.


I'm really proud and happy of how a lot of you guys (half of which probably dont know who I am) are supporting so much and voting. Of course, there's a "but" to this heartfelt message. D:

Despite our best efforts, we're still losing. By a lot. What does this mean? We cant win alone. Just us journ and yearbook staff members. We need to get the word out more, get more people to vote that are outside of our J-Team. The other high school kids, the middle schoolers... We need to spread the word!

And come on. We're journalism junkies! How hard can that be? We're supposed to LIVE for spreading the news.

There's only 4 more days for us to dominate Chicago. We still need about 10% to go, and thats only if Chicago wasnt voting.

This is a group effort, and thats why I'm depending on you guys. The San Fran team only has 5 people. Chicago and LA have 10 and 7. If it was a competition just between the team members, we'd lose! But its not, and we need to work harder for the "lack" of people.

Text. Post. Email. Whatever! Us voting alone wont be enough to get the numbers up. We need to get people involved!

I know I've been annoying everyone when I text and email and post stuff on Facebook and stuff. But thats because I'm one person. Think of the impact when a whole group of kids are doing this? One annoying little girl becomes a group of people looking for support.

We've all worked hard to get our votes up! And it worked! I dont want to do all this, and end up losing in the end. I dont want all of those hours voting to just go to waste.

Voting ends on the 18. Thats THIS THURSDAY! A few more days then its over! Voting and me spamming the announcements, pestering you guys to vote.

Make it easier for yourself, tell YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE. Lets not have our efforts go to waste, guys.

So lets pull it together for just a few more days and show Chicago and LA what San Fran is made of!

:)

What's Happening: 11.10.10 In Which Rachel Needs Your Voting Help

Work night is tonight! Check your email to see if you need to be here.  I am going through your stories today, so be sure to check email during class and at lunch.


Rachel Says: HELP!! SOS!! ANYONE!!

Fresh-Films.com


Okay, so voting has been going on for a while. It ends on the 18th...and guess what? SAN FRAN IS LOSING!

Everyone seemed so excited when I first posted the announcement about the competition...Where did all of that excitement run off to?

I have people coming up to me and telling me that they voted...Probably one vote. As heartfelt as that it, I have to be completely honest, is, its not enough.

 Just one. Anyone read the "UNLIMITED" part? It takes about 10 votes to go up .01%. That means it takes 100 just to go up 1%!


vote at Fresh Films!

This is war here! When you're out on the battlefield, you're not going to use one bullet to beat out your hundred-man enemy army. Are you? Hopefully not. I really hope not.

There's only one week left! Checklist ready?

- Text every single person you know. Time it so that they'll probably be on the computer when you text them.
- Email every single person you know.
- Post this (not this but something of the sort) on your Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter...any random site/page.
- Tell your friends to tell theirs. And theirs. And theirs. At and after school.


This may not be that important to you, because well, you may think you have nothing to do with it. But its super important to me. I spent a week going to and from San Fransisco on BART and the bus, and worked my butt off to make that film. I cant, we (The San Fran Team) can't win alone. We need people to support us. It'd be really cool if you guys were those "people."


When I wrote this, Team San Fran were behind by more than 10%. Think we can change it over the four-day weekend? :/

What's Happening: 11.9.10

Part II...TODAY: Writing workshop for all. It's time to review the inverted pyramid and get some practice with it. Those of you participating in the writing workshop will be turning in your assignment before you leave class today.


Worknight tomorrow beginning immediately after school until we get done or get kicked out so the custodians can go home OR until the computers go into maintenance mode, whichever comes first.



Support Rachel's Film:

Hey. Hey you. Vote. Now. Yeah. Now. Go. Vote. VOTE.

Hello. :) This is Rachel. So, voting started today for Fresh Films. The majority of you probably wont know what I'm talking about so here's the background details:

- This is part of a non-profit organization called Dreaming Tree Films.
- Fresh Films is a project where teens are chosen to make a short film in 6 days.
- Three teams where chosen. One in San Fran (Woot!), Chicago, and LA.
- At the end of the 6 days, the films made are put up for an online voting competition (this is where you people come in :D ).
- The team with the most votes at the end of NOV 18 will...uh...win? I think. >.<
- For more info on the teams and program, check out http://fresh-films.com/

So yeah, I spent 6 days making a short film (while skipping school xD) and worked my butt off, so forget LA and forget Chicago. Please support and vote for SAN FRANCISCO~ Let San Fran have more glory in addition to winning the World Series! :)

Yeah...Vote! I know I wrote that word like a million times here...Please? One a day would be really meaningful to me. D':



P.S. Did I mention you can vote as many times as you want? :P


link---------> http://fresh-films.com/ <---------link

What's Happening: 11.8.10

Here's a good article from the NY Times on cheese politics. Why should you read an article on cheese politics? It's a good example of feature writing. There are other good reasons to read this piece as well. The underlying message to you, the consumer, is that we must be media critics and really examine what we're being told by organizations that claim to have our health as their top priority. Do the claims in this article surprise you?


TODAY: Writing workshop for all. It's time to review the inverted pyramid and get some practice with it. Those of you participating in the writing workshop will be turning in your assignment before you leave class today.




Support Rachel's Film:

Hey. Hey you. Vote. Now. Yeah. Now. Go. Vote. VOTE.

Hello. :) This is Rachel. So, voting started today for Fresh Films. The majority of you probably wont know what I'm talking about so here's the background details:

- This is part of a non-profit organization called Dreaming Tree Films.
- Fresh Films is a project where teens are chosen to make a short film in 6 days.
- Three teams where chosen. One in San Fran (Woot!), Chicago, and LA.
- At the end of the 6 days, the films made are put up for an online voting competition (this is where you people come in :D ).
- The team with the most votes at the end of NOV 18 will...uh...win? I think. >.<
- For more info on the teams and program, check out http://fresh-films.com/

So yeah, I spent 6 days making a short film (while skipping school xD) and worked my butt off, so forget LA and forget Chicago. Please support and vote for SAN FRANCISCO~ Let San Fran have more glory in addition to winning the World Series! :)

Yeah...Vote! I know I wrote that word like a million times here...Please? One a day would be really meaningful to me. D':



P.S. Did I mention you can vote as many times as you want? :P


link---------> http://fresh-films.com/ <---------link

What's Happening: 11.5.10

Don't forget worknight is Wednesday, November 10.


Support Rachel's Film:

Hey. Hey you. Vote. Now. Yeah. Now. Go. Vote. VOTE.

Hello. :) This is Rachel. So, voting started today for Fresh Films. The majority of you probably wont know what I'm talking about so here's the background details:

- This is part of a non-profit organization called Dreaming Tree Films.
- Fresh Films is a project where teens are chosen to make a short film in 6 days.
- Three teams where chosen. One in San Fran (Woot!), Chicago, and LA.
- At the end of the 6 days, the films made are put up for an online voting competition (this is where you people come in :D ).
- The team with the most votes at the end of NOV 18 will...uh...win? I think. >.<
- For more info on the teams and program, check out http://fresh-films.com/

So yeah, I spent 6 days making a short film (while skipping school xD) and worked my butt off, so forget LA and forget Chicago. Please support and vote for SAN FRANCISCO~ Let San Fran have more glory in addition to winning the World Series! :)

Yeah...Vote! I know I wrote that word like a million times here...Please? One a day would be really meaningful to me. D':



P.S. Did I mention you can vote as many times as you want? :P


link---------> http://fresh-films.com/ <---------link

What's Happening: 11.4.10

TODAY: A period you will be looking at the art of commenting. 2nd period you will be looking at creating SMART goals since so many of you were gone on Wednesday. A and 2nd: Three comments due by Friday night.

If you were at the parade on Wednesday, please share your photos with Arkenews.net. It would be great to post some pics from those who were there.

The Academy of Art presentation has been rescheduled to December 8. It will be during 4th lunch. If you want to attend, please use this form to sign up.

Speaking of professional development...Tuesday, November 16 a photojournalist will be at PVHS to tell you about the field of photojournalism. If you have a camera, you should bring it to the workshop. This event will be after school at 4 pm. The room number will be announced next week.

The latest CC Spin is up online. Check out our stories.

Rumor has it that you'll have a current events quiz Friday. Additional rumor says that the quiz will focus on the three stories above and the election results. Wojo started the rumor, so it's probably pretty accurate.

Don't forget worknight is Wednesday, November 10 beginning immediately after school.

What's Happening: 11.3.10

TODAY. Professional Development opportunity. 11 am which is during 4th lunch (if you're interested let Wojo know so you can get on the excuse list). Journ/Yearbook room. The Academy of Art will be doing a presentation on their programs which include art, design, computer animation, film and more. Check it out!

In other news...that is weird...The University of South Carolina will be offering a course on Lady Gaga and all the Harry Potter fans out there (especially those in India) are responsible for the decline in the Indian owl population. And finally, to show you that we do live in rare circumstances here in the US, watch this story about the invasion of the tuktuks.

Rumor has it that you'll have a current events quiz Friday. Additional rumor says that the quiz will focus on the three stories above and the election results. Wojo started the rumor, so it's probably pretty accurate.

What's Happening: 11.2.10

In light of our tech blackout last Friday, this article is pretty interesting. Could you give up your electronic devices for "No-Tech Tuesdays"? Leave a comment on this post. Discuss how easy (or not) it would be for you to give up electronic gadgets one day a week. This is an assignment. It is due no later than 9 pm today.

Today, seniors have a class meeting second period. who will be taking candids from yearbook? Thursday is Club Fair. Who is taking pictures for that? Put your names up on the whiteboard.


Today we will be doing goal setting for the quarter. This is an assignment. You will be putting together a portfolio to show how you have advanced toward your goals. Second period, you will do this tomorrow since you have the senior class meeting today.

What's Happening: 11.1.10

A period: Please make sure you are to class on time Tuesday, November 2. We will be working on an assignment that will take a good part of the class period.

Mark your calendars now! Worknight is Wednesday, November 10!

Professional Development opportunity at PVHS after school, Tuesday, November 16. The scheduled speaker is a photojournalist.

Here is some great advice from the Journalistics Blog: "Use Outlines to Write Better, Faster." Read the blog post to see WHY he advises outlines in the digital age.

Keep on top of your due dates.