Thursday, October 9, 2025

Huntington and Earthquake. Assigned 10/9, due 10/ 14 - Minor (last grade of the 9 week cycle)

Huntington and Earthquake

Please make a new Google Site subpage called Huntington & Earthquake stories and complete the following two tasks:

Directions – write a 250-word brief using inverted pyramid and in transition-quote structure. You may use this information and make up anything else you need to complete the story.

Janice Jones is 53 years old and lives in Barstow, California, according to California Highway Patrol press liaison Tammy Rye.

Rye said Jones was eating pork chops in the back of her motor home, which was parked on Beach Boulevard near Highway 1, when her dog knocked her 9 mm handgun off a seat. The weapon discharged when it hit the floor, and the bullet passed through Jones; leg and through the side of the vehicle, according to Rye. “It could have been worse,” Rye said. “The bullet hit two inches from the gas tank.”

Jones was shot in the right leg around 10 p.m. Wednesday, Rye said.

Jones was transported to Huntington Beach Hospital via ambulance and later was transported to Irvine Medical Center, Rye said. Jim Washington, a spokesperson for Huntington Beach Hospital, confirmed Jones was treated at the hospital but gave no additional information.

Jones’ dog, a Pomeranian named Tombo, was placed in the care of the Huntington Beach Animal Control officers.

The dog seemed to be malnourished, according to Janet Ngo, one of the animal control officers, and had fresh cigarette burns on its forehead. “It could have done with a little less abuse and a few more of those pork chops,” Ngo said.

Ngo indicated that her office would explore filing animal abuse charges against Jones.

Rye said officers cited Jones for expired plates and the county’s district attorney’s office was considering whether to charge her in relation to the gun accident. Jones doesn’t have a permit for the gun, Rye said.

#2 on the same Google site subpage

Directions - Write a 350-word, inverted-pyramid story based on the following set of facts. Assume that the story is for Tuesday morning’s paper. You may make up any additional information you need to complete the story.

An earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay area Monday morning. The quake struck at 8:12 a.m. PDT

A building housing McHenry’s Auto Supply at 2342 Plum St. partially collapsed, killing two people and injuring six others, according to  Jennifer Vu, a public information officer from the Hayward Fire Department. Names of the dead are being withheld pending notifications of families, Vu said.

Hayward resident Mike Beamer, whose apartment is across the street from McHenry’s, said he felt a rolling motion that lasted for about 30 seconds, with a big jolt coming in the middle. “I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling. I dove under the table just as I heard an explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew through my kitchen window. That’s when the screaming start across the street.”

Hayward firefighters used ropes to stabilize the auto supply shop, conducting a search of the building and capped a gas line after detecting a gas leak at the site.

The epicenter of the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale, was under the Hayward Hills, according to Penny Gertz, a scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park. Gertz called the quake a “strong one” and said it occurred on the Hayward Fault, which runs under the hills.

"Twenty-one fire personnel, 12 police and five American Red Cross workers responded to the building collapse, with some arriving within four minutes of the quake,"Vu said.

Three of the six people injured were hurt seriously enough to require hospitalization and were transported to Hayward General Hospital, according to Vu. She added the no other serious injuries have been reported in Hayward.

"People as far south as Los Angeles and as far north as Redding felt the quake," Gertz said.

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Dispatch Issue #1. Assigned 10/7, due 10/9 - Minor

The Dispatch Issue #1

Today we are going to spend the entire period reading the 1st issue of the Dispatch. I will pass out copies of the paper shortly. You will need your own copy. You are welcome to take it home if you would like.

Please read one story from each of the following SIX sections:

1. News or the Politics page
2. Features 
3. Entertainment or Reviews or the Photo Essay (pg 6 or 16)
4. Sports
5. Commentary
6. And you must read either the In-Depth story on page 8-9 (Statehouse to Schoolroom) or 7 (Teen Driving)

As you read the stories I want you to answer the following questions for EACH story on your Google Site on a new subpage called Dispatch Issue #1:

1. Write a two sentence summary of the story.

2. Answer the following questions for each story:

Who was quoted in the story?
What quote was the strongest in your opinion?
Did the lead paragraph make you want to keep reading?
Was the conclusion a quote or a statement?

3. Now make a new text box on the same subpage (Dispatch Issue #1) and answer the following questions:

Which story made you want to learn more about the topic?
Which story was the best written?
Which story had the best quotes (overall)?
Which story was the most boring of the ones you read?
Which one was the hardest to follow (meaning maybe wasn't written as well)?

4. Then I want you to do a couple of things with the photography. In a new text box, answer the following questions:A. What is your favorite photo in the entire paper?A1. Why is this your favorite?B. What is your least favorite photo in the entire paper?B1. Why is this your least favorite?C. If you were a photographer on staff, which event/photo assignment would you have liked to do for this issue? You will need to look through the entire paper and see the topics covered and decide which one you think would have been fun.D. Overall, how would you rate the photography in this issue (1-10 scale, 1 being terrible, 10 being the best set of photos you have ever seen)? What were the strong points and weak points of the images as a whole?5. LAST TASK - The newspaper staff just completed a brainstorm activity for the second issue of the year which will come out November 5. I consider my Journalism 1 students part of staff, so I want to hear from you. Please list 3 to 5 story ideas you think would be interesting to read about in the school newspaper. Try to think of things that impact students, or has some sort of local connection. If you propose an idea for something broader than that, please give me some sort of story "angle" that could be "localized" to Bowie. Every story in the school newspaper should have some sort of impact on students at the school.

Friday, October 3, 2025

C.E. #1.2 AND Student of the Month Story. Assigned 10/3, due 10/3 - CE and MAJOR

On your Google Site, please make a new subpage and title it: Current Events Quiz #1.2. Answer the question below on that page. You are welcome to make multiple text boxes if that is easier, or if you want to work on just one text box, that is great. Whatever is best for you. Please be aware that if you copy and past the questions to your Google Site, it can create some formatting problems. I DO NOT NEED you to include the questions - just the answers.

Here is today's!!

1.  What is the big issue facing the new Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, according to the article below?


2. What was Taylor Swift's goal, according to the article, with her latest album release called The Life of a Showgirl?


3. What was the big controversy surrounding the most recent Ryder Cup played in New York last weekend?


4. What kind of items did researchers find in giant bird nests that have survived for centuries?


5. What would colleges receive from the Trump administration if they signed the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," according to the article?


Long Response:

Please read the following story and respond to the questions below. Please answer the question fully and always try to answer WHY. This section is the subjective section and I will penalize you if you write one word or short phrases for answers with an open-ended question. 


REMINDER - A single sentence isn't enough. I expect you to expand upon your writing. If you think you have written enough, you haven't, write more. Be sure to answer WHY you think something.

Please read the following article about OpenAI Sora 2:


A. Briefly, in a sentence or two, explain what the article is about.

B. List at least two companies whose copyrighted products might be used by this new AI product illegally, according to the article?

C. In your opinion, what should the limits on AI be? Is it okay for AI to source copyrighted products and be used to create memes, gifs, etc. using those protected images/creations?

D. Do you think AI could become so powerful that it could endanger humans?

E. What limits should be placed in an academic setting regarding the use of AI in the classroom, in your opinion?

When you are done with your Current Events Quiz #1.2, you need to finish your Student of the month story and get it turned in.

Here is how to turn in your SotM story via Google doc thru your Google Site:

Make sure you wrote your story in your AISD Google Drive.

PLEASE MAKE SURE I CAN EDIT THE DOCUMENT. I need to be able to leave you notes on your story.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SHARE IT PROPERLY SO THAT ANYONE WITH THE LINK CAN EDIT. I need to be able to leave notes on your story. DO NOT EMAIL ME THE LINK, instead when you have those done, make sure the link is a CLICKABLE link on your Google Site on a new subpage called: Student of the Month Story.

Here are some things you should check before you share it:

1. Make sure it is around 350 words. You can be a little under or even a little over, but not by much. I will check this.

2. Do you have 10-12 paragraphs (or more)? You should have at least 10 paragraphs.

3. Did you make it easy to see those paragraphs? Go back and put a space between each paragraph. See my sample below.

4. Did you put direct quotes on their own paragraph? You should have. DO NOT EMBED QUOTES, EVER!!

5. Did you think about inverted pyramid? Is the most important stuff (WHY did your friend win student of the month?) at the top? Are there additional things at the end, that might be interesting to know, but aren't crucial to the story?

6. Did you answer the 5 W's and 1 H?

7. Did you look at the multiple examples of how to format the direct quote properly? Each of them should look just like this:

"Start of the quote goes here, usually 1 sentence," title name said. "The second sentence goes here, if you have one."

Look CAREFULLY at the punctuation marks. Yours should look EXACTLY like mine.

8. Do you have 3 sources? You should have at least 1 quote from each source. Ideally you would have 2 students and 1 adult in each story. For this one, you should have your primary source (your friend in class) and 2 other sources you made up.

9. Here are a few things you probably don't know, but if you have time to fix, you should. 

A. Numbers under 10 are spelled out, numbers over 10 are not.

B. Titles are not capitalized unless they are a proper noun. For example English teacher, the English would be capitalized, but government teacher, the government would not.

C. For dates, we never use the letters th, it would just be March 4.

D. Make sure you check proper nouns. Don't use text-speak. You is you, not u. I is I not i. Use proper English spellings and punctuations. This is still an English-type class.

E. If the google doc puts a colored line under anything on your page, it is telling you that there is a problem. Red lines mean spelling, blue lines generally mean you have broken an English rule. Do not turn in anything with any lines underneath them. Fix those.

F. I should only read the first name and title for any source ONE TIME. Once you introduce them, you should use last names ONLY.

G. High school is two words, and if it is used with the school name, it is a proper noun so it should be capitalized like James Bowie High School.


Here is my sample story: Don't plagiarize my writing!!

Word count = 389, 14 paragraph

       Monday morning the Bowie administration named its October student of the month. The winner was Erica Jones and she was chosen because of her high GPA and outstanding efforts outside of the classroom, according to the committee that picked her.

    "I was so excited to win student of the month," Jones said. "It really meant a lot to me to be singled out for this award, I worked very hard last month in my classes and I volunteered 25 hours for the NHS."


    Jones maintains a 4.60 GPA and is a member of a number of extra curricular clubs at the school.


    "We named Erica the student of the month because not only is she a great student, she gives so much to the community," principal Mark Robinson said.


    Jones said that one of her favorite classes is Biotech because she is hoping to go to college at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland after graduation.


    “My dream since I entered high school was to be a doctor, but I am a little squeamish of blood,” Jones said. “So, the next best thing is to become a researcher where I can impact what kinds of drugs people take, or maybe help create the next biofuels for human use.”


    At the end of last year Jones was nominated and won a leadership role in the National Honors Society.


    "Erica was heads and shoulders above the rest of the people who were nominated," NHS sponsor and English teacher Samantha Smith said. "Her position this year is president of the club."


    In addition to NHS, Jones is also involved in the Art Club, the Magic the Gathering Club and plays ping pong during lunch with the Ping Pong Club.


    "I love to play Magic. I think the logic and deck building is so much fun," Jones said. "Plus when I need a good workout, I go smash around a ping pong ball."


    In addition to her high grades and club involvement, Jones volunteers at her church.


    "I am a pre-school teacher in bible class," Jones said. "I love to work with the little kids. I want to be a teacher in the future."


    Jones has three younger siblings, including her step-brother Ethan King, who is a freshman at Bowie.


    "I was so proud of her," King said. "She is an inspiration."


Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Student of the Month writing day. Assigned 10/2, due 10/3 - MAJOR

For the rest of the class you will be working on your Student of the Month story. You will have until Friday to complete this assignment and to write in class. This will be due on Friday, October 3 by the end of class. You will also take a current events quiz that day.

You have interviewed someone in class and you should have your questions and answers already on your Google Doc. You were also already supposed to have your additional two interviews completed, remember we made these up. Those should also be on your Google Doc. A really good way to organize these "different" interviews is to color code them. Here is an example:

SAMPLE STORY DOC

On YOUR same Google Doc, either at the top or the bottom - start writing your story. You could label it with DRAFT, or even just write the words STORY. 

For this first effort, I want you to write a straight news lead, meaning you should try to tell me who, what, where, when and maybe the beginning of why or how in that first paragraph.

This can be really simple, just answer the following questions in the first paragraph:

Who:
What:
Where:
When:
Why:
or
How:

HINT: Make sure you use full names, make sure you do the quotations correctly, make sure you follow the format, and in general each sentence will be its own paragraph.

Here is the formula we will be using to write these "NEWS" stories:

LEAD - 5W's
Direct Quote - which goes with the lede
Statement - factual information about your subject - can be an indirect quote, but should be used sparingly
Direct Quote - which goes with the statement above
Statement - factual information about your subject - can be an indirect quote, but should be used sparingly
Direct Quote - which goes with the statement above
Statement - factual information about your subject - can be an indirect quote, but should be used sparingly
Direct Quote - which goes with the statement above
Etc
Etc

Statements are FACTS. These tell us something new about your subject. You should base these "facts" on a quote you have to go with your story, as they work together. Think about the inverted pyramid. Tell me the most important reasons your person won student of the month first, and slowly add less relevant reasons.

When you do your quote, we also use a very specific style. Please not the construction of that direct quote. Notice the punctuation. The quote structure will be EXACTLY the same every single time. Look at where the quotation marks are. Look at the attribution - it always starts with a title, then a full name and finishes with SAID. Once you introduce someone the first time, you can revert to just using their last name from then on. Finally, if you end up having people with the same last name in your story, I will  go over how to do that next class.

Here is an example of a quote:

"I think Dave was a perfect choice for student of them month," history teacher James Smith said. "He works hard in class and is a leader in JROTC and those really help him be a standout."

Your story needs to be at least 350 words and should be at least 10-12 paragraphs long.

HINT: Simple and concise are the best words to think about when you are writing. Is this simple, like so your little brother who is 12 could read it and understand it. And concise; meaning are the sentences and paragraphs short and to the point. Big words are fine, but use appropriate big words. Let your VERBS shine!!

You will be assigned a club or organization to write about soon, and at that time we will talk a little more about lead writing, specifically we will shift to a "narrative" lead and will add another paragraph between the lead and the first quote. We will cover that later.

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Student of the Month interview. Assigned 9/30, due 10/2 - Minor

Student of the Month Interview:

Today you are going to practice conducting an interview and taking notes. Get out your Chromebook and open your Google Doc with your Student of the Month questions. 

DO NOT CREATE A NEW DOC!!

I will pair you up with another student and you will interview them. Then we will rotate, and they will interview you. You need to take great notes, with the answers to your questions, but.....I want you to get to know your partner because interviews really should be conversations and you should take away more information about your subject than you would normally get from just your questions alone.

Now, I know you are all very worthy of being student of the month, but you are going to have to pretend a little bit. You may even have to make some things up. Just go with it. This is practice and for a little bit of fun. So don't stress.

One thing I want you to do is to make sure you introduce your self and that you tell your interviewee that you are a member of the press. You can say you are from The Dispatch or even the Austin American Statesman, I don't care, but you need to say you are from a newspaper.

You will have 10-15 minutes for each person. When you are finished, you will have the rest of the period to write the answer to your secondary sources interviews (remember these are all made up, so you can make these up).

Next class we will review LTQT and I will show you a sample story, but you still need some additional information:

Your story will need to be around 450 words, it should be in the proper LTQT style, your attributions should be in the correct format. You will have two full classes to work on this piece. I will provide examples and I will help you individually as needed to complete this assignment. I will also be walking around during the writing process to make sure you are working in LTQT style. You get to make up almost everything you want, EXCEPT the direct quotes you get from your partner. Those should be real.

Good luck and always, always take good notes!!!


Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Student of the Month prep. Assigned 9/25, due 9/30 - Minor

You have today to make sure you are fully caught up with everything in Journalism 1.

You should have the following completed:

Funco Pop - Minor
Making a Google Site - MAJOR
About Me Slide - Minor
Current Events Quiz Practice - CE
Important People Slides - MAJOR
News Values - Minor
Media Literacy - Minor
Free Write - MAJOR
Inverted Pyramid & LTQT - Minor

It is very important that you have the assignment below completed and sent to me by the end of the period. I will print them and have them ready for you on Wednesday.

Assignment #2, SotM questions:

Imagine you are working, as a reporter, for the school newspaper and your editor gives you the assignment to interview the student of the month.

1. Make a new Google Doc. 
2. Come up with 12-20 questions you might ask that person who won student of the month
3. Think of 2 other sources you might interview for this story.
4. Come up with 5-8 questions you would ask those other sources.
5. Copy the link, MAKE SURE YOU SHARE CORRECTLY, and make that a clickable link on your Google Site on a new subpage called Student of the Month.

Next class you will be paired with someone to interview them for this fictitious award. You will ask them your questions and they will get a chance to play reporter and ask you their questions. You will record their answers on your Google Doc, and then start crafting a story about them. You will not be asked to interview additional sources, and you will be allowed to make up those other sources answers to your questions. We will talk about good Google Doc preparation next class.

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Free Write Friday. Assigned 9/19, due 9/25 - MAJOR

Today we are going to change things up a little. It's Friday. How about a free write?

Create a new Google Doc. Pick a prompt. Write. Share the Doc properly (so anyone with the link can view it) and put a clickable link on your Google Site (Using the Embed function) on a new subpage called Free Write #1. I don't need to edit this one, so you can just make it so I can VIEW it.

Here are the prompts - Pick ONE and write - lets say 400-500 words and complete the story.

There are no rules. Write a poem (or 3 - remember you need 400-500 words). Write a short story. Write an essay. Just start writing, and have fun.

Creative Writing Prompts if these help you!!

1. An alien has just abducted you. Give three reasons why it would send you back to earth and three reasons why you would beg to go with it. Explain fully each reason.

2. If you could talk to Mother Nature, what would you say and what would you talk about?

3. Do you believe in miracles? Have you or someone you know witnessed one?

4. Finish this sentence: "Life is short..."

5. How important do you think communication is in a relationship?

6. What do believe is your purpose in life?

7. Who is your rock? Why do you feel that way about them?

8. What global issues concern you?

9. How do you feel about superstitions? Do you have any?

10. Describe your perfect picnic? What's in your picnic basket?

11. If you could sit down with any outlaw or criminal (past or present), who would it be? Why? What would you ask them or talk to them about?

12. If you could boldly go where no man has gone, where would you go?

13. Create five new endings for this phrase" "Mirror, mirror on the wall" and fully develop one.

14. Describe each day of the week as food.

15. You have to give each room in your house or apartment a name. What are the names of each room, and how did you come up with those names?

16. Write a short rap song about yourself. Make sure it rhymes.

17. You are taking a lazy drive down scenic back roads. Describe your perfect car for the ride, and name the top five songs you would cruise to. Describe the location as well.

18. Name something you're afraid to try but really want to. What makes you afraid to try it?

19. If love could talk, what would it say?

20. Outline a "mission statement" for your life.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Inverted Pyramid and LTQT. Assigned 9/16, due 9/19 at the start of the period - Minor and Minor

Google Site Page 1 - Inverted Pyramid

The first thing I want you to do today is to go find a copy of the Inverted Pyramid, save the image and then created a new Google Site subpage and call it Inverted Pyramid. All you need to do is to a Google image search and find one you like. Remember this is about newspaper, more specifically hard news writing, so get something appropriate. Insert that image on your page. 

Now go and take a peek at this website and read just a little about what the inverted pyramid is all about.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/the_inverted_pyramid.html

Now make a new text box on the subpage called Inverted Pyramid and tell me in your own words why you think we would use the inverted pyramid style in a hard news story?

We are going to write our first set of stories using this story shape, meaning you will write in inverted pyramid style where the most important stuff is at the beginning and gradually tapers off. Please be aware that there are other story shapes and we will visit them in the future.

So now you know what kind of information you need to gather, it is important to learn the writing structure your stories will take. We call this formatting LTQT. Lead-transition-quote-transition.

Google Site Page 2 - LTQT

So let's go to this site and begin exploring how we are going to set up your first story. Make a new page on your site and title it LTQT. On that page, create a text box and answer the questions below.

https://www.uiltexas.org/files/academics/journalism/news-overview.pdf

First up Leads:

This are the first paragraph of your story and they are very important to grab the readers attention.

1. What are the three "good" leads to use?
2. Why are these types of leads better?

Now - direct Quotes:

3. What is a direct quote?
4. What do these quotes do?
5. What is the format of a direct quote? meaning how is it punctuated, you can just type in a quote in the correct format - steal from the presentation.
6. What is an attribution?
7. What form should it take?

Transitions:

8. What is a transition?
9. What are the three types of transitions?

Conclusion

10. Type in the checklist of 7 items you should always do when writing a news story
11. What are some pitfalls you might encounter?

Current Events quiz #1.1. Assigned 9/16, due 9/18 - CE

Current Events Quiz

Okay, let's do our first current events quiz. This one is a free one so you will all get a 100 on this one. You will have 45 minutes to work on this one today before I post new work, but usually I want you to get it done in 20-30 minutes. In general, you do not have to read every word in a story. Look for the key words, and try to find the short answer questions quickly. It shouldn't take you long, maybe 1-2 minute each to find the answer. I will rarely ask you for information at the end of any given story. 

Try to leave at least 10 minutes to read and respond to the long response question. Again, you can skim read most articles to get the idea and then give me your opinions on what you read. Most of the long response topics are BIG, meaning they are things that are currently happening in the world. Things like the war in the Ukraine, the election, the Israel/Palestine conflict, or other major issues in the news today.

You should have some ideas about these topics before you even read the article I share with you.

So here we go: I will use Google News to create this quiz. Google News is a repository of links to various news sources around the country. I will link the story I want you to read for each question I ask. For the first five questions you will need to click to that link and skim/read the story for the answer. This should be fast and painless. 

On your Google Site, please make a new subpage and title it: Current Events Practice. Answer the question below on that page. You are welcome to make multiple text boxes if that is easier, or if you want to work on just one text box, that is great. Whatever is best for you. Please be aware that if you copy and past the questions to your Google Site, it can create some formatting problems. I DO NOT NEED you to include the questions - just the answers.

Here is today's!!

1. According to the article, what were, previously, the earliest examples of mummification before the most recent finds in ancient Asia?


2. What is the sample from Mars called that scientists think might be the strongest link to potential life on that planet, according to the article below? (I am looking for a specific proper noun mentioned in the article that was collected by the Perseverance rover)


3. How many cars does Rivian expect to make at their new Georgia plant in 2028, according to the article below?


4. How much are the new "Meta Ray-Ban Display" glasses anticipated to cost, according to the article below?


5.  What was one film the actor Robert Redford starred in AND what was one film he directed according to the article below?


Long Response:

Please read the following story and respond to the questions below. Please answer the question fully and always try to answer WHY. This section is the subjective section and I will penalize you if you write one word or short phrases for answers with an open-ended question. 


A. Briefly summarize the story in a sentence or two

B. Regardless of the reason or topic, explain what you think about people being fired for social media posts?

C. Explain your feelings on this topic IF the offending post was made during working hours VERSUS the same post was made on private time. Should people be held accountable at their jobs for statements made on their own time away from work (EXPLAIN)?

D. When you learn about these kinds of things, does it impact how you use or think about social media? (EXPLAIN YOUR FEELINGS)

E. Explain your understanding of the 1st Amendment when it comes to free speech

F. How should society regulate social media use and posts made by private individuals on their own time (take into consideration that some posts might be made in private groups, or might be people being turned in by family members with opposing viewpoints)?


REMINDER - A single sentence isn't enough. I expect you to expand upon your writing. If you think you have written enough, you haven't, write more. Be sure to answer WHY you think something.

Monday, September 8, 2025

News Values. Assigned 9/11, due 9/16 - Minor

We are going to begin our exploration of journalistic writing and style  by examining the reasons a publication might choose to cover an event. Some experts have come up with a variety of reasons for this and from my experience, based on those experts research, I have come up with eight solid reasons to cover a story. Today we are going to learn about those eight, and to completely understand them, I want you to be able to pick out some stories to prove to me that you understand each reason.

Here are the reasons:

1. Timeliness - - the newness of the facts

2. Proximity - - the nearness of a given event to your place of publication

3. Prominence - - the "newsworthiness" of an individual, organization, or place.

4. Impact - - the effect of consequence of an event on the audience, or readers

5. Conflict - - the meeting of two or more opposing forces. These forces can be physical, emotional, or philosophical

6. Human Interest - - the drama that surrounds people involved in an emotional struggle

7. Novelty - - the attraction people have to unusual things and events

8. Currency - - topics that are trending in the news or on social media

Now here is your assignment:

Find eight stories that you believe are driven primarily by one of the news values listed above. You will need to copy and paste links to the stories in your Google Site. Follow the five steps listed below.

Title this Google Site subpage: News Values

1. Pick out a story you think meets one of the news values.
2. On your new subpage - type the name of that news value
3. Write a complete sentence or two explaining why you think the article is driven by that news value.
4. Type the headline of the article
5. Include a clickable link to the article's URL. To insert a clickable link on your Google Site, in the Insert pane, you will find the EMBED function, click that and paste the link. It will automatically create a text box with the link for me to see.

I will be going over these with you later in the period to make sure we are all on the same page. 

Here are some places you can start looking for stories. You are welcome to use other sources as well if you wish.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/

https://www.reuters.com/

Wall Street Journal

The above link will have "Local" stories. You can also use Google News, or search for your favorite local news organization to find stories.

I recommend:

The Austin Monitor
The Austin Chronicle
The Austin-American Statesman

Any reputable news source is fine. Soon we will be looking at Media Literacy to get a better idea of how to evaluate news sources for their validity.

Friday, September 5, 2025

Media Literacy. Assigned 9/5, due 9/9 at the end of the period - Minor

  Now on to Media Literacy

 It's time we looked at one of these charts:





Here is a direct link to the chart above. There is an interactive version. I am not vouching for the validity of this chart, but it is a starting point for a discussion on Media Literacy and Media Bias.


On your blog please complete the following tasks, using the chart above:

1. List 3 sources that are comprised of mostly original fact reporting and are as neutral as possible.
2. List 3 sources that are mostly analysis and slant liberal
3. List 3 sources that are mostly analysis and slant conservative
4. List 2 liberal and 2 conservative sources that show extreme partisan bias

So part of this discussion and its relationship to our class is how we look at our sources for The Dispatch. You can kind of look at these ideas in three distinct ways:

Opinions
Facts
Informed Opinions

Take a look at these three interpretations:

https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/_documents/academics/support/learning-centers/writing-reading-learning-ctr-rockville/student-resources-tech/fact-vs-opinion.pdf

In your own words please come up with your own definition:

5. Facts
6. Opinions
7. Informed Opinions

Okay, so hopefully you have an idea of these three concepts. Now let's apply them to picking sources.

8. Where might you find facts when writing for The Dispatch?
9. Who might provide Informed Opinions on any specific story you might write?
10. How might opinions creep into your writing?
11. What specific words could cue you in that you are writing an opinion when you self edit?

To get back to media literacy, it is also important to define what the role of the media is supposed to be in the United States. That role has been the subject of much discussion the past two years, but it is clear the founding fathers took the role of the press seriously. We only have to look at one document to determine this; the Constitution. Here is a link to the Bill of Rights:

https://www.ushistory.org/us/18a.asp

12. Which amendment specifics the rights of the press?
13. What does that amendment say directly?

Now lets look at some more modern interpretations about that role today:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11tJjkP0Xjecc4tNJLglR_twb7ysUK83CsloRkyOqKJk/edit?usp=sharing

14. In your own words - what do you think the purpose of the media/journalism is in today's world?

Of course this is a touchy subject right now, and there will be more in the future about why journalism is important to our way of life, to democracy in general. As a former journalists and someone who teaches journalism, I cannot help but being slightly biased here to say that journalists are a valuable part of our society and you have joined a program where you will be a working reporter very soon. You are part of the team now.

Finally, let's take our last look at how the media handled a specific event, the verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort from a couple of years ago. He was the former campaign manager for former President Donald Trump.

Take a peek at these four links.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-russia-manafort/former-trump-campaign-chairman-manafort-convicted-on-eight-of-18-charges-idUSKCN1L60WU

For the record the link below was the original story publish around 24 hours after the verdict was reached. It has since been pulled down by Fox News. Notice that it is the only story about the event that no longer works. Can you think of reasons why a news agency would decide to remove a story? I bet you can think of a few.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/21/jury-announces-partial-verdict-in-manafort-trial-cannot-decide-on-several-counts.html

I did some searching using the information in the URL above (Fox News August 21 Manafort verdict was the direct search I did) and found this story. It does have the correct date and it also has an updated date of August 22). I do not know what happened to the original story. Here is what I found:



https://www.npr.org/2018/08/21/640537446/paul-manafort-jury-asks-for-instructions-about-consensus-on-1-charge


15. What did you notice about the headlines of the three articles?
16. Do you think the bias of certain media outlets is evident based on what you saw?
17. Why do you think Fox news and Brietbart chose to cover other things on the front of their websites?
18. Do you think all media should treat coverage the same?
19. Is it okay from some media outlets to be slanted towards one side or the other, as long as people know it before they click on that site?
20. Is there any reason to click on a media sources that doesn't report the news the way you want?


Now that you have completed those tasks, here is how many interpreted the conservative media's coverage of the Manafort decision:

https://mashable.com/2018/08/21/fox-news-manafort-cohen-meme/#3n25G.4GOaq3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/22/how-right-wing-media-dealt-with-a-devastating-day-for-trump/

Let's leave off this discussion with one final point:

21. How do you think the media can accurately report on what is happening in our world?

More to come in the future on this topic.

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Important People in Journalism. Assigned 9/4, due 9/5 at the end of the period - Minor

  Overview: In any industry it is important to learn about the history so that you understand the present and future of the industry. To introduce you to some of this history, we will explore some of the important figures in journalism.

Directions: Select two of the journalists listed below (one woman and one man) to research and make a brief Google Slides presentation. You should find at least two sources to verify your facts (wikipedia is a good starting point, but not a great place to pull FACTS). 

Answer each of the following questions below in your presentation:
  • Slide 1: (Who) Name of subject with a photo of media figure’s face:
  • Slide 2: (When) Date when he/she lived and a picture of significant happening in that person's life. 
  • Slide 3 :(Where) Place(s) where he/she worked (What country, state did they live in?):
  • Slide 4: (For whom) Where did they work? What publication, TV or Radio Station did they work for:
  • Slide 5: (What) Things they did during career (at least 3):
  • Slide 6: (Why) Importance of work in journalism?
  • Slide 7: (How) How was career/work different or the same from others at the time?
  • Repeat slides 1-7 for the other journalist you have selected (so a total of 14 slides)
Make sure you are logged into your AISD account to create this Slide Presentation.

DO NOT SHARE THIS WITH ME AT MY EMAIL ADDRESS. Now that you have a working Google Site, you will be able to use that to turn in almost all of your work. There might be a few things I ask you to email me in the future, but almost every time you will just put links OR the actual product onto your Google Site. 

Here is how to do it for this assignment:

Make sure you change the preferences on this Presentation. To do that, you click the SHARE button in the top right corner. When the pop-up box comes up it will look like this:


Please click the drop down where it says RESTRICTED and change that to BOWIE HIGH SCHOOL:

For this assignment, just being a VIEWER is fine, but there will be assignments in the future that I will need to be made an EDITOR on. I will remind you later.

Once you change the restrictions, click the COPY LINK button on the bottom left.

Then go to your Google Site, make a new subpage and call it Important People in Journalism.

Click the Insert button in the control panel on the right. Use the EMBED function to create a clickable link on your Google Site subpage.

When you have the linked properly. Make sure you go to the top right corner and hit the BIG BLUE PUBLISH button.

You will need to push PUBLISH twice!!

Here is the list:

Women

Elizabeth Jane Cochran, her alias is "Nellie Bly"
Katie Couric
Erma Bombeck
Oriana Fallaci
Katharine Graham
Jane Pauly
Diane Sawyer
Ida Tarbell
Barbara Walters
Christiane Amanpour
Margaret Bourke-White
Joan Didion
Linda Greenhouse

Men

James Gordon Bennett
John Campbell
Walter Cronkite Jr.
Benjamin Day
Horace Greeley
William Randolph Hearst
Peter Jennings
Adolph S. Ochs
Richard F. Outcault
Joseph Pulitzer
Dan Rather
Henry J. Raymond
Noah Wenster
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
John Peter Zenger
Ed Bradley
David Brinkley

Friday, August 29, 2025

About me!! Posted 9/2 due 9/4 - Minor

 ABOUT ME!!

Create a Google slide to introduce yourself to me. I will combine slides and share on my website (and BLEND) so I can find out more about you.

Open Google Drive via the AISD portal, then create a new blank presentation.




Change the layout as necessary. (Slide>Apply Layout)
Include the first name you go by and last name initial in big letters as the slide title;
Fill the entire slide either including words and pictures to tell us about you on the slide.
Include 5- 10 facts or short phrases describing you and things that you enjoy.
Add a school appropriate photo of you (a selfie is fine) unless you make a video. (Go to Insert>Image. Take one with your phone or Chromebook, if you don't have one)
Include least 3 other images showing your likes, aspects of you you wish to share with with the class. Examples: extracurriculars, hobbies, friends, family, future plans, favorites. 

Spread your information out to fill the slide;

Format the slide so it feels like you.
Words should be easy to read and all pictures easy to see clearly.

Next, take a screenshot and save it in your desktop folder. Here is how you take a screenshot, learn it, because you will be doing it a lot this year!!

To do a screenshot - Hold down the SHIFT, COMMAND and NUMBER 4 key at the same time. This will turn your cursor into a little bullseye. You can then let go of the three keys and use your mouse to click and drag a box over what you want to take a picture of. When you finish drawing that box it will take that photo and put it either on your desktop OR in your download folder. Make sure you move it from either of those places into YOUR FOLDER on the desktop. You can then move the item to your DRIVE and from there you can put it on your Google Site.

Move it to your Google Drive.
Make a new subpage on your Google Site called About Me!
Insert the image on the subpage.
Next, go back to your Google Slide and click the SHARE button. There will be a pop-up box. In that pop-up box, look at the bottom and find the Get Link area. Find the blue words that say CHANGE. Click that word. There will be another box that opens. In the box, find the words Austin Independent School District. There is a drop down box there as indicated by the little downward facing triangle. Click that triangle and select ANYONE WITH THE LINK. It will process for a moment.
Make a copy of the link.
Go back to your Google Site, use the EMBED function in the Insert area.
Make your link a CLICKABLE link on your Google Site, under the photo.

Hit PUBLISH X2!!!

You are done for the day!!

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Syllabus - posted 8/28 - no grade assigned

 Today we are going to start by taking a look at my Syllabus. We will take about 20 minute or so to go over the major parts. I am here to answer questions for you, so if you have any, please raise your hand and let me know. I think it is very important you understand the grading criteria and expectations for this class.

Once we have finished the syllabus, you will have the rest of the period to finish your Google Site and get it shared with me. I will be letting you know throughout the period when I have yours. Once you are done with your Google Site, you can sit quietly, read a book, working on your Chromebook on work for another class, or you can use my computers and surf the internet (at least what isn't blocked by AISD).

Here is the link to my syllabus for this class: Reeves Syllabus

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Making a Google Site. Assigned 8/26, due 8/28 - MAJOR

JOURNALISM 1

Hello and welcome to Journalism 1!!

This year we will be using Google Sites to publish and post your work, notes and assignments about the topics we will be covering this year. This will serve as a portfolio and a point of reference for future uses. You already have access to Google Sites via your school Google Account.

The following video explains in a very simple fashion how to create and edit a Google Site. Feel free to revise this video on your own if you need help when working on the site. 

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AS YOU WATCH THE VIDEO. YOU NEED TO NAME THINGS SPECIFIC WAYS FOR ME, NOT WHAT SHE NAMES HER SITE (etc.)



You will have the rest of the period to get your Google Site created. There are a couple of things you will need to do, including making the site shareable outside of AISD. I will write complete, step-by-step instructions below.

1. Create your home page - use the BLANK when you push the colored + sign. You can set your background image for the head to any image you would like, including images you might have taken. If you use the Google search function, please make sure you get an image that has no copyrights. If you use one of their images, you are fine.

2. Title you page in simple fashion. Your first name, the class name and period number. For example: Michael's Digital Design Site period 1. Do not use your last name. We will make these public, but we want to keep your personal information as protected as possible. Be aware of your digital footprint.

3. Once you have a title, it's time to add some content. Follow the directions on the video to create a text box. In that first text box, please write a one to two paragraph biography (100-200 words). Again, do not use your full name, and only share what you feel comfortable with. You are under no obligation to do anything you do not feel like sharing.

4. Please use the image function to add a selfie. Make it school appropriate. You will need to figure out how to upload an image, or take one using your webcam on your computer.

5. Add a new text box. Write a paragraph (50-100 words) describing why you signed up for this class and what you hope to learn this year.

6. Add a new text box. Write a paragraph (50-100 words) describing your previous experience with digital media, even if it is just taking fun photos with your phone camera. If you were on a publication in middle school, please tell me about that.

7. Create a new page. Title this page Welcome to my site. Add a new header image. Make it a subpage of your home page. We will do this for EVERY assignment, so please figure out how to do this, the video explains it fully.

8. On this page, please upload a new image. I don't care what the image is, as long as it meets two criteria. It is school appropriate and you took it. For this image, you need to take the photo NOW. Go take a photo and share it with me. It can be anything, but you must take it right now. Do not use an old image or one that you took in the past. Show me something fun, or something unique. You may use filters if you want.

Now it is time to share your page with me. Here are the exact steps to Publishing your Google Site and sharing it with me properly.

1. Once you have your work done, remember that Google has an autosave function, so your work is saved, but we want to publish it, so I can easily see it. Look at the top of your page, there should be a set of tool bars. Find the one that looks like a person with a + sign next to their head. Click that person.

2. In the pop-up box at the bottom of the page, find the words Links vary and click the word CHANGE.

3. Find the words Austin Independent School District and use the drag down next to us to change the sharing to PUBLIC. Click DONE.

4. At the top of the page in the tool bar, find the word PUBLISH. Click that button.

5. Change the web address to: First name, DigitalDesign, period #. Example: Michael DigitalDesign 1st. It should separate the words for you.

6. Check the box that says "Request public search engines to not display my site"

7. Click PUBLISH

8. After you have PUBLISHED your site, you need to share your site with me. It's easy - find the share button and add me. Here is what the share box should look like before you hit DONE:



9. Click DONE and you should be finished. I will update you next class that I have gotten your site and I will show you where and how I will use it.

Monday, August 25, 2025

Mac Basics - posted 8/25. No grade assigned

 1. Find and set the location of the Dock – Click on Apple icon in top left corner of screen. Scroll down and click on "System Preferences". Find Desktop and Dock. In the top portion labeled DOCK, you can change the magnification and size of your Dock. You can also adjust the Minimize Window. You can also choose to hide the dock so it will only show when you move your mouse cursor to the bottom of your screen.

2. Set the speed of the mouse/cursor – Click on Apple icon in top left corner of screen. Scroll down and click on “System Preferences.” Scroll down to the very bottom of the screen - find the word Mouse and click on it. Here you can change the tracking speed (turn it up so you can move your cursor from one side of the screen to the other without having to pick up your mouse), increase your double click speed (do not make it the fastest possible please), and you can adjust your scrolling speed (generally students like it a little faster, do not increase it as high as possible). You should also UNCHECK the box that says natural scrolling. Finally, click on the button that says Might Mouse Settings. When that box opens, where the RIGHT CLICK is, use the drop down to change it to from Primary button to Secondary Button. Do not change anything else.

3. Open Chrome and save a bookmark on the Bookmarks Bar – Click on the icon in your dock for Google Chrome. Chrome will work for most applications we will be using in this class. There may be times when I specifically instruct you to use a different browser, like Safari or even Firefox, but this is rare and only for specific assignments.

4. Creating/Naming a folder – To create a folder on a Mac, use one of the following options.
1.      Keyboard shortcut (recommended) – hold “command” + “shift” and press “N” key.
2.      Click on desktop to activate “Finder.” On the menu bar, click “File” and scroll down to “New Folder.”
3.      “Right click” your mouse and click on “New Folder” in pop-up menu.

To name a folder, click ONCE on the text underneath the folder. When the text for the folder’s name becomes highlighted, you can edit the name of the folder. Or you can "right-click" and find "Rename"

5. Finding downloaded items – All downloaded files automatically are placed in the “Downloads” folder, which is located in your Dock. Click on the “Downloads” folder to see the various files that have been downloaded.

6. Viewing/Switching between applications – The current version of the Mac operating system features a “Full Screen” viewing mode for certain applications. You can tell if a program is in “Full Screen” mode if the program window completely covers your screen. You can exit full screen mode by pressing the “esc” button on the top left corner of your keyboard. I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING “FULL SCREEN” MODE for typical use in our classroom. It will cause problems and make your life miserable in this class.

Below are some tips on switching between programs on Mac.
1.      To open commonly used programs, click once on the program icon in the “Dock.”
2.      To see all of the program windows you currently have open, press “F3.”
3.      To quickly open other applications, press “F4.”
4.      To hide an active application to see the desktop or another program, press “command” + “H” key. Return to the program by clicking on its icon in the Dock.
5.      To quickly switch between open applications, press “command” + “tab.”
6.      To quickly hide all open windows, press “fn” + “F11.” Press it again to restore open windows.

7. Using the “Finder” – The Finder is what you use to navigate through folders and files on a Mac.

1.      To open a new Finder window, click on the Smile Face icon in your “Dock” or use “command” + “N” keyboard shortcut.
2.      To adjust how files are displayed, click on the buttons at the top of the window just above the file names. There are four different ways to view folders.
a.       As an icon. You can adjust the size of icons by adjusting the slider in the bottom right corner of the Finder window.
b.      As a list. 
c.       As columns.
d.      In “Cover Flow” mode, which provides an image preview of your file.
3.      Each different mode of viewing files and folders has different uses. Learn to use all four of them to effectively use the Mac. 

8. Saving Files – We save ALL documents, photos and downloads onto our desktop. Please create a folder there now with the title: firstname_lastname_DigitalMediaFiles
Anytime we create a new document, please make sure that you save it there, this will include photos, design files, etc. You are responsible for all your work, which means creating back-ups. I highly recommend you use Google Drive to back up work. Some people might even go to the extreme of saving your work folder from your desktop to a portable/thumb drive. I am not responsible for lost work.

We will also use Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, or even Forms throughout this semester. Much of your work will go directly into your Google Site, which you will create later today, but longer pieces over a period of days will be written in Google Docs and automatically saved in your Google Drive. You will be able to turn in that work as a shared file LINK. I will show you how to share properly and it is crucial you share your work correctly. Any work not shared properly cannot be graded and you will suffer point deductions appropriate to how long it takes that to be correct. Please see my blog for further information.

9. Printing – Currently I do not have a way for students to print on their own, but I am usually okay with printing things for students. You can share it with me at my school email, and then let me know and I will print what you need. I cannot print tons of stuff....so don't ask. Color is okay for a couple of things, but not pages and pages....those will need to be black and white.