The first thing we want to do today is make your top-5 choices for your second opinion story. First, take a look at these options, there are 36 of them and there are 24 of you, so there are a few extra:
1. FINE ARTS - Some fine arts classes require a massive time commitment, should there be limits on how much practice is required for those kinds of programs? You have the option of taking the stance that there are too many expectations for people in groups like Band, Silver Stars, Athletics, Theater OR that to be involved in those organizations should require a time commitment and you know what you are getting into when you join a group like that.
2. AI AND CTE - What is the world of AI doing to programs at school that are teaching those same skills to humans - should CTE sequences be adapting for the reality of what AI is doing to the tech world? You can take the stance that programs at school that have an AI influence should probably not be taught anymore OR you can take the stance that learning things the right way, even though AI might be able to do some of those same skills, is still important to developing those skills and could still lead to a job somewhere.
3. POPULAR TRENDS - Popular trends like 6-7 and paper darts are everywhere. You can take the stance that those trends are all fun and games and that they should be allowed to run their course, its kids being kids OR you can take the stance that teachers and even the school should take a firmer stance on the disruptions caused by students playing these "games".
4. RELIGION IN THE CLASSROOM - Ten commandments and/or religion in the classroom. You can take the stance that school should be completely void of religion except to learn about its influence across time in history class. There should never be a poster on the wall with the 10 commandments, or any indication of religion on a public school campus OR you could take the stance the there are all kinds of posters and symbols around us each day and that another poster with the 10 commandments isn't a big deal, maybe even that school might be a better place with more religion in the classroom. Make sure to address how different religions might be impacted by EITHER of these stances.
5. TEA AND THE STATE OF TEXAS - The state is getting involved in education more and more, they have taken over a couple of school districts in the past and are threatening to take over AISD. Take the stance that the state has way too much power and shouldn't be superseding local control (via the superintendent and the local school board which is voted upon) OR that the state has a legal and moral obligation to make sure that schools are run correctly and efficiently. Be sure to address funding, testing and local control in EITHER of the stances.
6. LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS - The state has too much power about what is happening in local classrooms. Isn’t that what local school boards are for? Examine what your local school board has done recently and write an opinion with a direct stance on how much you trust your local school board to make decisions about what happens in Bowie classrooms. Be sure to research about the recent payroll problem, the accusations about some leaders at the district level altering or even potentially hiding information about the current redistricting and school closure process, teacher hiring, etc.
7. TESTING - This topic covers two things, state mandated testing and timed tests. You can take the stance that the state should have some accountability over students success and the simplest way to do that evenly across the board is to require districts to give the same tests to all students at the same level, i.e the STAAR test. And just like that success should be measured, the only way to do that equally is to have them be timed. OR you can take the stance that the state should not use testing of students to determine their achievement level or to use it to grade teachers. Both of those things should be done via some other process like GPA, or some sort of rubric on how well teachers actually teach.
8. 189 DAYS - The state has a law that mandates how many days students should go to school each year. That number is actually based on a total number of hours in front of a teacher in a classroom. For this story you can argue that the current system is just fine, 5-days a week from 9 am to 4:30 pm with all of the associated holidays is just great OR you could take the stance that going to a 4-day school week would be better. Remember that there needs to be some sort of accounting for the number of hours, that is a state law, so how will you suggest to achieve that goal, while only having to come to school four days a week.
9. YEARLONG SCHOOL - similar to the story above, you could argue that yearlong school is actually a better solution than a 4-day school week. In yearlong school you would have three shorter "summer" breaks, and more single day holidays (many of them creating a three-day weekend), but school would run year round.
10. AMERICAN LEADERSHIP - American leadership is failing the youth of today leading to many Gen Z kids to have a feeling of hopelessness about the future. Write a story with a direct stance on how to solve this problem and offer quality solutions fixing this failure to address young people in the United States and their needs and goals.
11. DEI - Its removal across the country because of Federal leadership. Shouldn’t that be left to the states or even local communities? Write a story about DEI and how you feel about that type of programing. Take a stance on either side of the subject. Should DEI be a thing OR not. Make sure to do your research and fully explain what DEI really stands for and share you opinion about it.
12. ABSENCES AND HOMEWORK - How does the idea of homework piling up, or should students be responsible for working home when they are sick or have a doctor's appointment. Take a stance on this topic: Is school work really the responsibility of students and to fully learn about a subject, you have to do the work, which could mean doing some homework if you either need additional support to show mastery, or if you miss a day because of some reason OR is there just too much work and it needs to be reduced for the mental health needs of students. If you take the stance there is too much work, how should schools measure your knowledge of that topic to determine if you have met state standards as set by law?
13. HALLWAYS - Students make passing period difficult by not adhering to normal walking behaviors. Write a piece that talks about slow walkers, large groups blocking pathways and explain to the student body how we could better move around campus with fairly short passing periods.
I TOOK THE TIME TO WRITE OUT LONGER EXPLANTIAONS FOR THE FIRST13 OF THESE SO YOU WOULD HAVE A GOOD IDEA OF HOW I WOULD APPROACH WRITING THESE PIECES. FOR THE NEXT 20+ SUGGESTIONS, I AM NOT GOING TO GO INTO AS MUCH DEPTH, YOU WILL NEED TO THINK ABOUT THEM THE SAME WAY THOUGH AS YOU ANALYZE THESE STORIES AND WHICH ONE YOU MIGHT END UP WITH.
14. HALL MONITORS - does Bowie have enough? Do they even help? Take a stance on this topic.
15. DOUBLE FIT - would it be good to have another FIY-type class between 3rd and 4th period? Argue yes or no on this topic.
16. GIRLS SPORTS - it doesn't feel like there is much equality between the sports here at Bowie. Take a stance on this topic.
17. BLOCK SCHEDULING - Getting away from Block scheduling and going back to shorter classes - some people think this would be good for students. What do you think? Take a stance either way and explain why.
18. PAYING FOR COLLEGE - Can you think of ways that could reduce the cost of college? If so, argue that those should be established so more people can go to college. Be realistic...
19. ELECTIVES - Not enough elective options - Does Bowie have enough elective options? Take a stance either way? Something to think about: Do you know all of the elective options here?
20. HOLIDAY DECORATIONS - is it too early to see Xmas decorations the day after Halloween? Argue yes or no.
21. FOOD DELIVERY - Bowie should allow food delivery, or Bowie should not allow food delivery. Take a side and explain why you think you are right?
22. SOCIAL MEDIA - Is SM a big influence on students here at Bowie. Is that a good thing or not?
23. RACISM AT BOWIE - is there a racism problem at Bowie? Pick a side and argue your opinions.
24. "BRAIN ROT" - Write about the use of language and how it has changed over time. Take the stance that each generation has its own language and that is okay OR by creating new languages we are dumbing down the English language.
25. BURN OUT - what are some solutions to burnout and what kind of suggestions could you make to students who are feeling burnout. This one is a little harder to take a stance on, but you could just argue that you are burned out and explain why and offer some solutions that might help you.
26. BANNED BOOKS - banning books is bad OR there are some books that might be inappropriate for students and those shouldn't be in the school library (you could argue in this case, that maybe at the public library).
27. POLITICS IN THE CLASSROOM - Political issues dividing students and teachers - does this happen in school? How do you propose that teachers stay politically neutral while trying to do their jobs. Take a stance on this topic and argue one side or the other - teachers should be free to talk about politics and shouldn't be afraid of sharing what they think OR politics shouldn't be a topic that is discussed except potentially in a history or English class in limited forms.
28. RELATIONSHIPS V GRADES - should students focus on grades over relationships, or is there a way to balance them and still be successful. Pick one and make a good argument for your opinion.
29. CORE CLASSES - Are core classes preparing students for college? Take a side, yes or no?
30. LOUD CLASSROOM 0 some classes are really loud and that can impact students. What are some potential solutions to this kind of problem (this could be about other things like AC/heat, odors, or lighting or other classroom specific issues besides noise).
31. STRUGGLING STUDENTS - Not enough resources to help when struggling with school work - Bowie doesn't offer enough resources to help students who are struggling. Things to think about: Do you know all of the potential areas to get help, like peer tutoring? Are you taking advantage of FIT and getting help? Are you going to tutoring?
32. OFF CAMPUS LUNCH - All students should be able to leave campus at lunch to get food - Argue why you agree or disagree with this.
33. VANDALISM - Vandalism is a problem at Bowie. Come up with some potential solutions and argue why they would help.
34. JANITORS - Janitors and how they are disrespected by students daily. Come up with some solutions to address the fact that students are messy, and don't seem to care about the surroundings at Bowie, which means janitors have to clean up everywhere.
35. MURALS - TxDOT is removing rainbow cross walks and other murals on the streets of Austin. Take a stance on this, should there be no signage on streets, or are they just finding was to continue to spread hate toward marginalized groups or organizations.
36. LUNCH - Lunch period should be a choice like other classes. Argue why you agree or disagree with this topic.
To the right of your name, type the story title you would like in order from 1 to 5. I have bolded the story titles above, to make your life easier. Later this period, you will get your assignment and will start writing today and through next class.
IF you have another idea that you would prefer to write about, come see me. I am open to shifting you to something else as long as I can find a local connection and I feel like it is a worthy story idea.
When you are done with this assignment, move on to one of the following things:
1. Ethics in the Media (make sure you are done)
2. Opinion Writing Preview (make sure you are done)
3. CE #2.1 (make sure you are done)
4. Opinion Story #1 (this should be done by now)
5. Need to go do an interview for your Club Story (now is the time)
6. Start writing Opinion Story #2 (this will be due at the end of the period on Thursday, Nov. 13)
7. HOMEWORK - Make sure you are working on your Club Story. Today is a check point, and I will be grading for the following:
1.) I don't see links from: Ethan, Jake, Myka or Dax
b.) You have sources and questions written
c.) You have AT LEAST ONE INTERVIEW COMPLETED AND TYPED IN
d.) You have an outline OR you have started writing the story (minimum 250 words)
e.) Here is a link to LTQT style to help you: LTQT
f.) There will be another check point on Tuesday, Nov. 11 and I expect you to be almost done with the story that day. The FINAL DEADLINE for these Club Stories will be Friday, Nov. 14 (which is an A-day, but it needs to be done before you leave for the weekend).
Opinion Story #2
I will assign your Opinion Story #2 today. here is the information for that piece - you will have time today and on Friday to write this piece. Next week we will focus on your News/Club story, but there will be time to work on Opinion Story #2 then as well.
Today you will start writing your second opinion story. Last time, you choose from a small group of options for your first attempt. This time, almost all of you have your own story. No one else will write the same piece. We will publish some of the ones you wrote before, and all of these will be published if they meet our standards. This is due by the end of class on Thursday, Nov. 13.
1. First make a new Google Doc and title it the name of your story.
2. Share the link, make sure it is set correctly: ANYONE WITH THE LINK CAN EDIT. Copy that link.
3. Paste it in the Google Sheet in the proper location. Make sure it is SHARED PROPERLY. And then go to your Google Site and make a new subpage called Opinion Story #2 and put it in there using the EMBED option to make it a clickable link.
4. Write a headline - let's say 5-10 words. It should be a complete sentence, but it shouldn't have a closing punctuation. Make sure it has a noun and verb. If you want to wait until the end to write this that is fine.
5. Outline your story in the following manner:
Paragraph 1 - a brief summary of the topic
Paragraph 2 - your direct stance on the topic
Paragraph 3 - an explanation of your stance
Paragraph 4 - one reason you think your stance is right
Paragraph 5 - another reason you think your stance is right
Paragraph 6 - a final reason you think your stance is right
OPTIONAL - paragraph 7 - another reason you think your stance is right
OPTIONAL - paragraph 8 - another reason you think your stance is right
Paragraph 7/8/9 - address the other side, either concede something that their side might have right OR pick out something that someone from that side might argue that you disagree with
Paragraph 8/9/10 - come up with a solution
OPTIONAL - paragraph 9/10/11 - another solution, or the continuation of the solution above
Paragraph 10/11/12 - restate your stance in different words than you used in paragraph 2
6. Your story should be between 375 - 475 words. Do not go over or be under that count.
7. Please turn this piece in using Times New Roman, size 12, regular - you may write in whatever font and size you want, but at the end, fix your entire piece to this standard
8. Please use indents and create a line break between paragraphs, you should have 8-12 paragraphs total
9. You may need to do some research about your topic, and you are welcome to use information you gather from your research. Make sure you CITE those sources if you use their information or words. For example you might find statistics that relate to your story. You must cite who collected those stats. This can be very simple: According to a study by researchers at Stanford University, 85% of students who get 10 hours of sleep have higher grades than those who don't.
10. There should be NO QUOTES in your story. This may mean that when you cite other sources you will need to convert that into a statement without quotation marks.
11. You may write in 1st person, but you can also write these in 2nd or even 3rd person.
12. Avoid repeating yourself. Your reasoning needs to be distinct and different in each paragraph.
13. Do not veer from your stance. Be firm and definitive. Give your opinion, defend your opinion with your reasoning, and come up with solutions to the problem.
14. You have 2+ classes to write this piece
