Opinion story #2 Top-5 choices, FINISH Opinion Story #1 - assigned 10/29, due 10/29 - Minor and MAJOR

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 27 of you, so there are a number options to choose from. I will do my best to get you one of your first 5 choices, but if you see a lot of people asking for the same stories on the sheet, find another one please.

1. CELL PHONES - The state of Texas passed a law last year which bans cell phones at school. Students are allowed to have them on campus, but cannot have them out during instructional time, which is considered from the start of school until the dismissal bell. Take a stance on this policy: the policy is fine and it does make learning easier when you phone is not always accessible OR the policy is absurd and you think it should be changed. Make sure you provide support for your reasoning either way. If you are against the phone policy, make sure to provide a solution to students being off tasks when looking at their phones. You can also explain how phones might be used to facilitate the learning process.
2. SPORTS - Are high school sports being given too much priority over academics in American society. A recent article in the New York Times uncovered lots of information about how much money goes in to high school sports ($40 billion a year) and the report cites sources that describe the disproportionate amount of funding relative to academic classes. Take a stance on this topic. You should search out that story to see what it has to say. Are high school sports too important to remove or are they costing America too much money for very little gain.
3. TRAFFIC - Traffic is a big problem around Bowie, maybe more than just at the start of the day and at dismissal. Describe the problems and then provide solutions for how traffic might be lessened. Make sure to directly state your most powerful solution and why it is so important to make the change you are suggesting.
4. SLEEP - Sleep is so important, and studies have shown that high school kids don’t get enough. For this story make sure to address when students may not get enough sleep. Then provide solutions for how a lack of sleep might be made better. Make sure to directly state your most powerful solution and why it is so important to make the change you are suggesting.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. SCHOOL START TIMES - Many students who go to Bowie High can say that they are regularly exhausted after school days, sports, and band practices. Along with riding the bus/attending practices/extracurriculars, students spend seven and a half hours at school on normal school days. Starting school at 9 a.m. does not help this already long day, as the 'late start' stretches the end of the day to 4:30 p.m. This is far too late and should be remedied immediately by starting school at 8 a.m. so students can get home with more time to get things done.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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?

I TOOK THE TIME TO WRITE OUT LONGER EXPLANATIONS FOR THE FIRST 13 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. 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.
15. OFF CAMPUS LUNCH - All students should be able to leave campus at lunch to get food - Argue why you agree or disagree with this.
16. LUNCH - Lunch period should be a choice like other classes. Argue why you agree or disagree with this topic. 
17. 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.
18. 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?
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. DRUG USE - Drug use is increasing, here is the solution.
23. VAPING - Vaping is a big problem at Bowie. Explain the situation and take a stance on the punishments for vaping. Are they too severe or not enough? Explain the impact of vaping at Bowie. Make sure to offer solutions to the vaping problem.
24. 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.
25. OFF CAMPUS LUNCH - All students should be able to leave campus at lunch to get food - Argue why you agree or disagree with this.
26. BATHROOMS - Bathrooms and bathroom passes are a big issue at Bowie. Craft an opinion piece that explains the problems you see with bathrooms. You can address things like cleanliness, availability of things like bathroom products (TP, soap, paper towels, etc.), how other students behave in the bathroom (vaping, bullying, fights, etc), and how that impacts you. Make sure you provide solution(s) on what could be done to change this situation.
27. GIRLS SPORTS - it doesn't feel like there is much equality between the sports here at Bowie. Take a stance on this topic.
28. 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…
29. 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? 
30. 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?
31. RACISM AT BOWIE - is there a racism problem at Bowie? Pick a side and argue your opinions.
32. "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.
33. 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).
34. 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.
35. CORE CLASSES - Are core classes preparing students for college? Take a side, yes or no?
36. 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.

Pick out 5 of these that you find interesting. 

Then click here: Opinion story #2 Choices

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. Next week you will get your assignment and will have two classes to write this story. 

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 have selected your top-5 choices - keep writing Opinion Story #1. It is due at the end of the period and will go on this progress report.