2/28/11

For reading time today, you have 5 minutes to research the Jonesboro shootings. What happened? Who did it? Why? What type of angle would you do for the story?
Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden. Killed 5 kids, injured 9 kids and 1 teacher. The shooters were very young. Golden pulled the fire alarm so the children would be outside, leading to an ambush. The shooters were planning to run away after this, but were caught.

We will continue taking notes on Writing a Story.

You should be thinking about a topic and an angle for your story. You will post it to your blog. You will also begin collecting data.

You should be able to summarize your story in three words: children gun crying

2/23/11

For today's reading you will be assigned one of the following articles to read and SHARE with your group.

2. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/12/us-student-inte/

Answer the following questions:

Which court standard did someone follow or break in your article? The Tinker Standard
Do you agree with the decisions in your article? I think they shouldn't have suspended the girl. There werent any threats
What do you feel should have been done in this instance? They should have just asked her to delete the group
What do you feel will be the future of rights in today's digital age? The rights will stay the same. not be limited
What rights do you have inside of school? limited speech
What rights do you have outside of school? freedom of speech

2/22/11

For Reading today: New York Times


We will take notes on Broadcast Journalism Law/Ethics

1. What are the 5 freedoms of the 1st amendment?
religion, speech, press, assembly, petition

2. What is the Tinker Standard?
Student speech cannot be censored as long as it does not materially disrupt class work or involve substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others

3. What is the Frasier Standard?
can censor vulgar or indecent speech

4. What is the Hazelwood Standard?
censorship of student expression is permissable if it interferes with a legitimate teaching concern

5. What is the Frederick Standard?


6. What is the definition of libel?

2/18/11

My score was 12 out of 30. I was surprised at getting a lower score. I think I'll retake it. The law is so complicated, so some answers seemed correct. It wasn't just a concern of common sense, but making difficult decisions.

2/17/11

16 to 20: Well the good news is that you don't need to pass a test or obtain a license to use the First Amendment. Still, we hope you'll spend a bit more time looking into the First Amendment's essential freedoms and how they apply. C'mon -- it's only 45 words!

I got 20 out of 30. Some of the questions were tough, but most were a no brainer. The difficult questions had to do with school policy. I was surprised to find out that schools can not limit speech. This includes harassing someone for their gender/ethnicity/beliefs, etc...

'Bieber Fever' Is a Symptom of What Ails the Music Industry

I think it's just so annoying when teenage girls send death threats to artists just because they beat Justin Beiber. The girls have to understand that sometimes the person that they think will win something, will not. But that stuff just happens. And girls who are sending death threats to celebrities that they think are in a romantic relationship with Beiber? Grow up. You aren't ever going to go out with Justin Beiber, so don't take offense. The reason he didn't get a grammy was because he is NOT a good artist.

Stomp Box Shoes

Asbestos concerns close schools in St. Louis Park

St. Louis Park Junior and Senior High are closed for an indefinite amount of time after their floor tiles were revealed to contain asbestos, a dangerous substance. Teachers will work from computer, and all activities are cancelled. I'm just glad that they caught this in time. If teachers and janitors paid no attention to the tiles and weren't cautionary, St. Louis Park may have had some sick/ dead kids on their hands. And it's good that the schools are working on getting this fixed ASAP, instead of doing nothing because it costs too much money. Good for them.

2/10/11

Marshall man to face life sentence for abducting, assaulting newspaper carrier in Fairfax

Matthew Fahey will face a mandatory life sentence after being found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl. I'm glad that they gave him a life sentence. Sexual molestation is the worst crime. The victim will be scarred for life, and it ruined her childhood. Molesters should be put away for life, but not  killed. I'm against execution.

Mother of girl abducted in ’87: ‘It’s like we’re strangers’

READING TIME:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41472141/ns/today-today_people/

Joy White was recently reunited with her lost daughter, Carlina, after being apart for 23 years. Carlina had doubts that that the woman who kidnapped her was her actual mother. Carlina looked on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website, and found her baby photo. Carlina was kidnapped as a baby when her mother brought her to the hospital for a fever. She was cared for by a woman who seemed like a nurse, but then she disappeared. After the initial joy of finding each other, the happiness was short lived. The family says they don't even know each other and it hurts not having a relationship.

This article was a buzzkill, but it's also pretty realistic. People would be thrilled at first if they were reunited after 20 years. But after a while, they would realize how different each other is. There would be all kinds of strains and it would be very difficult just to start a relationship with someone you never knew. And the daughter must have a bigger connection with her fake family than her real family, because those are the only people she really knows.

2/8/11

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

2/8/11

For Today's Reading:

http://www.foxnews.com/

Read and respond.
GOOGLE EXECUTIVE HAILED AS A HERO BY PROTESTERS IN EGYPT

 

I thought this article was pretty inspiring. Wael Ghonim was released from a detention facilty in Egypt monday night. Wael Ghonim is a Google Inc. executive who made a group on facebook which brought together thousands of people for the antigovernment protests that have been going on for 3 weeks. I thought it was cool that an important businessman saw that something was wrong, and created a group to bring people together for a good cause. He knew there would be consequences anyway, but he still helped people out. Viva la revolution!

TODAY:

1. Finish Ad discussion
2. Photoshop touch up

3Today we will learn the basics of Photoshop.

Photoshop Day 1

1. Create new project (size and resolution).
2. Interface overview. Drop down menus and shortcuts. File, Edit, Image, Layer, Select, Filter, View, Windows.
3. Tool bar window (hidden tabs).
4. Basic Painting and Erasing, Pencil, Eyedropper, Fill Bucket.
5. Open image, Copy and Paste (multiple images). Introduction to layers.
6. Selection. Area, Lasso, Magic Wand.
7. Zoom and Pan.



CREATE AN ADVERTISEMENT ASSIGNMENT

Assignment: Come up with the concept for a product you think the world needs. It can be as logical as a new cereal with banana flakes in it or as far-fetched as golf balls that glow in the dark. Then do the following:

1. Design a logo for the company that will sell this product. If you aren’t a natural artist, you will be better off designing something that is easily reproduced — something with simple circles or lines.

2. Create an advertisement for the print media (either newspaper or magazine) as follows:

Create a color magazine ad of an appropriate size (11"h x 8"w) that includes the product.

You will post these ads to your blogs and present them to the rest of the class next week. You will describe the ad, talk about the target audience, and describe what type of magazine you would use for advertising your product.

Super Bowl Notes

We will watch Super Bowl commercials today in class.

What is the company?
Chrysler
Who is the target audience:
20-40, working class, males from Detroit
What persuasive method used (humor, action, celebrity, human interest, etc.)? celebrity

How were camera shots and editing used to enhance the message?
It showed close up landmarks of Detroit and showed hard work
What is the slogan/message for the company?
"This is our city, and this is what we do. Imported from Detroit."
Was the message effective? Why or why not?
I thought it was effective, because it put the working class in a positive light

Super Bowl Ad response

According to avclub.com, many of the commercials went worse than expected. The commercials are too "vulgar", "profane", and "sexist". My reply to this writer is: so what? These commercials were made for the Superbowl, which is seen largely by men. When they're watching the superbowl, they're having a good time. Guys aren't having a serious conversation about political issues. They're enjoying the game. And since the Superbowl is made for men, the commercials must be made for men. During this time, guys don't want to watch serious commercials, they want funny commercials. They want commercials they can show their friends, and they can all share a good laugh. No one is always P.C., and my advice to these critics is that if you want to discuss socially correct and serious commercials, watch commercials that air during the President's Address.

Robert Downey, Jr. Drops Out Of "Oz"

Robert Downey, Jr. was originally the protagonist in Sam Raimi's upcoming film "Oz: The Great And Powerful". However, Downey has dropped out of the project. Disney Pictures is now hoping Johnny Depp will take Downey's place. Depp has yet to report whether or not he will accept the role. "Oz" focuses on an illusionist who gets swept into Oz while on a hot air balloon. If Depp acepts, Disney is planning on starting production this year.

I was disappointed by reading this. Johnny Depp is a good actor, but he seems to be an overrated actor in the 21st century. I would have loved to see Downey in a production related to The Wizard of Oz. Maybe he declined because he's working on an Iron Man 3. I think Downey is underrated, and trumps Depp any day.

Quiz

Allen, Lucas H- knows how to swing dance
Blanchard, Derek J-cheerleader, born in australia
Boese, Sara M-75% german
Brazelton, Keely R-32 siblings
Buchanan, Tiarra S- wants to be chowder
Carlson, Devony R- in a children's hospital commercial
Cordova, Christian J-wants to be a forensic scientist
Cox, Derrick D-vehicle class rosemount high school
Devries, Peter T-genius
Erickson, Nathaniel P- hole in one
Felker, Marisa L-will be a foreign exchange student
Fraki, Hannah R- knows how to knit
Groskreutz, Jackson H
Jones, Nadia S-9 siblings
Kading, Caroline E-almost died from a car accident
Kane, William M-goes by middle name
Lafontaine, Kristin D-hyper extended spine
Lesch, John R- plays bagpipes
Mcgroarty, Cody J- world champion cheerleading team from alabama
Mitchell, Alexander C-irish and scottish
Morrissey, Gretta E-can cross one eye at a time and whistle with hand in mouth
Pelant, Benjamin M-diabetes
Rasugu, Billy P-writes music
Reagles, Alex J-hardcore snowboarder
Rosario, Brian L- U.S. marine corps and state patrol
Schiebel, Derek M- went to cooperstown for a baseball tournament
Schlotfeldt, Katherine A-has volcanic rock in knee
Smith, Madison B-can twist hand all the way
Strusz, Ashley E- on tv for dance recital
Sytchev, Vladislav- went from russia to canada to usa
Thompson, Collin P-twin
Wangler, Matthew J- broke nose from basketball
White, Hannah Y-lived in redwood city, california
Wunderlich, Benjamin D- born in chicago on hottest day of the year
Zemien, Brianna J - 100% polish

Beavis & Butt-Head Return to MTV

This article got me very, very pumped. I'm just getting in to Beavis & Butt-Head, but that doesn't mean I'm not a die-hard fan. After an 11 year hiatus, Mike Judge is finally making more B&B episodes to fans' delight, and hopefully the duo stay true to their roots and continue watching rock and heavy metal videos. This return isn't without at least one disappointment, however. Justin Bieber is reported as being a fan of B&B, which poses the question; does Justin Bieber ruin everything sacred in life?