Success is in your hands

For those of you who took the survey a second time, I put a comment in your folder telling you whether your score went up or down. (If you have more than one item in your folder, I put it on the most recent one.) This does not affect your grade in the class.

The survey measures efficacy, the belief in one's ability to do something (such as writing). Efficacy is important because if you believe you can do something, you are less likely to give up when the going gets rough. Those who persevere are more likely to succeed than those who give up. Therefore, efficacy is tied to academic achievement.

This is not to say that if your score went up, you are a superstar, or if your score went down, you are a loser. The point is, practice accounts for as much as natural ability. OK, not if you want to be a professional basketball player or professional ballerina, but in terms of achievement in school. This is exciting because it puts success in the hands of the student. All of you are capable of success. All of you know this. You have seen how your reporting and writing (and photography and layout) have improved over the year.

We have two more issues left this year. Let's make them better than ever!

Please take this survey again

Journal Entry #3: Press Conference

Now that you've asked the principal a question for your story and have gotten an answer, how do you feel? Powerful? Or do you want a do-over? Did you feel like a "real" reporter? Did everyone get a chance to ask a question or did one person do all the talking while everyone else stared at their notebooks? Was asking a question of an authority figure harder or easier than you thought it would be? If this was your first press conference, was it what you expected? Why or why not? If this was not your first press conference, how did this one compare to the others? Has your opinion of the principal changed after having personal contact with her? Was your question well phrased? Did you feel she took your question seriously? What did you think of the answer? Most importantly, did you write the quote word for word and can you read your writing? If not, you better hope one of your classmates can help you out.

Please upload your entry to your folder. Everyone has a folder now.

Design Challenge: Superheroes Center Spread

Editors: Your challenge is to design a center spread with the theme of superheroes by the end of class on Tuesday. Your center spread should include: a main story (with a headline and a deck), a sidebar (accompanying story in a box or with a different color background), and a dominant visual element (photo or graphic). Below are some notes from the InDesign workshop I took this summer.
 Design Principles  
Proximity: group related items together (like an outline)  
Alignment: every element should have a visual connection  
Repetition: develops organization, strengthens unity  
Contrast: adds visual interest  
Proximity Squint and see how many times your eye stops. Follow a modular format. Create packages with a dominant element ( big photo, big headline)  
Alignment Creates a clean look. Everything should line up evenly. Left justify: the last word is flush left. First line indent: no tabs in InDesign. Headlines, decks and captions are flush left every story should have a deck (in a different font) except briefs.
 Repetition Pick 3-5 fonts and stick with them. This creates consistency. Palatino for headlines, Palatino italics for decks. Avoid Times New Roman and Helvetica. Avoid repeating elements so much that they annoy.  
Contrast To be effective, it must be strong. Type size, font, colors. Make headline sizes at least 4 points apart. Don't make everything the same size or shape. 

Web resources Newseum.org
 Newspagedesigner.org
Timharrower.com (sample page PDFs)
 Collegefrontpage.com
Lynda.com has software training.
YouTube and Adobe have free tutorials.

Journal Entry #2

For the last journal entry, I asked you to consider your thoughts toward feature writing versus news writing. Now, with the recent changes in our class (Jackie returning, Kimberly C., Kimberly L., and Cristal entering, and Daisy leaving) I'd like you to consider your place in the class. Where do you see yourself fitting in? Do you have a niche? Are you a utility player (to borrow a term from sports), one who can play any position and does what is necessary? What position would you like to play? What are your strengths? What do you need to work on? What can we do to strengthen the staff? Feel free to add anything else that you think is noteworthy. (Also, tell me if something is private; otherwise, I may share your thoughts with William and Vanessa.) Upload to your folder.