Welcome Back, Class of 2023!

 Welcome back, class of 2023! I hope you all had a restful summer.

This year is partly devoted to media studies (mass communication) and journalism (non-fiction writing). What you learn here can help you improve your writing skills, give you an opportunity to examine national and international issues, improve your use of conflict and characters in your plots, play and experiment with media (blogs, television, radio & film scripts, podcasts, magazines, comic books, video games, photography, etc.) as well as make you a better critical thinker. Primarily, this course will hone and continue to develop your writer's craft and your writer's voice. The other half of your year (with Ms. Gamzon) will focus on the craft of writing with an in-depth look at how to write effective poetry, fiction, and plays.

Anyway, after checking in with you and our classmates, we'll review our course criteria and work on a writer's "manifesto" (I'll collect these by end of day Wednesday).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Check your student email daily! If I (or other teachers) contact you, it will likely be through email when we are not scheduled for class.

Check your Google Classroom! All assignments (required work) and helpful resources will be posted there with due dates, directions, and feedback.

Check this blog each class period for agendas, deadlines, educational information, advice, and a whole lot of links to enhance your education. You can sign up for email alerts when I post new material.

This blog is a resource for your learning. All you have to do is read and click. Homework assignments and helpful guides or suggestions on how to proceed or succeed on a task will be available here as well as on our Google Classroom site. (See links on this page for connections to Google Classroom, my district website, and the Creative Writing Department website).

You are responsible for reading and interacting with the material I post on Google Classroom and the blog. Please make sure you download and save the course-specific textbooks available in the resources on Google Classroom. You can even access these materials on your cell phones.

Make sure that when you are in class using a Chromebook that you do the following EACH DAY:

• Log in. Make sure you are using Google Chrome. 
• Open a TAB and go to our classroom BLOG: https://sotamediastudies.blogspot.com
• Open a SECOND TAB and go to GOOGLE CLASSROOM: https://classroom.google.com, etc.
• Keep both TABS open during class or as instructed. It's also a good idea to open a THIRD TAB in Google to take class notes (or write class notes by hand if you prefer...)  
• Zoom links for classes will be posted on Google Classroom.
• Please ask your parent/guardian to accept my invitation to Google Classroom. I will be sending announcements and reminders to them through that system (usually 1/week).  

If you're absent or missed something in class, please check the Google Classroom or blog to get caught up. As indicated above, each new class period usually includes a new post. If you have a question about an assignment and are too embarrassed to speak to me in public (or you have a question that you think you will forget to ask), feel free to use the comment section. Be aware comments are meant for help or questions, not to communicate with friends and peers. It is your responsibility to talk to me about your needs. This is your education. Make it worthwhile.

On our link page and in Google Classroom, you will also find some useful tools for this course. During the course, I will direct your attention to these tools for your use in this class and for use in The Craft of Writing.

Today, after learning about the course and responding in class, let's begin with a writing exercise. This will be due Wednesday, September 16 by the end of the day. 

HOMEWORK: Complete your baseline essay. Read chapter one, part one: Mass Media, pg. 3-15 and answer the questions as directed in our Google Classroom. Submit your answers in Google classroom when complete.