Meet Mr. Thompson!

Why I Teach What I Teach: I love language and literature, and I used to teach Spanish when I lived in Mississippi- I felt pretty confident teaching it there, where I was the only semi-bilingual person for three counties- but I think I'd feel like something of a fraud teaching Spanish, which is my second language, in a state where a large percentage of the population is made up of native speakers. So it's English.
What Scares Me Most: Finding out that everything- that all of my struggles and all of my accomplishments and all of my attempts to treat the people in my life well- that it's all meaningless in the end.
What Makes Me Cry: Animal euthanasia- particularly when it's the end result of human stupidity.
What Makes Me Laugh: Flight of the Conchords.
Guilty Pleasure: Old movie musicals, specifically The Sound of Music.
Biggest Influence: My Mammaw Thompson.
Most Embarrassing Moment: When I was a kid, my dad tried everything in his power to make me an athlete, signing me up for a soccer team or a basketball team every year. I didn't mind soccer, because I could play defense and almost never see any action- I could just stare at my feet and talk to myself for minutes at a time. Then during a big game one Saturday afternoon, the other team's forward started to run straight at me out of nowhere. I was entirely unprepared, so I screamed as loudly as I was able to- it seemed like the thing to do at the time, and it brought the game to a halt for a few minutes while my coach and the referee tried to determine what was wrong with me. Honestly, I wasn't all that embarrassed by it, but my dad was- I never had to play an organized sport again.

News about News

So here we go. I've ok'd interview questions for Felipe, Char-less, Isela, Taryn, Mariela, Rajdeep, Selina, Justen, D-Rey, and Tatiana. Excellent. Now it's kind of a waiting game while we wait for staff to respond. Perhaps we shall harass them more. Those of you who have yet to turn in questions to me, no coffee for you until I see them. All right. Good.

The Carbon Copy

Selina has stepped up to bat with an e-mail to Coach Daley, and Taryn, as already mentioned, is on top of things with Ms. Catching. I have yet to receive a carbon copy of an e-mail from anyone else. I'm willing to accept this as an odd thursday the thirteenth phenomenon, but will expect everyone to work on their introductory e-mails- even if you know the staff member personally- during the first ten minutes of class today. No coffee 'til I see it. Go.

Thursday Thursday

Michelle is on the lookout for teachers who perhaps don't show a lot of obvious spirit- the idea is to balance out her article on school spirit with teachers who display their enthusiasm in different ways; maybe they're more reserved, or introverted, but this doesn't mean they don't love the school. Think of a teacher or two who fit this description and let her know.
Selina offered up an idea for a feature on alternative post-secondary options for graduating seniors, and Justen proposed his own idea of interviewing GHS alumni regarding their current life situations. What if we combined these proposals for a continuing piece featuring alumni who've chosen not to follow the traditional college route? Just a thought- any takers?
Taryn is a rock star, and has already corresponded with her contact. Today I'd like for the rest of you to follow suit. Here's what to do:

1. Decide on who your faculty contact will be. If you're having difficulty with this, ask me.

2. Send that person a brief, professional email requesting an interview- if they are staff, their email will look like this: first_last@sjusd.org
***cc all newspaper-related emails to me: john_thompson@sjusd.org This will be a part of your grade!

3. When you get the standard bounce-back email, reply to it. Your reply need not be long and complicated- this is just to verify that you are a living, breathing human being.

So this is what I'm expecting, for those of you who are confused: Continue writing entries, commenting on others' blogs, and responding to any comments you recieve from either me or your fellow reporters. You should have a minimum of 5 blog entries by the time I click through my gradebook this weekend- at least one of which should be a rough version of your assigned article. Contact your interviewee/s and ensure that I have a copy of any correspondence in my mailbox. Lastly, have fun!

I'm not gonna diss you on the internet

Good morning! Most of you are making great progress on your prospective newspaper articles, though I've yet to hear much at all from some of you (and don't think I haven't noticed your bloglessness, Francis). If blogging is simply not the thing for you, speak with me at the end of class today and we can make an arrangement in which you turn in a daily journal to me.
A few items have popped up in your posts that I don't have the expertise to address. Mariela has some leadership questions that I'm sure could find their answers from within this class, and Taryn continues in her search for new classes offered at GHS. You might also head over to Isela's comments, where we've begun a lively conversation on what does and what doesn't qualify as news. Feel free to agree or disagree with anyone and everyone.
Some housekeeping items: If I comment on your blog entry, reply to me on your comments page, not on mine- that way the whole conversation is in one place, and we don't have to bounce back and forth. Comment on my blog if you have a question or comment related to (a) my most recent entry or (b) something I haven't addressed elsewhere. And finally, though I don't know that it will ever happen, I have to be open to the possibility that these assigned blogs will be seen by one or all of my superiors, so I'd appreciate if we'd all keep that in the back of our minds. Be conscious of the language you use, proofread your posts, and try to refrain from calling your colleagues "hoes." You're all lovely. See you in class.

First Entries

The lovely Taryn has been so kind as to suggest that, as I've assigned my journalism students two blog entries, I should write a second as well. Fair enough. I like what I'm seeing from those of you (Taryn, Felipe, Mariela, Tatiana, and D-Rey) who have taken up the challenge of these blogs- a lot of good ideas, and a good understanding of the kinds of things I'll be looking for in a lead paragraph.
To the rest of you (including both editors in chief, ahem): shame.
Your grades will reflect appropriately.
A few general comments: It's great that we're commenting on each other's blogs; try to ensure that the comments you make are constructive- that is, they help the blogger to better approach his or her subject. "Good job" doesn't cut it- what has the writer done well? What questions do you still have about the subject? You should have many at this point, as we've only begun to work on our lead paragraphs. So. We have a lot of work to do. Get on board. Slackers.