1st Trimester Grades

The first trimester ends this week and grades are due in on Thursday. Here is a brief explanation of how the grades are broken down...
Teacherease is just a record of the work that you have done. It lets you know what you have turned in and how you have done on it.

I look at the grade of 1-4 that you have received.
4=A (exceeds the standards of the trimester)
3=B (meets the standards of the trimester)
2=C (approaches the standards of the trimester)
1=NC (still needs to be improved because you are still not getting something)

0=F (not enough work to make a judgement of where you are at)

Some standards addressed this trimester can be viewed at this website:
http://www.nylearns.org/standards/standard_tree.asp?StandardID=18655&lev=gradelevel

as you are considering your portfolio work for the first trimester, try to pay close attention to specific standards we've addressed

Next Independent Reading Assignment #3

the next assignment will be due on December 23rd before the Holiday Break.

1st issue - almost done

I just reviewed what we have so far and I'm missing almost the whole news section and the sports pages. Please email me the pdf files of the these pages.

On Monday, we will beginning the next issue and moving on. What we haven't finished, will be finished at lunch. By Wednesday...
Those students who didn't participate equally will be talked to.

Moving forward we will be laying out as things are finished.

As a class we will be working on feature and then investigative feature in the month of December...

However, we will be still producing a paper so the News section and all other sections will still be producing material for the paper. A few people will be shifted from the sections they are on... I will inform, so please stand by.

Once the paper actually comes out, we will be debriefing about the process. How does it look? Where were our misteps and issues? How can we do it differently next time?

finishing the paper

I am hoping that today we finish up the pages we need to complete... if not we will continue to work until we do. I will be working with the news staff today as well as with Anastasia and Erin on the staff box...

Newspaper Staff
Ms. Sackstein - teacher/advisor
Erin O'Driscoll - editor-in-chief
Anastasia Papis - editor-in-chief
Livianette Cabrera - News editor
Sarah Bianchi - Feature editor
Melissa Iachetta - Entertainment editor
Georgina Papazafiropoulos - Sports editor
Omar Abbas
Giselle Bonilla
Chris Caraballo
Tonya Castillo
Adriana Crotty
Kaitlan Cusanelli
Vinny Gatto
Andrew Jimenez
Max Llorente
Ariana Mendunjanin
Pria Nahal
Christian Quintana
Shazia Rahaman
Victor Rivera
Eirene Skocos
Jamie Torney
Eric Vasquez

Additional Staff
Raisa Balabanova - featured reporter
Avi Solkoff - layout specialist

Photography
Allred, Moses
Barry, Alexandria
Feliciano, Luis
Ganpat, Vincent C
Godette, Ladonna
Lim, So Ri
Manaloto, AnnaLee
Mencia, Yanil
Olszewski, Robin
Rubildo, Alexander
Saccente, Joseph
Sharma, Monica
Villa, Matthew
Villanueva, Haidy

Urban Voices

We are having Urban Voices on Friday...



if you have any ideas for music you'd like the class to sing, please post it to this post.



Meet in the pub lab and then we will all walk down together tomorrow.

Deadlines and reminders

Yesterday's Layout session was a success for a few of you and several of you came up to work duing lunch... THANK YOU for your dedication and hard work.

I am happy to help students learn to do their work, but I will NOT do the work for you.

Yes, Indesign is frustrating. Yes Indesign is difficult to get when you are first learning, but it will only get easier with practice. Come up to the pub lab and practice.

Monday, Independent reading assignment #2 is due (Make sure you have all 10 components) Make sure they are labeled appropriately with what you are trying to identify. Make sure you have an excerpt with the page number or numbers. Make sure you have analysis for each one.

Your first current events assignment (only 1 article) will be due when we return from Thanksgiving. Monday, December 1

All Make up work is due December 1

the marking period ends and December 5 and that is when my grades are due.

Quality Review

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Quality Review will be happening at school. There will be many people visiting your classes and asking you questions about the work we do at school.

Please come to class on time and ready to work (as you always do) on these days.

Make-up Work

All make-up work is due no later than December 1st. Prior to that date would be preferable.

Your independent reading assignment #2 is due Monday, 11/24

We will be doing the reflecting work next week -

Indesign - starting pages for Tuesday

Setting up a page
making columns
inserting text
justifying text
text wrapping
inserting pictures

Make sure to bring your thumb drives with all final versions of your articles.

Finishing the paper

Today in class, is Channel 1 and portfolio day -

The rest of the week we will be laying out the paper to make sure it is ready by Thursday...

Friday we have Urban Voices, meet in the classroom and we will walk down together.

Tuesday - get into sections and sit around 2-3 computers depending on the size of your group...
you will be working on laying out your section.
http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/indesign.html- indesign tips
http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/InDesign/5.0/help.html?content=WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6d1e.html - Layout table of contents

All of your articles should be with the group either on a thumb drive or in an email. Once on the page, you will decide on the look - I will have some ideas for you...

Play with columns - if you need pics, please ask and I will make sure you have some.

Entertainment, you may use either book covers or movie posters for yours.

Wednesday - same thing...

Thursday, you will need to save what you have done as PDF files and email them to me at mssackstein@yahoo.com

You will need to make sure that all pages that your group has laid out are proofread, and clean. Have at least 1 picture on them.
have a page number on them in the top, outside corner (even pages on the top left, odd pages on the top right).
each section should have the title of their section on the top of the page as well... I will help everyone set this up on the first page. News puts it on the second as it doesn't go on the first, just the banner.

Portfolio

Portfolios are the place where you show what you know. Being a portfoli school, we try to assess students based on the work that they do against the standards of the school. Test grades and numbers are not nearly enough. A learner must truly understand their strengths and weaknesses and work to learn techniques to improve on both to meet standards.

Portfolio is a 4 part process:

1. Collection: when you put all of your work (even work in progress) in your work in progress (WIP) folders to keep track of everything that you are doing. Examples of this can be homework, class work, labs, drafts, writing assignments and tests and quizzes
2. Selection: when we complete a trimester and you want to show your exemplary work (your best work) so show evidence of your learning. It actually demonstrates the standards you've mastered in the class.
3. Reflection: after you've completed a piece in any class, you must reflect on that assignment. What standards are you meeting or exceeding or still approaching? How can you improve or continue to excell at these standards? How can you adjust your learning to better meet the standards? How were you able to show what you know?
4. Connection: Our classes don't happen in isolation and therefore our learning can't be. We must start to make better connections between what goes on in each of our classes. How does what you learn in once class help you with what you are doing in another class? How do the skills you are learning help contribute to making you more ready for life after school? How does your learning prepare you for more than just good grades?

Reminders...

Next week we will be laying out and preparing the first issue of the paper. This is going to be an old hands on deck experience. Even if your article is not going into the issue, you are still responsible for finishing your articles, so we can chart your progress.

Remember, by Thursday, we will need to have the paper finished.

Your independent reading assignments #2 are due on Friday, 11/21. Please do not forget.

The end of the trimester is December 5th. You will be getting report cards on December 12th.

This week...

Tomorrow in class you should be working on revisions and playing with InDesign - make sure to save everything you do to your thumb/flash drives daily. Bring it to class every day.



We have very close deadlines now approaching. We will be laying out the work that we have already done. Please make sure you are sending your finished articles to me via email or you have it on your thumb drive in class ready to be laid out.

Looking ahead

Today we will be working with Urban Voices...
Next week, full steam ahead we are getting this issue of the paper together.

Election news articles are due on Monday.

We will be doing final revisions and layout all next week.

We have no school on Tuesday. Wednesday I will be on a field trip and you will be working independently in class in sections.

Reminders

Your final drafts of second articles are due tomorrow with all earlier drafts.

Your election articles will be pushed back to Monday, 11/10.

There is no school on Tuesday.

Week of 11/3

Today in class we had speeches... you needed to have your first drafts. Please continue to work on your articles all week.



on Wed. you will have a town hall meeting.



your election articles are due on Friday, 11/7



your final drafts of second articles are due on Friday as well.

Self-inventories due on Wed. 11/5