Reflection:

It was a very busy week filled with homecoming excitement, preparation, deadlines and hopefully learning.  Psychology students learned about Sigmund Freud’s impact on the 20th Century and his powerful introduction of  the existence of the unconscious to mainstream thinking.  Coupling the idea of what shaped 20th Century culture, society and history contrasted with changing technology, mores, norms and perhaps even the economy of the 21st Century inspired debate, discussion and to a degree some trepidation about what these students will be facing as adults in this new century.  As always the lessons ultimately tied into what choices the individual student has in relation to their futures.

The Intro to Journalism class as usual was broad in its lesson pursuit, from daily reading of the Longview News-Journal, discussion of breaking news, AND the pursuit of writing at higher and higher levels.  The students studied review writing tips, read examples, and worked on process rough draft writing.  Each scholastic journalist met individually with the teacher to go over two stages of their rough draft writing before turning in a completed review.  On Friday we read a movie review of a just released movie in the LNJ (from a wire story written by a San Francisco Chronicle critic) and then compared the writing, style and level of writing to a review of the same movie from a New York Times reporter.  The class then watched a preview of the movie.  The lesson construction seemed to inspire a greater level of interest in the writing process, in additon the individual attention helped those students who were struggling with their writing.

The Roughneck Yearbook staff is busy with first assignments, contest deadlines and prep for our first yearbook sale of the year which begins Monday.  The Gauger staff is busy working on wrapping up the Homecoming Gauger.  The pressure cooker of public products is definitely ratcheting up the stress and skill level of those scholastic journalists that are rising to the occasion.

Lesson Plans:

Psychology students will be able to:

~explain what the id, ego and superego are as defined by Sigmund Freud

~identify and briefly explain Freud’s three major works and their impact on mass culture as well as the field of psychology

~explain Carl Jung’s take on Freudian psychology and the break that resulted in Freud’s & Jung’s philosophies

Monday & Tuesday:  pursuit of the above through lecture, discussion & journaling

Wed.-Friday:  tie-in to Homecoming–how individuals are shaped by their environments, education and culture

 

Introduction to Journalism:

Students will be able to:

~explain the contributions of Joseph Pulitzer to American and global journalism

~explain the birth of Yellow Journalism in relation to the circulation wars of Pulitzer & Hearst

~identify historical events and reforms that the two journalists influenced (ex. Spanish-American War, muckraking results)

Monday:

Read brief bios of Pulitzer & Hearst and bullet most important points

Tuesday:

lecture & discussion of the Newsboy Strike in NYC early 20th Century (impact on labor movement, news industry etc.)

Wednesday-Friday:  film–Newsies, essay,