4th period!!!!!

I stitched this together from several photos, but my apologies to Jeffrey, Erick, Suzanne, Emily, and Ivy for the lack of exposure! You were blocked in all the pictures I had. Everyone else made it in, and I have to say y'all are a fine looking mob! Plenty of wit, charm and attitude to go around!

Cheers,

Mr. Lyon

Pictures!

Linda... and her posse.



Melody and Rasheda... all work and no play!



mmm... brownies.



Melody and David... leaving 221 for the last time!



Hey Alex, is that your superhero-crime-fighting look, or have you had too much coffee?

Pictures!

Alex and Emily contemplate summer (or unicorns).



It's all about the yearbooks (although Jeffrey and Suzanne look distracted).



Peeeeeeeace!


Panache... times three.





Bird's eye view of ol' room 221.

Dear class,

On the first day of the Spring semester I told you all that I expected to learn more from you than you would from me. I can say with all sincerity that my prediction came true. Yeah, I know you all learned something this semester (after all, I did read every word that you all wrote), but I can honestly say that I learned volumes. Nothing they taught me at San Francisco State University compares to what I learned from you.



I just want to thank you all for making my first teaching experience satisfying, challenging, rewarding, and (believe it or not) fun. All of you were incredibly patient with me, and I will never forget these eighteen weeks I spent with you in Room 221. I wish you all the best of luck in whatever your future brings, and yadda yadda yadda, bla bla bla, etc., etc., and so forth....



Suffice it to say: I'll miss you all.



Have fun. Live well. Learn stuff. Love much. Go out and listen to live music. Go out and see live theater. Take chances. Question authority. Be nice to old folks, though.





Oh...



...and thank you for not putting tacks on my chair, or taping a 'kick me sign' on my back, or slipping something dangerous into my lunch.





Peace,

~Mr. Lyon
(or, as most people call me out in the real world: "Jeff")

Free software!

Hey everyone-

If you want to make your newspaper look superfine, download some free software and start publishing!

1. Go to http://www.download.com/
2. Click on "Design Tools" (on the left hand side)
3. Click on "Desktop Publishing" (on the left hand side)
4. Look for "Microsoft Publisher" or "Adobe Pagemaker"
5. Download the free trial software.
6. Create a beautiful newspaper

Journalism links

Some of you may be stressing out about this assignment, so I thought I'd give you a few websites to help you sharpen your journalism skills:
http://www.ohlone.edu/people/bparks/basic_news_writing.html
This article looks long, but it's full of great info. Focus on the stuff under these headings:
The 5 'W's
News Values
The Nut Graph

For really basic journalism stuff:
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/journalism/resource/6042.html


These are nice examples of author interviews:
Amy Tan http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/12.14.95/tan-9550.html
Kurt Vonnegut http://www.progressive.org/mag_intv0603


I'll try to get more links up over the weekend!

Blog Assignment #3:

Okay...
So you're all finished with your novels, right?

Right?

Excellent!

What I want to know is:

1. What was the climax of the story? Some of you have already talked about this in class, but I want each group to come to a consensus.

2. What was the social commentary?

3. Why did you like/dislike the novel? Don't just say "I thought the story was good"... I want some opinion and thought, here! Also, I don't want you to write "it sucked" without backing up your opinion with some good, critical comments. Think of a movie review. Those reviewers never just say "it sucked"... they give evidence and details.
And... it's okay to dislike your book!

Everyone responds to all 3 questions.
(but please look at my last post!)

DUE DATES:
Original post: Thursday, 5/3 (11:59 pm)
Response: Sunday, 5/6 (11:59 pm)

Total points possible: 20