Midterm Grades

We spent two class periods discussing the midterm. If you don't know how you did on the midterm, it is a result of your absence and lack of immediate follow up.

In-class writing on Oct. 27th

You will receive a handout with initial filing of two parents against a school system. The system has not yet responded.

You should assume the case was filed in Oct. 27th and your 6-8 paragraph story will run on the 28th.

The story is due at the end of class and should be put in Manning Pynn’s mailbox. If the mailroom isn’t open, just ask someone at the front desk.

Manning has now taken over the class as I am on leave effective immediately. He is aware of the pitches that have been approved at denied. His email is mpynn@earthlink.net

I will be evaluating grades at the end of the semester and will be teaching PAR again in the spring.

Covering civil courts

Here is an article about civil courts with some good definitions.

Here is a link about Small Claims Courts in Florida.

Midterm reminder

Just a reminder that the midterm is today, October 15th. Good luck! There are no rescheduled exams.

On a positive note, you have a little more time before your next beat story is due.

Timelines

I recommend Dipity for making timelines. It's free and rather easy to learn. Here is a link.

Final PAR project

Final Reporting & Multi-Media Project (including multi-media)

(1) Report and write a final beat story from your community. You may use any of the P.A.R. areas: city government, schools, police, courts or budget. Your story must have at least three sources and be 600-700 words.

(2) In addition to your print story, include at least two additional story-telling elements: pictures, poll, graph, audio/video, a map, or a timeline. We will go over several of these elements in class; tutorials are also available. These additional elements should add to the storytelling and be handed in through a blog that we will developed in class. You will be evaluated on how well multi-media added to the storytelling.

Deadline: Dec. 3rd in class at the conclusion of the presentation.

An example of previous P.A.R. multi-media projects will be available through the class website.

Mapping

Maps obviously work well for stories where location is important. We went over the basics of Google maps in class. Here is a link to an overview of Google maps. Here is more help for Google maps.

Here is a link to a crime map from the Baltimore Sun.

Here is a link to a crime map from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.