Daily Blog 12/28/18

     Goals In Podcasting

     During today's class, we looked at the "Goals IN podcasts" PowerPoint on google classroom and discussed each goal within our groups, then shared them with the class. The first goal we covered was preparedness and research gathered ahead of time. In the podcast episode I listened to, Music, Movies, And Music In Movies, the people in it came prepared before they went on air because one of them brought up Billboard's article, 50 Best Songs From Movies, and they referenced other films with important musical scores. The second goal we talked about in class, was being able to hold calm conversations with a clear intent. My podcast consisted of a small group of friends who each took turns talking in a civil manner and stayed on the topic of music in media for the remainder of the podcast. The next two goals we talked about were being able ask and reply to questions and different viewpoints with research to either agree or disagree and help to promote the conversation further. In the podcast I listened to, after a person mentioned a film with an influential soundtrack, someone else would comment and give their opinions on it. The final slide we covered in class was about the goal of including diverse media as evidence to support our points and strengthen our ethos. My podcast continued to reference songs mentioned in the article by Billboard and other members of the podcast talked about other movies and television shows with a notable score. Tomorrow we will probably continue talking about the PowerPoint and giving examples of where these goals were accomplished in a number of podcasts. We might also finish working on our PowerPoint slide of our podcasts because we did not have time to get to them today.
     What we learned today in class can be related to the world at large because these nine goals for a podcast can also be applied to any situation involving communication between people. One example of this is the workplace and meetings, since corporation between members of a team/division is essential to finishing projects and improving ideas. Every member needs to review papers or PowerPoint slides to educate themselves on the topic being discussed and their role in the conversation. Additional research should also be conducted for use of evidence or statistics, and show other companies and clients the preparedness of reliability of the company. It is essential that everyone at the table is polite and considerate of other peoples' suggestions because they are not only in a work environment, but also surrounded by others. Members of the group need to be able to bounce ideas off of each other and critique each other to insure the best results possible. In addition to meetings, these goals for podcasting can also be used for other activities like sports teams or students and teachers.

Daily Log Blog 2/28/18

Our class started off today with Mr.Rivers going over the structure, content, conventions of podcasts. We went over what specifically is content, structure and conventions. Conventions are patterns across texts and the structure is how narratives are shaped, and content is what stuff is in the narrative. Mr.Rivers gave us a tip on how we can make our groups podcasts more effective such as using verbs and questions to keep the conversations going while in the podcast. Another way to keep the conversation moving and fresh are to move onto another topic every three minutes. We then moved onto the slide show that we were working on yesterday. We talked about the specific goals of podcasts and then brought it back to our groups and talked about where we saw these specific goals in our podcasts that we listened to yesterday. We talked about specific examples that we can find in our podcast that we listened to yesterday and applied them to the goals. In my podcast that I listened to was Gastropod The Scoop on Ice Cream they brought in a specific scientist who investigated why brain freeze happened. It happens because when the cold hits a certain artery in the back of your throat it sends a signal to your brain to transfers more blood to a certain part of your head causing a headache (brain freeze). That topic would deepen the investigation in the podcast because it brings in a lot of information to form one complete question and in turn helps further the conversation within the podcast. To connect today's class to the outside world, regular conversations that we all have everyday can be an example. When having regular conversations people want to constantly keep the conversation going and not have awkward silence in between sentences so people will bring in related but not the same ideas to keep the conversation flowing.

Daily Blog: February 28, 2018-Emily Irwin

Today in class, we reflected on the podcasts that we individually listened to in class yesterday.

As a class, we read and discussed the goals on each slide one-by-one before discussing how

our individual podcasts accomplished these goals with our tables. Then, after reflecting with

our tables, we reconveened as a class and Mr. Rivers put some class examples on the board

for each slide. Through this activity, we also saw how some of the podcasts only accomplish

parts of some of the goals, while others may cover all aspects of each goal. Furthermore, we

also saw how some of the evidence that can be used to support each goal may overlap into

others.

Example:

I listened to a Stuff You Should Know podcast titled, “Are Feral Children Real?”. This

podcast was a 45 minute segment in which two men discussed and questioned cases of

feral children that have been present throughout history and have occurred all over the world.

The first goal on our slideshow was:

Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly

draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic

or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

The hosts of my podcast were very well versed in the topic and introduced a number of cases

that took place from the 1700s-present day and occurred in a variety of places, such as Ukraine,

China, Russia, Belgium, and England. Furthermore, while telling the stories of each of the

individuals, they had an academic conversation regarding each of the children's past and

other possible psychological effects that could have affected their behaviors. They brought

up ideas regarding of nature vs. nurture, critical periods in children, behaviorism, and

abandonment. With these other ideas in mind, the two men were able to question the validity

of each case without explicitly answering the question if feral children were real or not--

leaving the audience to answer the questions for themselves.

This concept relates to self evaluation as we go through the revision process when writing

papers. When we read over our papers, we should not only be focused on grammatical

issues and sentence structure. We should be actively evaluating if we answered all parts of

the prompt, read the directions correctly, and reached all of the goals that we set out to

before we began writing. After determining if the goals were met, we should then assess

how/when they were met and if we can improve and expand on what is already written

to maximize the effect they will have on our targeted audience. This process will help us

produce the best possible product that sparks further academic conversation.

Be Real: Greenhouse Academy

Recently I needed a new show to watch on Netflix.  I found Greenhouse Academy and it looked interesting, so I said to myself why not give it a shot and if I end up hating it I turn it off and find something else.  This TV series is an original from Netflix.  There are two series and the episodes are short which is really nice in some cases.  The show is addicting and leaves you on a cliffhanger at the end of the episode making you want to watch more.  To give you an overview of the show it is about a family that the mother is going in a space shuttle into space, but the shuttle is blown up. The family takes this hard and the two children Alex and Haley end up getting into the Greenhouse school which is where their mom studied.  At the Greenhouse there are two teams the Ravens and the Eagles.   Haley is on the Ravens and Alex is on the Eagles.  Throughout the series we know more than the characters do, but as it goes on the characters start to find out what we know.  During the show there are relationships that form, ones that fall apart, and friendships made.  When clicking on the overview of the show on Netflix it says that it is from ages 11-12.  The show can be watched by 11 and 12 year old's but personally I feel that that teenagers that are 18 could watch this show.  Giora Chamizer the director did such an amazing job with the show.  The lighting during scenes and the cuts and musics where just as they were supposed to be.  The theme throughout this was even if you are on opposing teams that doesn't mean you can't come together.  This theme is show so much more toward the second season when Haley and Daniel come together to figure out what is going on.  To give you a little incite on what is going on Daniel's girlfriend was hypnotized and Haley and Daniel realized it so they needed to dehypnotize her.  While trying to find out how to dehypnotize her Haley and Daniel found out so much more and it involved Daniel's mother and Haley's mother.  A couple other characters also got involved in the process, but everything was a secret.  The characters that were also involved also couldn't trust anyone.  One thing that I hope is that more seasons are made.  With there only being two seasons and the episodes being short it does not take long to get through the entire show.  The ending was good and well put together, but I wish there was more.  If you are into drama/romance/science this show is something I suggest you watch.  Science is brought in but it is not all about science and how it works.  Overall this show is good,good.  If you watch Greenhouse Academy and are looking for other shows and movies similar to it here are some to check out: (they might not exactly be the same with having science in them)
Coin Heist
Lost and Found Music Studios 
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Backstage   

Daily blog - 2/27/18

Hello class, unfortunately, Mr.Rivers was absent today, and everyone was devastated. Despite the sorrow,  many were able to get solid work done and learning more about podcasts; looking at the different styles and approaches other podcasts take when recording. It is important to have something that makes your podcast stand out to people, a reason for others to take time out of their day and watch your podcast. I personally watched the Be Reel podcast on the movie Get Out by Jordan Peele, and I found it to be very interesting. You could tell both of the caster's were really into the movie, as well as topics brought up about it. They hit a common question from the audience of whether or not the movie is politically correct, and had a very interesting debate over the subject. I personally would recommend listening in on this podcast as I think many in the classroom would find it interesting. It opens so many different point of views, and showed me different ways to think of events that happened in the film. Moving forward, you can learn a lot by listening to podcasts and get inspiration for how you would like to do your own from podcasts you like or listened to today. Additionally, you could even learn about movies you haven't watched before and potentially podcast on those, forming your own opinions as you watch the movie. Despite Mr. Rivers absence today, I think many were able to be very productive and it will greatly help us improve our podcast quality when we begin recording and forming opinions on the movies we watch.

Daily Blog: 2/27/18

Today in class, Mr.Rivers was unfortunately absent. However, he left work for us to complete in class. Our task was to listen to a podcast. Just any podcast. But instead of just listening for enjoyment, we had to listen with the intent to evaluate the content.

This is what Mr.Rivers put on classroom: Use today to LISTEN to a podcast and examine where we see those goals! Some of you may already listen to podcasts in your free time, and so you may pursue one that you've listened to before. Those who are looking for something new should consider how a quick Google search might put you in the direction of a podcast that fits your interest. Listening on your phone? Check out the podcasts app on iPhone or Google Play. Listening online? Places like www.stitcher.com allow you to stream your podcasts from the computer as well!

A few notes:
A) Today's podcast doesn't need to be about FILM! The goal here is to examine those skills/goals that we looked at yesterday
B) You should focus on listening to your podcast (and searching for those skills), but don't feel like you need to stare at the audio bar. Some podcasts provide a transcription that you can follow along with, but feel free to doodle or pursue other silent activities (so long as they don't distract you from the listening

That being said, here are the goals we looked at yesterday:

Speaking & Listening Goals

1. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
2. Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
3. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
4. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
5. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
6. Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
7. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
8. Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest

9. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 11-12 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

So, personally, I listened to a Be Reel Podcast. The episode I chose was "Disney's Kinda-Sorta Live Action Remakes | Episode 58." From what I got to listen to, they reviewed the live action Beauty and the Beast. I personally love the live action version of the movie, so I figured I would give it a listen.

They gave all sorts of critiques and compliments to the movie. What I liked about the podcast is they reviewed the content for what it was, not based on opinion. Of course, they threw some opinion based things in here and there. But, it wasn't overbearing or in the way of the review of the content itself.

Overall, this was mostly to get us associated with podcasts and how they work for when we do our own! It helped us see how to use the skills that we've been taught about, and how to achieve the goals we've talked about. Friday will be the start of our podcast project!

That's all we did today, happy podcasting!

2/26/18 Daily Log Blog

Today in class we discussed the new project that we are going to be doing over the next several weeks. Firstly the project objective is to create a podcast of our own. so the class began by taking notes of complex verbs and how they describe the overall meaning of the podcast. This helped the class by showing the importance of good verbs to show the importance of the podcast. after that we began to build up the requirements of this project. First we need 4 movies and at least two movies need to be new. Second we need a new book at least high school level complexity. Then a group of one too five have to make a 12 minute video to show what they learned in the movie and compare that too a quarter of the book. After that they all must talk in a podcast style of learning too show the knowledge of the material. We also discussed the importance of genre in podcast and how we need to find something that relates our overall movies to one them weather that an actor our actress our a genre like horror our syfy.  This relates outside the classroom because it is helping our communication skills which is something we will all need. this will help in our professional lives because in meetings it will be easier to go around in a podcast style of speaking. this also helps in the fact of our knowledge of proper tones and in our editing. these were the things we where introduced to today in class  if you have more questions I would recommended emailing Mr.Rivers our coming in during lunch.

Blog day 2/23/18: Sarah Haag

The class was focused on two parts: the be reel blog and a new concept, "movie menu". The first part was explaining what the blog should contain. The blogs should consist of crediting the relevant artist, a deliberate title for the review, context, a summarized plot, evaluating content, evaluating the meaning and a conclusion. Mr. Rivers also said that the blog should be no less than 500 words, but can go over the 500-word minimum. 

The second part is the Movie Menu. Mr. River's gives two options: The "Based on your interest" and "Rankings". The Based on your interest option is grouping films that are similar to each other. For this option in the Be Reel blogs, there should be at least four films with quick ratings and a quick, and also a non-spoiler summary. The second option called, "rankings" consist of 3 or more movies ranked from 1 (being the best) to 3 or more (being the worst). Either option is fine, its based on the student's preference. 

In class, the students had also done a senior paper survey. Mr. Rivers wants to improve the paper and make it easier for next years seniors. It discussed timing, in-class activities and more. This survey allowed students to comment anonymously or through your name. 

The rest of class was free time to work on any blog or be reel blog. I personally worked on a be reel blog the rest of my time. 

2/26 class notes

Our IWBAT was the ability to analyze how verbs define a text’s purpose and effectiveness. A document was shared with us through google classroom called Speaking & Listening Goals

1. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
2. Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
3. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
4. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
5. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
6. Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
7. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
8. Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest

9 .Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 11-12 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)  

In our groups we were asking to find all the verbs in document. Groups were asked to pick what verbs were most important some were evaluate, prepare, clarify, propel, respond, synthesize, and clarify. We discussed a podcast called Serial  and talked about it using the important verbs from earlier. We also discussed Stuff You Should Know and The Best of Mike & Mike. Our playlists will consists of us finding 4 films, 2 new to us, and one book. It will be organized by genre or artist and our goals involve speaking and listening. Our podcast groups can consist of 1-5 people.

This can help us outside of class because no matter what you do or where you end up going after high school you will need communication skills. These rules can help us communicate and listen to others better.  

Andreas Oleinyk Daily Blog- 2/26/17

Hello Everyone,
We started off class with Rivs hoping that we all had a good weekend and that we were all well rested and ready for the day. We then picked right up into what our next major project would be, we also learned that it would be involving podcasts. We then broke out into groups and analyzed a list of speaking listening goals and looked for the verbs that stood out. We then looked at a variety of podcast descriptions and analyzed their verbs. We then got into key terms of what the podcast playlist project would be like.
Relating outside of the classroom I found this podcast on the website Stitcher. Within the site I looked at this interesting podcast about crimes. The podcast was entitled True Crimes and it is a web series about"true crimes of passion". One crime in particular that I listened to was about the death of a child, so I took it upon myself to begin synthesizing why and how this podcast interested me so. And what I found is that this podcast had some very good word choice but in specific it had some very good verbs. I have left the link to the podcast below if anyone wanted to check it out.

 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/criminal/e/53442346?autoplay=true

Daily Blog 2/23

Our class consisted of two major parts, the beginning of class was a reminder of what our Be Reel Blogs should contain, and a second portion, called the Movie Menu, as Mr. Rivers no cleverly put it. For the Be Reel, the 7 major points, (Deliberately title article, Credit relevant artists, Context, Summarize plot, Evaluate content, Evaluate meaning, Conclude) should be met. The word count, 500-700 words, was also addressed. Mr. Rivers explained that you can absolutely go over the word count if you feel you need to, but 500 is the minimum.

The movie menu is the second part of the Be Reel. We were given two options, the "Based on your interest", or the "Rankings". The "Based on your interest" is a grouping of similar films that relate to your film. There should be at least 4 films. The other option, rankings, are a list of films in a similar category, ranked best to worst, or in some other way. Either choice is fine, it is up to you to decide which you would rather explore.

The next thing Mr. Rivers went over was the Senior Paper survey, which was designed to allow students to express concerns over the format of the senior paper. This included format, time limits, in class activities, and more. The option was given to either post anonymously, or to post with your name. Students who posted with their name indicated that they were willing to discuss further, while anonymous meant it was over for them.

The latter half of class was spent as free time to work, whether that be on Be Reel Blogs, or the senior paper survey. Personally, I worked on the Survey, as the feelings of the paper were fresher in my mind, and I was  ready to put it all on paper before i forgot about it. Overall, the majority of the class was free time to work.

Daily Blog 02-22-18

Today's class was very easy going following the long weekend. We first started to talk about the new Be Reel Blogs. Mr. Rivers wants the work to be sharpened and also he is increasing the points from 50 to 75. He changed it to 75% because the senior paper is worth 200%, and he wants the 75% to impact the marking period grade. He also wants it to be student choice and to honor value. Some intentions he is looking for are...

- Deliberately Title Article

-Credit Relevant Artists

-Provide Necessary Context

-Summarize Plot

-Evaluate Content

-Evaluate Meaning / Theme

-Conclude

Mr. Rivers would like 500-700+ words. He has no problem for students to go over the word count. "Based on your interests in that topic and or rank. Wants to see at least a personal ranking on movies of the same genre up to at least 4. Also he would also accept if you used the ranking of 4 but put if it is good, good or bad,bad. Another topic we talked about was the Senior Paper Feedback on google classroom. He would very appreciate it if we all went on google classroom this weekend and filled out the survey. We wants all sort of feedback from good to bad, and complete honesty. If you want to help out in anyway for next year and got any recommendations leave your name, and if not remain anonymous. Lastly he wanted us to go on google classroom and look at the genre slides we made. With the remaining time he wanted us to stay productive and work on one of the three things. Working hard and being able to expand and sharpen who we are everyday can give us a leg up in the future. Growing up and having a job you never wanna be at the same level you wanna be able to rise and end up becoming possible the manager. Mr. Rivers wants us to excel on what we do and progressively become the best writers we can.

Be Reel:The Shape Of Water, an unexpected love story with an R rating

Hello Everyone,
Not too long ago my friend and I went to the movies for his birthday which is what we usually do. After briskly looking up what was playing at AMC the movie The Shape of Water caught both of our eyes. It was a wise choice on our part to decide to watch The Shape of Water, after watching this film its not hard to see why this film is up for best picture. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about The Shape of Water is a drama/ fantasy film directed by Guillermo Del Toro that takes place in a 1962 pre-war Baltimore government testing facility. The films plot follows the relationship between one of the newly discovered laboratory assets and Elisa( played by Sally Hawkins) one of the labs cleaners.
The two then spark a loving relationship which renders them inseparable from each other. Conflict then starts to rise as Elisa breaks the monster out of the lab. Elisa and the monster are then pursued by the relentless Mr. Strickland who plots to kill the monster. From a visual point of view there is never dull moment in this movie, every shot, transition, and mix between diegetic and non diegetic audio is perfectly mixed and edited into the film. Even the cuts from scene to scene feel natural and like flowing water (no pun intended but their actually is a cut involving water).
This movie truly is a beauty and the beast story for the theme of this movie is largely about finding beauty in things that other people find ugly. We see this in the film not only with the lab asset but throughout the films community. The film is set in the early 1960's so we do see racial discrimination against some of the supporting characters. One sequence where Elisa's neighbor who is gay tries to make an advance towards a cashier who responds negatively shoos Elisa's neighbor out of the diner and tells him to never come back. So their are obviously some very larger themes that are within the Shape of Water like racial discrimination and cultural acceptance most of these themes are represented within the relationship that goes on between the lab asset and Elisa. All in all I highly recommend the Shape of Water and for those of you who are looking into movies similar to the Shape of Water you might want to check out:
Kong: Skull Island
Beauty and the Beast
Logan
Beastly
Once Upon A Time (2012)

Daily Log Blog 2/22/18

Today In Class Mr.Rivers started off where we left off yesterday talking about Genres. In yesterdays class we learned that Genre is an unbroken series of successful gestures. In class we also learned about Conventions which are a common trope or cliche of genre choices. Structures are how narratives are shaped and content is what is inside of a narrative. Going back to what we learned today after we were given time to finish our slides on genres our groups read them aloud in class . Going slide by slide almost every student chose a different genre and had a different way of structure for their description. What we found out today was that there are many different types of genre and different ways in which you can describe them. For my group which consisted of me and Kyle we did the genre of comedy. Our slide was title The Party and the reason why it was a comedy was because it made no sense and some of the language that was used was not correct. To connect what we learned in class to the outside world is that there is many different Genres in film especially nowadays. Being able to identify the genre and learning the different types really helps especially if you did not know before.  Also in class during presentations we had to explain why we chose our genre and read out loud. After the class discussed why our description fit the genre that was chosen. During the discussion we had we picked out specific details that made our genre fit our description. Following that we went through everyone slides to see all the different types of genres. That is what we learned in class today and how genre connects to the world at large.

Ben Schultz - Daily Log Blog - 2/9/18

Today, Mr. Rivers started class by opening up for questions regarding the senior paper. Then, he explained some small changes to our assignment during our viewing of Baby Driver. Our assignment is to describe a choice involving music that affects the film, and to explain what effect it has.  For example, for today's section of the film, I focused on the scene where Doc is explaining the plan, and Baby is listening to music instead of him. This shows that music is more important to Baby than what Doc is saying, and further emphasizes Baby's love for music. Along with finding one choice every day, we need to choose two genres that Baby Driver fits into, and explain how it conforms to these genres. One of the genres I chose for example, was the Musical genre. While Baby Driver is certainly not a conventional musical, the film does follow many conventions of the Musical genre. Movement is often synced with the music, such as to gunshots in the "Tequila" scene. This is a common trope in musicals.
Genre films often can be categorized into other genres other than the ones they are already branded with. Take for example the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier by Anthony and Joe Russo. Marvel films like this one are often firmly placed in the action, or superhero movie categories, judging by the large amounts of fighting and prevalence of superheroes. This film can be put into these categories, but it could also be argued that it falls into the political thriller category as well.

Winter Soldier contains deceit, secrecy, and challenges political ideals, all of which are not common in action movies like this one. Many of Marvel's movies can similarly be put into different categories.

Daily Log Blog 2/22/18

Today in class, we worked on our genre presentation within our groups. Our group worked on our anime presentation. When we finished our presentations, Mr. Rivers read them to us one by one, told us to be looking at content and structure in the real life genres in highschool that each group made. We took notes on the many things that made up the structure and content i our notes. Then we shared our notes with the rest of the class and discussed them. Each scenario was unique because it used certain elements that made them different from the rest. For example, there were many anime genres, but each had a different idea that made them unique. This is what we focused on mostly in class and yesterday. We looked at all of the custom scenarios and we broke them down in the content and the structure of each. A lot of people did really well with their presentations and gave really good high school equivalents of their genre. Lots of people had very good stories from their genres and they also had very good examples of what the genre that they had would look like in a film. For example, the people who had the action film genre did a very good job explaining what their action film made up and how we can look at it. We can look at this in real life when we look at films in real life. The films have certain elements in them that allow us to see which films fit which genre in real life. After we presented our slides, Mr. Rivers, explained that what we learned over the two days is very useful to us in the real world because when we look at film, we can see how different films have different genres and how the content of them help us find out the genre. After he told us about this, the bell rang and we left class.

Daily Blog 2/21/18 Tori Flynn p.3

Hi class! Today we started by getting together with our groups and made sure we finished out genre assignment from yesterday. We went through the slideshow as a class and analyzed the genre conventions on each slide.

My groups slide:

Our conventions are underlined ***
The Unexpected problems go hand and hand with comedy and action. Comedy will make the problems funny and unrealistic. Action will make those problems serious and fast.
The time is a convention on an action movie since it shoes how quickly the task has to be completed.
The place is an everyday place that people go to.
The brawl packed with action clearly shows that there will be some intense moments.


After finishing the slides I realized that there are many conventions that overlap in the genres. For example, the unexpected problem can fit into drama,action,comedy,thriller and a whole lot more. There are many genres and a lot can be combined to make a new one. This relates to the everyday person because lets say an individual likes crime movies and a new crime thriller comes out. They might not be interned in the thriller part however they might be interested in the crime part! These conventions help people decide what kid of movies they like.

Daily Blog: February 21

In class today on Mr. Rivers powerpoint he had these key things:

“Genre is an unbroken series of successful gestures.”

• F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Patterns (Conventions)

Focusing on narrative

First genres? Drama/Tragedy usually ends with someone dying in the end

Conventions- choices that develop the genre

Conventions-> Patterns Across Texts

Structure - How narratives are shaped

Content - WHAT stuff is in the narrative

Different CONTENT, but same narrative shape

Ex. Conflict: escaping from captivity

Get Out, 12 Years a Slave, Halloween

Same Content, but different narrative shape

Ex. Content:

As we explore narratives:

Which narrative conventions are structural?

Which narrative conventions are based in content?

Bump, Set, Spike Season 4 Finale (Sports)

Rivalry week stirs up a conflict between star volleyball player, Connor Erickson of the Sparta Spartans and captains, Jack Simon of Pope John XVII. While Jack Simon tears it up on the court, Connor could steal Jack’s high school sweetheart, Lauren Mitchell, off the court.  Without knowing, a simple high school volleyball game could break up a friendship forever.

The couple sentences about was something he had his students do last year.  He has them pick a genre and then write a scenario involving that genre with using the students in the class.  From this example he had us create our own with a group of 2 or 3 people.  Our examples we made on a powerpoint on classroom.

My groups example:

Two minutes til the bell rings. Lily, Alexis and Tori are on the opposite side of the school. How will they possibly get there on time? They joke around ¨The last one to class has to  everyone lunch¨. This is where it begins. Tori pushes Alexis out of the way into a locker once they are in the same hallway. Lily grabs Tori's hair and pulls it so Tori falls to the ground. Now it is a race between Tori and Alexis to see who win have to buy everyone lunch. Tori ends up coming in right before Alexis. Alexis comes in laughing saying good race and I am not buying you two lunch.

In class we also discussed a little about our senior paper:

Mr. Rivers said- If you have questions about your grade or did well on your paper you can go and talk about your paper.

This relates to the real world, because we can make up so many different scenarios with different genres.  Film producers take a scenario and have it fit into a genre which is part of the process of making a movie or tv show. It is the same thing for authors.

Daily Blog: February 21, 2018- Emily Irwin

February 21, 2018

Today in class, we began to delve into the topic of genre. We began by discussing
how patterns in film, or conventions, help shape the film itself. We then broke down
how patterns across a text can fall into one of two categories-- either structure or
content. Structure refers to HOW the narrative is shaped, whereas content refers to
WHAT stuff is in the narrative. To help the class understand this better, Mr. Rivers
provided us with two examples.

Structure: HOW narrative is shaped

Example: hot pockets, empanadas, dumplings-- are all structurally dough pockets
that are stuffed

Content: WHAT is in the narrative

Example: pasta with sauce, tomatoes and mozzarella, salsa-- all contain tomatoes,
but are not the same

After being given these examples, we then discussed the first two genres-- comedy
and drama-- and how the list of genres has greatly increased since the creation of
these two to shape what it is today. In a timed activity on a class slideshow (found
on Google Classroom), each group was asked to list as many genres as they could
in 2 minutes. Following this activity, it became very evident that the genres listed by
the class were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the total number of genres
in today’s world. Furthermore, each group was then asked to choose a genre that
was listed, to create an extended Netflix description of our class as that genre, and
to add an appropriate picture or logo. Each group also had to support their choice in
genre by listing three films or TV shows that are of that genre and that influenced their
choice. These descriptions will be shared in class tomorrow.

The two minute activity that Mr. Rivers had us participate in today in which he had us
list as many genres as we could was extremely relevant to our lives as high schoolers
today. Through this activity, we were shown how one topic, such as genre, can be
broken down into a multitude of different subcategories and how there are choices
involved when it comes to choosing one of those subcategories. This is similar to the
idea of college and the process of choosing a college. Like genre, the topic of college
can be broken down in a number of ways--most commonly by price or location. When
it comes to choosing a college, it is not until we take the time to list and look at all of
our options that we become fully aware of the vast amount of options we have. While
the process of selection may be daunting, it can be narrowed down based off of
personal preferences and will eventually lead to a selection.

2/16/18 Daily Blog

  Today's class was one filled with productivity. It started with a very simple yet effective checklist. mainly going over components of our senior essay. Mr. Rivers discussed how turnitin.com will be used (mainly just to check for plagiarism) and how the formatting of our essay should look. Weather it was MLA or APA Mr. Rivers gave valuable information on both. He also suggested the use of a website called Purdue owl to assist us if we were to need it. Considering this was suppose to be our last day to work on the essay Mr Rivers strongly suggested reading it out loud and revising anything necessary. Although right at the end of class Mr Rivers surprised what i believe to be all of us by saying he will not be grading our essays until 11:59 Monday February 19th. This not only shocked most of us but also came as a relief, giving the class much more to add any finishing touches necessary.
  To me personally the idea of extending the deadline without letting us know was perfect. It showed people just how productive they can be even with some pressure. Overall today's work can be applied to just about any job out their today. Even with the deadline with some kind of assignment coming up soon weather that be a spreadsheet for your company or the game you've been preparing your team for you can still be very productive and only make improvements till the end. Especially within revisions, going back to review your essay is a great way to check for any errors you might have made. Same goes for work, you don't want to write down the wrong item for someones food, I would know from experience. So overall working on improvements till the end is almost always a good idea especially when you can revise to make those improvements.

Class Blog: 2/16/18

Today is Friday the 16th. And the day has come, the senior paper is due. Mr. Rivers started off the class with a checklist. First off, Do you have all your components in your paper? If your paper is in APA make sure you include: Title page, Abstract(~150 words), Literature Review, Synthesis paper, and your References page( Not worked cited). And if you doing MLA: Header, literature review, synthesis paper, and Works cited(don’t forget the s). Make sure that everything is Times New Roman, 12, Double spaced. For when you're reviewing your paper read out loud. It's easier to spot sentence fragments, Run-On sentences, and repetitive words/phrases. Replace all your weak, passive verbs with more active ones. If your wondering how to do your hanging indent follow these simple steps: 1- put your cursor in front of what your indenting, 2-Backspace, enter, tap. Don't have transition words, include transition phrases. The word count is minimum 1200 words for your synthesis paper and the abstract can count towards that count. Its ok to be under by a few but not by 200. Remember to post your paper in Turnitin and turn in your essay BEFORE 11:59. Any latest will be counted as a zero. With the real world connection. When you're in college, you have to write a lot of essays. And some of them you won't have any time in class to do it. So you need to plan ahead. If your the person who waits until the last minute, then you will fail. Time is critical and getting it done early will help decrease your stress level WHICH is key to surviving college. Stress will hurt you. It may help to write your paper with a friend in the same room. So when you have a mental block, that friend can help get you back on track. Remember 11:59 tonight and don't be late.

Daily Blog 2/15/18

Today Mr. RIvers opened up by telling us about what we were going to do today, which is to continue to work on our senior papers. He asked us if we had any questions and people were asking questions about what we were supposed to do for our senior papers the questions. The questions that the students asked helped me a lot because now I have a better understanding of what to do with the essay, such as what order we are supposed to put our literature review and our synthesis paper if we were to have it in MLA formatting or in APA formatting. Also, I was able to understand how to put my paper in MLA format and in APA format as well. Mr. Rivers seemed very happy that many questions were being asked, just like how people ask questions, they get answers that will give them more knowledge about what they are supposed to do.  However, nobody did ask about the word count, so it was very confusing when some people found out that the literature review word count was separated from the the synthesis paper, making the word count for the whole essay a different word count. This can be interpreted in real life when people when people are told something that is heard differently from that person, like in school for a project. People get bad grades sometimes because they misunderstood the explanation and then they don’t understand why they got that bad grade in the first place. It’s always good to make sure you know what you’re doing so you don’t get a bad grade on something. We basically did our essay the entire period and at the end he told us to make sure that our essay is handed in by 11:59 tomorrow night and lates do mean zeros as well.

Daily Blog 02/14/18

In today's class we continued to talk and also work on our senior paper. Mr. Rivers really emphasized how how we need to be more efficient and more intuitive as possible. This really gives up a heads up into the future even into college because he's telling us to be efficient with our time and it can really lead to better and bigger things in the future. Also teaches us the proper way to write big essays to get ready for college. We further continued to talk about the two appropriate styles of writing such as MLA and APA. Both essays must include 12pt font, Times New Roman, Black, and also double spaced. Use Italics for major works and "Quotes" for minor works. Lastly, ABC order when citing your sources on the last page. For MLA format you need last name and page number in the header and also in the top left your name (enter) teacher (enter) subject (enter) and date. The title of paper should be centered and the literature review and also the synthesis page should be constant to the left side of the paper. For the work cited it must be centered to the page. For the second technique you need a running head: title (top left and 50 character limit) with a page number and title must be center. On a separate page is were the abstract is and it must be centered. A mandatory separate page is needed for the Literature Review and also the Synthesis page. Lastly the Reference page must be on a separate page and must stay constant to the left side of the page. The essay should be finished and handed in to turnitin.com by February 16, 2018 at 11:59 p.m and if late will be automatic 0 and a failure.

Daily Blog 2/14

Today in class we talked about the basics of APA or MLA format for our paper due friday.  Whether you are writing in APA or MLA use must have twelve point, times new roman that is black and double spaced.  Everyone must have a title, italics for major works such as a title of a film and “quotes” for minor works such as an article. For those writing in APA format, your title page must include a Running head:Title (top left and 50 character limit )then page number on the very top right. Then in the center of the page you have your full essay title then your name underneath and finally Sparta High School under your name (*MUST BE IN THE CENTER OF PAGE*). Your next page in APA is you abstract page, another thing to be centered. On this page and the rest of your pages to come, the top left must have the title and the right must have the page number. Your next page will be your Literature review which is not centered but all the way to the left. Following your literature review you have a optional page break so depending on how long you review is, you can start a new, separate page. Next you have your synthesis paper(centered to the left) followed but a required page break and your References page. Your reference page must be centered with a hanging indent and in alphabetical order. As for MLa format it the same as what we’ve been doing our whole high school career. On the first page it's our name, teacher,subject,due date the centered is the title. Start out with the literature review(left align) then the synthesis paper(left align) and last the works cited on it own page. Keep in mind you have to submit this 11:59 Friday on turnitin.com and classroom.

What we did in class today can relate to the world because it taught me how to properly write in APA format which i am most likely to use in my college career.