jo breese portfolio
self evaluation I didn’t really learn anything new this semester besides learning how to use the new indesign. Being online at the beginning of the year led to December being the first time I used the new indesign. Luckily, it was pretty easy and works almost the same as last year. Beginning the year in online classes was really hard for me, especially because I had a very bad summer. Deadlines were really hard for me to meet in the first quarter, but I think when we switched back to in person I was able to get stuff done on time. Next semester I will focus on getting my articles done before I need to make my page. Working with others is a core part of Newspaper and I think I did a good job with that. I never thought I had problems with it, as I’ve always been able to work with people. Next semester I will be continuing working with others and communicating with my writers. I’ve always thought ethics in journalism are very important. I’ve been mindful of sounding too biased in my stories and in the stories I’m editing. I mostly did opinion pieces this semester so it wasn’t that big of an issue though. I had an issue this year with many stories missing interviews and being based on bad sources. I will continue to try and eliminate bias and faulty sources next semester. I think I’ve been a pretty good asset to the staff so far. I’ve finished my page on time, edited my stories on time, and been trying to help new writers. My main goal for this year was to start helping more new writers, and I didn’t help as well as I wanted to. Next semester I will try to help the newer writers more. The biggest issue I had this year was with deadlines and online schooling. Online schooling is really not for me as it was really hard to do almost anything on time. Deadlines were very hard for me to get the motivation to meet them. Next semester I hope it will be better now that we are in-person. My greatest weakness has to be finishing deadlines and conducting interviews. I have always had a hard time doing interviews but this year I think I did the worst ones. Next semester I plan on giving myself more time to do interviews and putting more thought into the questions.
my best work The purpose of this piece was to argue for hybrid learning in the classroom. It was difficult for me to complete because it was a topic I wasn’t familiar with and only really knew from a few youtube videos. I had to do a lot of research on the topic to come up with a good argument and state my ideas well. It was not very easy for me, because I was only lightly informed on the subject of hybrid learning. A lot of the information given in my sources was not great and I had to keep looking for more reliable information. This article was not edited too heavily the first time Claire saw it, she just told me to add some more words in there somewhere and I did just that. When Ms.Hart saw it, I had to edit a lot more and put more effort into the writing in it. After that, it was pretty much done and ready to be printed. Creating this piece made me do a lot of research on the topic of hybrid learning and how it defends from COVID-19 and how it hurts mental health. A lot of the sources I found on the subject when talking about it in a college setting, which is a lot different from a high school setting. After I found a decent amount of sources on Hybrid learning in a high school setting, I started to form my opinion. I learned alot about how hybrid learning works and how online classes, if done right, can be beneficial for students. In its current form though, It also kind of hurts students, so it’s difficult to pick a side. I supported the idea of hybrid learning in cactus shadows classrooms, with some precautions. In the finished article, I really liked how I spread out my points and added sources to back them up. Usually I don’t add a lot of sources but this time I added on to prove my point. I think I will continue to try and add more sources in the future, as it helps my opinion pieces feel more researched and well thought out. I also liked how I got it done before the deadline, which is always hard for me, but I think it helped me focus on my editing and making my page the best it could be. I am really proud of this piece and my points and ideas stated in it.
my three examples
I am proud of this piece because I think I argued my point well and backed it up with facts and evidence. I think I could have presented more evidence though.
I am proud of this piece because I feel like I stated my point well and debunked some arguments about Trump.
I am proud of this piece because I think I debunked some ideas about “preserving the past� well and argued my point well.
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Being an editor this year was hard for me. Working with the online paper was a tough challenge that I wasn’t ready for. It was a major switch from in-person to online and it was tough for me in general but one of the hardest things was working with the online newspaper. Doing the print version was a lot easier for me and being in the classroom made me force myself to focus. Doing the print paper is also a lot easier because everyone is in the same room which allows easy communication between writers and editors. Working with your peers is always tough to manage but it wasn’t a major issue for me this year. I never really had to get on anyone and when I did, I usually tried to empathize with them. I had been in the same position as them for three years, and I know what stress they are going through. I never really feel like I was really popular or respected by my peers, but I think the most important thing is to try to be somewhere in the middle, where people don’t just see you as a strict editor, but as a student too. I’ve never really been a fan of being a leader, and I don’t really feel like one now. I just feel like someone who helps sometimes and tells people to get stuff done sometimes. I think The hardest part is definitely helping other people, because I feel like I know just the same as them, I don’t feel like I truly am helping them sometimes. The easiest part is probably iterating with the writers because I can empathize with them, as I have been a writer for almost three years now and I know what challenges they face and I try to make it clear what challenges I face too. I think the leader is the last wolf because they need to protect everyone and not guide them. Their goal is to lead the pack figurtivl;y, not literally. They make the decisions to guide the pack and keep them safe and by being in the back they can see everything that is going on and can jump into action at a moment’s notice. I can compare this to being an editor in a newspaper because we don’t really lead them and tell them what to do all the time, we are just there to watch and help them whenever they need us. We lead them figuratively, not literally.