Monday, December 17, 2012

Dear Classes, Part 2

Hey MM199ers! I had really hoped to leave my office more victorious. I am, for the most part, finished grading the online class. I have not gone back in to add extra credit or firm up small points here and there. If you did receive an email from me, now IS the time to spring into action.

For my M/W troopers, I am still grading. I have 15 blogs to go. Six are quick, easy rereads, so I will sail through those. (yes, I do have my favorites that I've read faithfully each week). I have not added in extra credit or gone back to the smaller assignments.

Be patient. By Thursday, you will know your grade for sure. For now, I am going to go count some sheep.


Dear Class:

I think I might understand why some of you fell behind on your blogs. Although one post a week isn't so bad, but grading all 20 from 40(ish) of you at once isn't recommended.

Next semester, I might only going require five posts from each student. #iloveblogs

First Amendment meets hacktivists

Normally, I am all for the First Amendment. But sometimes, a person tires of the stupidity of a certain group of people.

Given the tragic events of Dec. 14, some folks decided enough was enough and took a stance against the WBC, or the clan of hate as we think of them in Topeka, Kan.

  Read all about it. Are the hackers here heroes or foes? You decide.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

I am loving these numbers!

Our hit total to date is 18,636

A few of you are resisting pressure to add the counter! But here is the complete list of numbers I have for today. I imagine the rest of the class would push us over 20,000 hits. Yeah! You guys have done a great job. 20 posts. Deadline for all 20 posts and technical requirements are due Thursday.

Comment here if you are done and excited!


Jennifer L. 1780
Angelo 1318
Monica 1177
Emily 1067
Zoe  1042
Brian 1011
Xingtong 921
Jake 880
Cate 747
Kara 724
Elizabeth T. 665
Linda 611
Shaun 601
Meagan 582
Vanessa 556
Israel 515
Ashley 485
Avery 485
Tyler Sav 483
Sierra 458
Kiley 392
Elizabeth B. 356
Arissa 323
Taylor 322
Shelby 305
Ryne 303
David 278
Ryan 249

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Still braggin'

Collectively, we have 14,869 hits across 24 blogs! Please add the counter to your blogs. It's not required, but it does make your teacher happy :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Comment below.

Jennifer L. 1570
Angelo 1249
Monica 1142
Zoe  1000
Emily 876
Brian 811
Jake 802
Kara 613
Xingtong 603
Elizabeth T. 594
Cate 583
Shaun 564
Linda 527
Vanessa 502
Israel 464
Tyler Sav 456
Ashley 420

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Resume Tips

After reading at least 25 resumes, here are the recaps.

Rule 1: You get one page, no exceptions. I want your final resume to be on your portfolio site as a pdf that I will download and review.

Rule 2: You also need an online resume on your site, which should be adapted to the style of your site

Rule 3: Education section (do not list any high school, you do not need to list previous colleges if you did not earn a degree or participate in any activities that will go on your resume)

Washburn University, Bachelor of Arts, Mass Media,
Contemporary Journalism Emphasis
Minor, Political Science
Graduation: May 2015 (do not say anticipated or expected)
GPA: do not include if you entire GPA is lower than a 3.0. Optional to include

Rule 4: Employers (watch your formatting here. Be consistent. Below is one model. Should be listed from most current to oldest. If you have media-specific experience, consider having two categories. One can be called Work Experience while the other can be called Media Experience)

Washburn University, Topeka, KS (only need city and state on resume)     Aug. 2003-present
Faculty/Director of Student Media
• Teach 7-hour load in various mass media courses
• Advise students
• (List your job duties as bulleted points, lead with verbs, don't use complete sentences. Resumes need to be able to skimmed quickly)


Washburn University, Topeka, KS                                                            July 2000-July 2003
Publications Specialist, Washburn Alumni Association
• Served as editor for quarterly annual magazine
• Wrote, edited and designed all magazine pages
(try to have at least two bullets. you do not have to list everything. A lot of college jobs have pretty standard job duties)

Rule 5: Skills (create a bulleted list. Don't use hard-working, reliable, or other subjective terms that everyone is putting on resumes. Instead focus on the things you know -- consider columns to save space if you need it)

Media Skills
Proficient in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Office, Audacity
Skilled in editing with Associated Press Style
Ability to create news videos, podcasts and online slideshows
Experienced blogger using Word Press, Blogger
Proficient using Social Media sites including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr
Basic knowledge of Spanish

Rule 6: Unless it's really, really IMPRESSIVE, do not list anything from high school on your resume.
You can list memberships in campus organizations (employers love these), note if you have held positions in the organizations, you can list scholarships to college, volunteer service, any international travel
Activities & Honors (list from most impressive to least, so you can cut from bottom as you add things)
President's Honor Role, spring 2011, fall 2012, spring 2012, etc.
Washburn Student Government Association, senator, 2009-12
Mass Media Awesome Applesauce Scholarship, fall 2012
Meals on Wheels, deliver weekly meals to Topeka residents, 2009-present
International Media Conference Attendee, Paris, France, spring 2011

MM 199 does rock!

I would love to encourage everyone to add the counter gadget to your blogs, so I can see how we did collectively. Of course, these numbers will climb even higher over the next few days, but check out the number of hits on these blogs. Way to go!


Jennifer L. 1520
Angelo 1199
Monica 1074
Zoe  967
Emily 876
Brian 811
Jake 802
Cate 583
Shaun 564

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Grade Check

If I were to assign grades at this very moment between my two classes, you all would have earned …


11 A's • 12 B's • 8 C's • 4 D's • 6 F's