The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

News Briefs for October 2008

Additional Courses Debut at WJ

WJ has made additions to course selections in the Math, Foreign Language, Technology, Art and Social Studies departments.

The Math department added Bridge to Algebra 2, Foreign Language has introduced Italian 4, Technology began offering TV Production and Fashion Illustration will make its debut in the second semester for the Art department. Social Studies added Micro and Macro Economics, Russian History, AP Comparative Government and African American History.

“African American History allows us to explore common American and Global themes from a very different perspective…ones not so commonly fleshed out in American History classes,” said social studies teacher Mike Williams. “Our thematic approach allowed us to explore music and culture and begin the year by looking at Hip Hop and its role and impact on the African American, American and Global communities.” 

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Those taking African American History will also create a museum exhibit upon the completion of each grading period to share what has been learned in the course with the WJ community.

Another course to look out for is second semester’s Fashion and Merchandizing, taught by art teacher Liz Stafford. The course focuses on designing new garments, discussing new fashion trends and learning new designs.

“This class is unique because we’ve never really had a special class for fashion. I encourage anyone who’s interested in fashion to take it,” said Stafford.

The success and popularity of these courses remains to be seen.

Supreme Court Considers Ban on Fleeting Expletives  

The June 2007 decision that the proposed FCC ban on fleeting expletives was unconstitutional is currently under appeal by the Supreme Court. The formal definition of a fleeting expletive is “a verbal profanity or visual indecency or obscenity expressed or shown during a live television broadcast or radio broadcast.” This means anything from a curse word uttered on live, unscripted TV or radio, to Janet Jackson’s exposure at the half time show at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 is considered a fleeting expletive. If the ban goes through, anyone who utters or uses an expletive on a live broadcast will be able to be fined thousands of dollars.

Social studies teacher Steve Miller feels that there is nothing wrong with the ban.

“Broadcast viewers would not react well to that kind of language,” he said. “I don’t think a ban on certain content is unconstitutional… It’s not a restriction on free speech in general, but on TV, which is licensed by the government.”

 

Changes in Grading Policy Draw Mixed Reactions

This year the grading policy was changed in an effort to standardize the system. Although the new grading policy was adopted in 2003, it has been modified slightly every year to include the new updates from the Board of Education (BOE). The grading policy was altered after the BOE recommended the usage of the same three weighted categories across the county. The categories, summative assessments, formative assessments and homework completion are used instead of the different weight system and total points system among all teachers.

Formative assessments are designed to determine whether students are learning what is being taught for the purpose of adjusting instruction and may include formal as well as informal assessments.  Summative assessments are designed to determine whether students know and can do what has been taught after instruction. Although reassessment opportunities may be provided for formative assessments at the teacher’s discretion, summative assessments are not eligible for reassessment.

Teachers can still use the total points system, where the student’s grade is simply determined by dividing total points earned into total points possible. However, the total points method now comes with several restrictions set by the BOE. Teachers must inform students and parents how many assignments are given, how many points each is worth at the beginning of the year.

“Other schools have to abide by stricter change,” said social studies teacher Steve Miller, lead grade book advisor. “But WJ tries to give as much freedom as possible toward teachers.”

Some teachers wonder if the BOE is going too far and obstructing teacher’s freedom to plan out the curriculum. Karl Savage, an English teacher, worked as a member of the One Text committee which is a representative body comprised of executive staff, community superintendent, principals, teachers, and parents, tasked with taking the board policy and creating procedures that would be used by teachers.

“I was surprised when the Board pushed system-wide to teacher’s choice,” said Savage. “[The decision] definitely did not come from a representative body.”

Not all teachers agreed with Savage’s point, however.

“In general, the grading policy was formulated after reviewing the concerns of all stakeholders and therefore, it should be viewed favorably by everyone involved in the implementation,” said Amy Vachon, the acting English Resource Teacher.

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