Miah Thirion Portfolio

Miah’s Portfolio 2018

Self Analytic Reflection

I feel that I have majorly grown this semester, both as a student and a writer. When I first got put into this class, I was unsure, and I had no idea what to expect. I hoped that I would become a better writer and I hoped I would learn more about the production of a newspaper. I also wanted to take a class that is new and that I didn’t know a lot about.

Throughout this semester I have learned so much about journalism and the production of a paper. I have not only just improved as a writer, but I have learned about the journalistic style of writing, and teamwork. Along with all of that, I have learned more about photography and video production, and I have improved with those skills too. Lastly, I have gained a new level of confidence with interviewing people, especially adults.

This year I have been challenged by deadlines and getting my work done on time. Deadlines are one of the most critical aspects of a successful paper. I learned that the whole class depends on each person to get their work done, and without that person’s article or picture, the paper would be empty. Everyone relies on each other to make the paper successful. Although I have gotten every single article and video done on time, I have learned to be much more productive. I learned how to plan quickly, and get my work done quickly and productively.

Teamwork is something I have learned so much about throughout this semester. The paper would not be successful if everyone did not complete his or her work on time and to the best of his or her ability. I think that I have been a good teammate to everyone in this class, because of my positive attitude and the fact that I am hard working. I feel that I worked with others because I was determined to do my work on time and to my best ability.

Ethics in journalism is something that is crucial to a good paper. Although I never plagiarized any of my work, I learned how hard it could be to not slightly adjust a quote to make it fit an article better. I have learned that it can be very hard at times to remain objective and keep your opinions out of your writing. This is something that I hope to continue improving on next semester.

This semester I have learned most about video. I started with little knowledge on how to film, how to get good shots, and how to make a proper video. However, throughout the semester I have developed videography skills that I never thought I would be able to do. I am now able to film a high-quality video, and I have developed editing skills. To continue improving on this, I am going to keep making videos and learning how to edit and film.

Another main thing I learned this semester is how to write in the journalistic style of writing correctly. This style of writing is something I had never used before this class. It is something that I was uncomfortable with at the beginning of this year, but I feel that I have improved on and I am now comfortable with this style of writing.

One other thing I struggled with at the start of this year was completing my interviews, and this was my biggest weakness at the beginning of the year. I was uncomfortable with talking to people that I did not know at a personal level, so doing interviews was something I did not like at all. I was especially uncomfortable with getting the adult interviews. However, with experience, my confidence has majorly grown. I am now much more comfortable with interviewing people I do not know, and I feel much more confident when I am interviewing adults.

Overall, I feel that I have become very dedicated to the paper. I work hard to make sure all my work is done on time, and I do all my work to the best of my ability. I did not complain when I was assigned a picture, article, or video that I did not like. I made sure to get my work done. Therefore I believe I was an asset to this class. I have learned so much this semester and I hope I continue to grow next semester.

Reflection 1

The work I am most proud of for this semester is the homecoming video. This video challenged me beyond my expectations, and it was by far my biggest accomplishment. When Max and I started the video I was beyond excited to start. I worked very hard at this video, staying during lunch and after school, but the hard work was definitely very rewarding. During the week of filming the video, the weather was unexpectedly very stormy. Because of the changing weather, it definitely interfered with our filming. Max and I spent a lot of class time and lunch time filming and editing the video to make it the best it could possibly have been. When the video was completed I got a lot of recognition from teachers and peers for the final result. Throughout the making of the video I learned a lot about myself as a student. I am super motivated to complete things to my best effort, and I want things to be absolutely perfect. When I was making this video, I re-watched it countless times with Max as we edited it together. We saw and wanted to perfect every little detail. We were very determined to make it the best video we had made, especially since it was the first video we made for this semester.

The video started out very choppy and we did not have enough footage, but we were determined to make it as great as we possibly could. As we got more footage during class periods, after school, and during lunch it developed into our most significant work. The final result looked extremely professional, and very smooth. We got a lot of B roll, and created a very captivating introduction. I am so beyond proud of the result.

Throughout my experience this semester I have become very dedicated to the paper. I am not in any other clubs or sports at school, but newspaper has become something that I put a lot of my time and effort into. I have come to learn that work for the paper is the most rewarding thing I have done thus far in high school. It has challenged me more than I ever thought it would and it has shown me that not giving up on something and continuing to stay motivated towards the result you are looking for is extremely rewarding. I am very happy that I kept my eyes stuck on the work I wanted to make because it has taught me so much about production for the paper.

Reflection 2 I am proud of the golf pictures I took for the September and October issue. I chose these pictures for my reflection because they turned out really well and it took a lot of work to get them. To be able to get these pictures I had to talk to the coaches to figure out where they practiced, I also had to go to one of their practices. It took a lot of work and organizing to get these pictures. This helped me become more confident when going places to get the pictures.

Another piece of work I am proud of is the Homecoming video for the October Issue. I chose this video because I really liked the B roll and the way the video turned out overall, all the shots looked amazing and the final version of it looks very professional.

The last piece of work I chose for my reflection is the EVIT video. I am very proud of this video because we filmed it at the EVIT campus with a camera and microphone. It turned out looking very professional.

The B roll looks amazing and I am very proud of the overall result because of how smooth it looks.

Tear Pages

September

October

November

Videos https://cactusshadowscspress.com/video/2018/10/15/two-math-teachersquit/ This video was about many math teachers resigning from wrking at Cactus Shadows.

https://cactusshadowscspress.com/video/2018/11/07/ctedprogram-comes-to-ccusd/ This video was about the Cave Creek district joining the EVIT program

https://cactusshadowscspress.com/video/2018/10/15/ homecoming-2018/ This video was about homecoming 2018 at Cactus Shadows.

https://cactusshadowscspress.com/video/2018/12/17/fdabans-flavored-juul-pods/ This video addressed the ban on certain Juul flavors.