San Antonio, Texas

This week at Palo Alto College has been a journalistic boot camp. The students are learning how to write like journalists, which is a very different style of writing than what they have done in their English, History and Government classes.

Yesterday, we reviewed what makes something newsworthy (impact, proximity, timeliness, prominence, novelty, conflict, cooperation/consensus, information, and common experience) and how to prioritize facts/information. They also learned how to write a lead, the opening paragraph in a news story, using only 19-20 words. We talked about journalists' rights (First Amendment) and responsibilities (accuracy and fairness). Roy Peter Clark's "The Writing Process" (sniff around, explore ideas, collect evidence, find a focus, select the best stuff, recognize an order, write a draft, and revise/clarify) provided a road map for their writing. "Be Specific" and "Don't Tell, but Show," chapters from Natalie Goldberg's book "Writing Down the Bones," also gave concrete examples of what makes writing excellent.

Mariana lead discussion of the first chapter in "The Story of Spain" by Mark Williams. I have to say I love her choice of texts. Williams knows how to craft an engaging tale that makes you want to read on. What a soap opera the history of Spain has been!

Today, the students talked about what stories they'd like to research (report) and write about in their lifetimes, and I was impressed by the range of interesting ideas. They also talked about stories in their neighborhoods that are under reported (or not reported on at all) that they'd like to cover or see more coverage on. We then reviewed the lead exercise they completed at home. Passive voice versus active voice has been placed on tomorrow's agenda. I passed out an inverted pyramid story exercise for them to complete at home today. Their challenge is to write a one-page news story with provided facts and quotes.

Mariana then lead discussion on the second chapter of Williams' book. We learned about the Roman's influence on the Iberian peninsula. It's so amazing to think that the Romans built the aqueduct in Segovia at the end of the first century/beginning of the second century, and it's still standing...almost 2,000 years later! The Romans, who were very big on infrastructure, also built roads and bridges.

Tomorrow is our last class day at Palo Alto College. We'll be learning on the run while we are in Spain. Time on our motor coach will provide us with ample opportunity to continue our discussions. Plus, we'll be learning in each and every place we visit. For those who would like to travel along with us, here's our itinerary:

12 Madrid (Orientation/Prado)
13 Madrid (Sightseeing/Palacio Real)
14 Santo Domingo de Silos/Burgos
15 Bilbao/San Sebastian
16 San Sebastian
17 Pamplona/Barcelona
18 Barcelona
19 Valencia
20 Granada
21 Granada/Torremolinos
22 Torremolinos
23 Sevilla
24 Sevilla
25 Cordoba/Puerto Lapice/Madrid
26 Madrid
27 Madrid
28 Madrid
29 Madrid
30 Madrid
1 Madrid
2 Depart Madrid