The keys to making any yearbook program run smoothly and minimizing work and stress involve organization and continuity, and this is especially true when you are faced with the added challenge of your staff meeting as an after-school club.
Staff Management
Putting together a yearbook is stressful. To help your staff get to know each other and work as a team, use ice breakers, team builders and get-to-know-you activities. Tweak these games to fit your students, school and environment.
The holidays are approaching, which at most schools means two weeks off from school. The anticipation is overwhelming – so overwhelming that it can be hard to keep your staff on task to make those December deadlines. So how do you do it? Many yearbook advisers use a mixture of work and fun to keep students focused.
Building and balancing staff morale is not an easy task. On the Musket staff at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, Calif., we spent a few years trying different activities, strategies and processes, and hit upon a blend of these that assisted in creating a positive, productive environment.
To develop your yearbook editors and managers into leaders, begin in the spring and continue the training and bonding through the summer. A number of processes and resources are available for you to use. This article touches on just a few.
In a yearbook utopia, the new teacher would have a journalism degree, take photos like a pro, be able to manage a group of teenagers with aplomb and truly understand the importance of deadlines in the production of any publication. In reality, though, the yearbook adviser many times has little or no publishing experience and only lasts an average of two years. Following these tips can lead to happier advisers who stick with the job.
In a professional development class called “Universal Design for Learning” (UDL), I was introduced to many new strategies to make learning accessible to all my students regardless of ability. One of the strategies is called “synectics,” which derives from the Greek “syn” and “ektos,” and refers to the fusion of diverse ideas. In practice, students…
Walsworth Yearbooks announced the publication Wednesday of Our Best Advice: Lessons for New Advisers from the Yearbook Experts – a new eBook filled with valuable tips on a wide-ranging variety of yearbook topics. A free copy of Our Best Advice can be downloaded by visiting walsworthyearbooks.com/our-best-advice-ebook/. Created for new yearbook advisers, but also applicable to…
Several advisers were asked to send us their favorite trade secrets for organization. Trello was named most often. In addition to Trello, here are tips that help advisers keep some aspect of their yearbook program organized. You may want to try one or two as you organize or update your classroom or procedures over the…
The latest edition of Idea File magazine is here, as the spring 2016 issue is now available over in our Idea File gallery section. This issue is filled with tons of useful content that will help inspire you to finish off the current year strong, and start looking ahead to next year. There are columns…
