If I could do it over again…
Written by Marketing Staff
The position of yearbook adviser can be a tough one, especially in those first few years on the job.
For all the experienced advisers out there who now know the ropes, if you could go back to those first few years what would you go back and do differently?
Give us your comments below!
9 Responses to “If I could do it over again…”
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April 28, 2014 at 2:14 pm, bradley prier said:
From a student editor’s point of view, it is important to talk with your students. Another great thing to do is have a common design between your pages as well as have students compete against eachother for the best pages and have yourself select the better. Make sure your book has continuity! very important! also don’t be afraid to help students out, so know the program yourself!
October 30, 2014 at 1:19 pm, Julie said:
I worked on yearbook in high school and in college, but that was back in the 80’s, so things had changed between then and 2014! There were no returning students from the previous year’s yearbook class, so we were starting with a green group and a teacher who hadn’t done a book this century. Thank goodness for the educational materials supplied by Walsworth, because that’s what got us through the first nine weeks. We went with a visual theme because it was easier for the students to work with, and we started journaling which hadn’t been done in many years.
In the past only juniors and seniors were allowed to be on the staff. I changed that rule to allow sophomores because we needed underclass students to help with getting pictures from those grades, identify students for journaling, and to take leadership positions on the staff for the next school year.
I was a new teacher in the district last year so I didn’t know any of the students. Had I known the students better I would have made some changes to the editorial staff because I had some seniors in those positions who were not looking at the big picture. I also had to fight again the “clique” mentality that some students had and get them to work together.
Something must have gone right, however, because I had a waiting list of students wanting to be in the class this year. They are working together as a team, they are coming up with fantastic promotional ideas, and we are already ahead on book sales compared to last year. Here’s to a fantastic 2015 everyone!
January 15, 2015 at 1:24 pm, Vanessa A. said:
I teach yearbook at the middle school level.
When I got the job, I was just kind of thrusted into yearbook. I had gotten the job as a Speech (public speaking/debate, etc) teacher, and it just so happened the teacher who I replaced also taught yearbook. Did I mention that they didn’t use a company? All they did was do it on computers and used the school printers to print out the yearbooks for students. Anyways….
My first year I was CLUELESS. I picked a yearbook company because it was cheap, but the rep never came to help. Any question I had, I had to learn through trial and error. Because I was so fresh, I allowed the students to do it ALL. There was no staff, it was a free-for-all, and the yearbook resembled that. Although it looked “better” than previous years because it was actually published, it was horrible. Every page had a different background, and every layout was different.
It was a typical collage type yearbook that is produced by many elementary/middle schools. After my first year I attended a Walsworth workshop that was put on in my district and I was BLOWN AWAY. I learned so much, and thankfully my knowledge of yearbook has gotten better and so has my teaching. Now my yearbooks are light-years away from what they were and my students enter the high school will so much knowledge in their back pocket.