You've just been assigned the yearbook, or last year didn't go so well, and you want your first days plans to be solid, effective, and fun! Does this sound like you? I've been there. The first week of school is a whirlwind, but in yearbook class, the first week back to school is even more topsy turvy, to say the least. You might have looked through my Tips for New Advisers post or How to Have a Picture-Perfect Start to the Year posts for adviser-facing suggestions, and you feel good-to-go from that side of things. However, now it's time to … [Read more...]
Everything You Need to Know about Planning a Yearbook Ladder
When it comes to creating a yearbook, one of the most important steps in planning is the sequence in which the content will appear, and in the yearbook world, we call that the yearbook ladder. The ladder is the page-by-page list of what will be appearing where in your yearbook. Without a ladder to plan your yearbook pages up front, it is likely that areas of content could be missed, pages would be left unplanned/blank, or your book won't feel cohesive when it's all said and done. However, the process of deciding how to tell the story of the … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Use Class Time After the Yearbook is Complete
The yearbook is complete, submitted, done. Now what? You have several months of school left, and you aren't sure how to keep your students on task for the remaining days. Does this sound familiar? With spring delivery or even summer delivery books where students take yearbook/journalism as a class, it's often difficult -- and even daunting -- to come up with creative and constructive ways to use that time. As we all know, doing nothing is not an option! In this blog post, I'll share 5 ways to use class time after the yearbook is complete. … [Read more...]
Tips for New Yearbook Advisers
When I was asked/told I would be the yearbook adviser over ten years ago, I said what any good new hire would say: “Sure!” I had never been on the yearbook or newspaper staff before, and my degree wasn’t in journalism. I stepped into a situation where the previous adviser had left on bad terms, so the staffers hated me – that is an understatement. So, through much blood, sweet, and tears, I eventually learned everything the hard way and on my own – again, another understatement. Now, I am still learning, … [Read more...]
Increasing Yearbook Coverage: 5 Ways to Include More Students
In a previous post, I mentioned some challenges I had as a first year as a yearbook adviser regarding coverage (the number of times each student appears in the yearbook), so I wanted to elaborate and provide some ways I eventually worked through increasing yearbook coverage. Unfortunately, when I became the yearbook adviser, the publication was exclusive for big sports and seniors. That saddened and worried me all at the same time. If a book is to document the year that everyone enjoyed and was a part of, how can this time … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Have a Picture-Perfect Start to the Year in Yearbook Class
You want a picture-perfect start to your year. How do you do that in yearbook class since that class is a little different than other classes, right? The truth is - the answer is yes and no! Being the yearbook adviser allows me to spend time being creative alongside my students, and we have a very open environment where we share ideas and issues openly. However, building up this type of environment does take some time and nurturing, and we have a lot of tasks to get done quickly and are always staying busy. Even though … [Read more...]
