yearbook

End of Year Reflection: Best of the Best 2016

Last year at this time I did my first ever “Greatest Hits” linky as a reflection of the moments from 2015 that stuck out to me the most, and I kept track all year waiting to do it again! Needless to say, I am super excited to share these ideas with you – and this year they happen to all be things I tried for the first time. And… they are all things I fell in love with and will most definitely do again! So yes, even after 13 years in the classroom, I am still adding, tweaking, and trying new things! I hope these ideas inspire you to try something new in 2017!

1) The Green Light – Sometimes when I teach Gatsby, I get to teach the entire book, and other times I’m crunched for time and only show the movie and do close readings. Either way, I get my Gatsby fix and the kids love it! This year I just did the movie because our town was ravaged by an F3 tornado, so we missed several days at the end of the year. I knew I wanted to amp it up just a little and bring something special – as a little highlight – to the end of the year since our students had been through so much this month. I have to say I am IN LOVE my Gatsby green light display. Here’s how to DIY:
a) I projected a picture of the light on the dock that I found on Google images onto a piece of butcher paper taped on my Activboard. Once I traced it onto the paper, I just painted it with acrylic paint. It’s cheap and dries fast. I used black and gold to make it Gatsby-glam, of course. I painted the bulb inside green and added green glitter. The dock was even easier to make. I just drew lines with a Sharpie and painted in between with brown acrylic paint. I laminated the light and dock. Next, print the quotation “Gatsby believed in the green light” on green paper. Make the display and hang it up before the beginning of the movie/unit so students are curious and aware the entire time. For the “rays of green light” I just trifolded pieces of green construction paper and cut them.
b) As we neared the end of the movie, I gave students a sheet of excerpts to close read from the novel with all the green light passages. (This sheet and lesson, along with several American Dream exercises, can be found in my Gatsby movie guide.) I sent the sheet home with the QR code to a video link, which is a compilation of scenes with the green light from the “new Gatsby” movie. Students had to complete that assignment and be ready to discuss the next day. Boy, were they ready…. I had been talking up the green light the entire time and had my wall display ready all along, so they were itching to discuss!!
c) After the discussion, students completed the American dream prompt, and then I gave them the ray to write their own “hopes and dreams” on. Some wrote what they wanted to do after high school, and others wrote how they wanted to bring light to others’ lives. They did an amazing job.
d) Hang up the green rays and stand back and enjoy!

2) Yearbook Light Bulbs – Every year my yearbook staff does some sort of holiday event for everyone to enjoy. Last year we had a Halloween YearBOOk celebration with fun games. This year we made Christmas light bulbs for everyone in school: students, faculty, and staff. Each yearbook staffer has a list of students (so every student in the school is personally tracked for coverage), and they personalized every bulb by hand-writing the names. I scored a sale at Family Dollar on mini candy canes, so we stapled one to each bulb, too. We stayed for an hour after school one day and taped them to the correct lockers (our AP gave us the locker list), and teachers’ classroom doors. The next morning when the students came in, they were really surprised and thankful! It was a small way to say, “Hey, we are thinking of YOU, and we wanted to brighten your day!” Here’s how to DIY:
a) Get a list of everyone in your school and divide them up. Also, get the locker and room numbers!
b) Find a cute light bulb clip art and place them two on a page. Write in a cute note, and copy and copy and copy.
c) Find candy on sale!!
c) Cut, cut, cut and sign, sign, sign and staple, staple, staple! Another tip is to write the locker numbers of the back of each bulb before hanging them.
d) Organize a day to tape up the bulbs!

3) Lord of the Flies Crowns – This year I taught Flies for the first time with my regular track seniors. I wasn’t sure how they would like it, but as we got into it, we all realized how perfect the timing was to make text-self and text-world connections. I’m sharing about one of the final projects we did because, honestly, it give me cold chills. I wanted them to truly get the theme and title connection juxtaposed with their own lives, so I came up with this crown idea. (Everything can be found in my NEW Lord of the Flies unit plan!!) Here’s how you can DIY:
a) After reading Chapter 8, we did a paired info text reading to get some background on the Beelzebub allusion. (paired reading and notes included in my plan)
b) I gave students a crown (template included in my plan). They wrote/drew things on the crown that are “lording over” their lives. I told them to be honest – even knowing they are 17-18 year olds and being aware of what I could get. However, I did tell them they could be anonymous. Then they cut out the crowns, and we hung them up in the room for the remainder of the book.
c) On the day – or next day – you finish the book, get a paper shredder in your classroom. Once the boys are rescued, they are not only physically rescued from the island, but also they are symbolically rescued from those demons in their lives. Students take their own crowns and we had a shredding ceremony to symbolically indicate that they can be rescued from those demons in their lives, too. — Cue cold chills here. —

4) Macbeth “Witch-Inspired” Tasting Party – Who isn’t always looking for a way to bring snacks to class, right??!!? This year I decided I would surprise my seniors with a few little snacks one day! In fact, my students actually inspired my choices with their creativity during the first part of Act 1 when they were making their text-based Witches’ Party Invitation (included in my Macbeth unit plan). Here’s how you can DIY:
a) After reading the opening scenes of the play where Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches, I have students complete the Party Invitation activity. They are always so intrigued by the weird sisters anyway, and this gives them a chance to close read and be creative! They have use the text to inspire the food, games, decor, and more!
b) Shop for Mountain Dew (Witches’ Brew), Bugles (Witches’ Fingernails), and thumbprint cookies (Pilot’s Thumbs). Local bakeries usually have these you can order. BTW: Only followers of my monthly email newsletter got the cute food labels for free couple of months back! You’ll want to sign up HERE so you don’t miss anymore goodies!
c) After reading Act 1 and 2, I always pause to show a on-screen adaptation of the play. When students came to class that day, they were surprised, delighted, and thankful to see I had brought their ideas to life!

5) Writers’ Notebooks – I’ve actually tried the writing portfolio thing a couple times a couple of ways. This time around, I’ve improved my process, and it worked wonderfully. It’s kinda of a morph between a portfolio, data tracker, and interactive notebook. The premise is simple: Students keep all their writing in one place so they can keep up with it, and we can all see growth. Here’s how to DIY (the new and improved way):
a) Students buy – or you can provide – a one subject spiral notebook. I took a piece of ribbon and a large plastic coated paper clip to make a bookmark. I needed a bookmark because each time they wrote an essay or paragraph in it, I wanted to be able to flip right to what I needed to grade without flipping forever. I had them put their name in Sharpie right on the front.
b) Here’s where the “interactive notebook” piece comes into play, but not really. It’s just some cutting and gluing! On the first day, I gave them some key sheets I wanted them to keep up with: the data tracker (sold in my TpT store and pictured below), my marking codes annotation sheets, state writing rubrics, self-evaluation sheets, and graphic organizers. That way they always had them in one place. Throughout the semester, we added notes here and there. Even when it was a bigger task and I used the rubrics I make to give points based on state rubrics (pictured below), they just stapled those at the end of the essay, so it was all in one place.
c) As students wrote essays and constructed responses, I left marks right on the pages. One tip is to have them write on the fronts only if you are going to be giving feedback. It made it so easy for me to flip back to previous writing to see if they were gaining and taking my advice from previous tasks.

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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, but along the way, I learned to love it. I have a supportive administration, faculty and community, good vibes from our student body, great publishing company, and an amazing yearbook rep. Hopefully, with that bit of good vibes going, I can share with you the things that have worked for me. So here we have the first five things that you need to do NOW if you are just starting out.

Deadlines and Ladder– Yearbook class is almost like a company. It operates with one foot in the school world and one foot in the business world. The first thing you need to do is sit down with your yearbook rep or company and find out when your deadlines are. Once I have those deadlines, I handle them a couple of ways. First, I make the ladder and set every page that needs to be created. Second, I NEVER give my students the drop-dead deadline. In fact, they get a couple of deadlines from me: a preliminary and a final. Often, there is one in between that one, too. I chunk my pages based on content and what I know we can get done first. For example, my business ads are always submitted on the first deadline, student portraits usually go next, and so on. Also, I give students at least two deadlines to work on a time – the closest one and the next one. In fact, my students are basically assigned every page/topic they will be completing for the year the first or second week of school! That way there are no surprises, and we can make our deadlines!

Budget – Again, this is something you will need to sit down and talk to your company rep about the first week of school or before. Once you know what the overall bill will be, you can work backwards to begin collecting money. We sell business advertisements and senior tribute advertisements to help lower the cost of the book for our students. I teach in a very rural school district, and I wanted as many students to have the opportunity to purchase a book as possible, so the ad sales help. It’s important to know the end goal up front, so you don’t overspend on book design extras, etc. My full yearbook curriculum has an entire teaching pack included for business sales, etc.

Equipment Organization and Photography – Whether you have a small staff or a large staff with a lot of equipment or a little, there has to be a system to keep up with everything so it’s all protected. My staff has several cameras, lens, etc. and each staff has a laptop as well. Before they can even use the equipment, they must sign a release form. My principal approved my form, and I hand it out on the first day. Next, I have system for check outs. Anything checked out must be signed out and signed back in. For the computers and other materials, each student has a bucket and a cubby. Last, one of the most important things you can do to protect images and keep them organized is to require each student to have his/her own memory card. In the past, I’ve supplied those cards and they get lost, stolen, broken, and/or erased. Once I started requiring staffers to have their own cards, those problems were almost nonexistent.

Teamwork and School Spirit – The dynamic of yearbook staff can be really tough for a couple of reasons: large personalities and the pressure of getting things done. I start on the first day building the concept of teamwork and collaboration. We do team-building activities, and we talk about what each person has to offer. We also take a look at our own struggles, so that we know everybody has room to grow and we can learn from each other. The other component of keeping a positive attitude going is making sure the student body feels connected and supported by us. Each of my staffer gets a list of students (I divide the entire student body up) that he/she keeps track of all year. They get to know the people on their list through projects I assign, and they make sure those people are being covered in an authentic way. I have several of these projects in my store, or you can let your students brainstorm some! Also, I always have a small gift for my staffers on the first day to let them know how much I appreciate them! Our theme this year is related to the idea of authenticity – so I went with Coke’s real thing slogan! Plus, my staffers know how much I love my real, RED coke!

Back to School Gift for Yearbook Staffers, Coke Gift Tag

Grading – If your yearbook class is for credit, grading can be a sticky issue, so it must be consistent and formulated. My staffers get grades several ways: selling ads, selling my books, meeting deadlines, projects, and pages. I use rubrics to grade their pages with. Projects include photo challenges, interview challenges, presentations, etc. They also do grammar worksheets and sometimes we read info texts on hot topics and answer questions. All of these items can be found in my full yearbook curriculum that is ready to go for you.

In all, I realize there is a lot of turnover in the yearbook adviser world, and rightfully so. It’s not an easy job for many reasons: deadline stress, money worries, drama from staffers, unsupportive admin and/or faculty, nosy or apathetic community members, subpar publishing companies, and the list goes on and on. So, if you are a new or newish yearbook adviser, I hope I can share something from my struggles along the way that can help you. If you have a little bit of extra time, stop over by my FB page and watch my webinar on “Getting Started as a Yearbook Adviser.”

So…..my #1 tip for new yearbook advisers? Eat the elephant one bite at a time. You can’t change the world — or a yearbook program — in a day!

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Friday Flashback: April 2015 Edition

The last Friday of every month comes really quickly. We still have one more week to go in April, but it’s unbelievable that it’s already the end. I thought my April was busy, but when I stop and look at my May calendar, phew, swamped is going to be an understatement. Since this is a linky, I post my “Friday Flashback” a few days early so other bloggers have time to write and link up. Here goes… a look back at my April.

1) Easter – I wrote about Easter mini sessions that were a big part of my March on my March Flashback, but Easter Sunday was really special at the beginning of April. Our church service was moving and beautiful, and my family spent time afterwards eating a big Easter lunch, hunting eggs, and feeding Chase – that’s what my niece named the calf that was born this spring that needed to be bottle fed.

2) 2,000 Followers Milestone – When I think about how many teachers and students are reached on daily basis through the creativity and collaboration that TPT inspires, it is incredible. I’m only one fish in big sea, but just knowing that this many teachers are finding and using my classroom creations fuels me to keep going.

3) The Crucible – We just have one more week left in our Crucible unit. It never ceases to amaze me how much my juniors LOVE reading this play. We often say that teens need constant up-to-date connections or that we shouldn’t teach such old literature because it just won’t speak to this generation. I do see validity in those concerns on some levels, but I have also seen 21st century juniors beg for time to keep reading this play. I would like to think it’s in part because of the creative activities I plan or the interesting way we pause the audio and discuss ;), but mostly I just think that sometimes a great text will do all the work! One my football boys in my first period this week said as we started Act 3, “This play never slows down! There is always something going on.” Well, I couldn’t have said it better myself. What a perfect teachable moment. No matter what is going in my schedule, I always carve out a little time during this unit for the students to do some acting. What’s a play without live actors/actresses, right? I have a box of costumes, and I wrote abridged readers’ theater scripts for scenes out of each act. Here’s a couple of pictures from my class acting this week. They absolutely have a blast, and when they go out in the hallway talking about it and can’t make it in the door the next day without asking if we are going to read and act more… now that’s a good day.

4) Niece Turned One – My little Isabella is one this month. She is a busy, busy little wad, always on the move. So my mom and sister came up with the idea of doing a “Oh, the places you’ll go” themed birthday party. It turned out to be just adorable, and I loved staging the set for her pics!

5) The Yearbooks Arrived – This is the 8th book I’ve sponsored and the excitement has yet to wear off when that big rig rolls in the school driveway each April. It’s a nervous excitement when we crack open that first box, even though I’ve already checked the cover 10 times and proofread every page. Right now they are stored away for safe keeping until Distribution Day in May when we have a big celebration! More on that at the end of May!

Here’s how to link up:

– Grab my button from above. (Just copy and paste it to the top of your blog post.)

– Write about some highlights from your month. It can be events, accomplishments, or a new product. It can be anything you want to share. I write in groups of 5 – for my Fast Five.

– Once you have your post done, come back to my blog and link it up via the linky below!

– If you want to link up next month, just watch for my post near the end of the month!

Don’t have a blog, but want to get in on the fun? Just comment below with something to share from your March!

An InLinkz Link-up

Growing Yearbook Coverage: 5 Easy 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, so I wanted to elaborate and
provide some ways that I eventually worked through that. When I first started as the yearbook adviser
at my small school seven years ago, I had many battles to fight, so to speak.
The one dragon I decided to slay first and foremost was the fact that the
yearbook had morphed into this exclusive book 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 capsule I am helping
to create only reflect a portion of those events, memories, and people? So with gnashing of teeth and some tears, we
forged ahead and began to reshape our purpose.
Ultimately, we grew our coverage to represent our entire school. In
past years, we have had up to 70% coverage of students in our book least 3
times. Here are 5 ways that any staff
can include more students in your book.

#1) Creative Projects

Yearbook Info Text Lesson & Media Project {Cliques Hot Topic}

Back to School Yearbook Coverage Project

Most of the time students stick to one group or set of friends because
that is easy and safe. Yearbook students are no exception. One way to ensure diverse coverage is to assign
staffers projects that reach out to different students throughout the school. If
staffers have a task (attached to a grade), they are more likely to get out of
their comfort zone and reach out to more students. Not only does this begin to build more
opportunities for coverage, but it also begins to build trust bridges between
the staff and the student body. If the students see that we are reaching out to
all students, no matter what group, then they begin to see value in what we are
doing. And that, well, that affects our bottom line. Over the years, I’ve done several projects
that promote coverage. The projects
always have a theme, require an interview and picture, and must be presented in
class. That way I can make sure my
staffers are reaching out to a variety of other students, we are collecting
good pictures, and I have a grade for my grade book! One new project I did this
year for back to school is my From Clique to Click: Breaking Down Barriers
Project. It really ignited some great discussion and
some great images.

#2) Offer Incentives:

There are and will always be those students who are shy or quiet and
could get lost in the shadows. My staff often struggles with how to reach out
because we don’t want to embarrass anybody, but we also know we have a task to
do. We want everyone, and we really want them at least three times. That is a
tall order, I know, but it makes for a much more meaningful book. Technology is your friend when it comes to
yearbook. Kids are always taking a selfie
or posing with their friends before a game, but they would never feel
comfortable letting a staffer take their picture. Set up a Dropbox, email, Facebook page, or
Instagram where students can submit their own pictures. In return, feature those images on sales
posters in the hallway. Just be sure to
ask their permission or state that upfront.
Another idea to get stellar
images from students is to host a photo contest. I set up 5 or so categories
(school spirit, landscape, illustration, etc.) and let students submit their
images. We get our yearbook
representative to help us judge (sans names), and those students win a small
prize. Plus those images with the photographers’ names are featured in the
book and in a hallway display, and you can use all the other images, too! Sometimes we just need a
picture quick to go with a quote perhaps, but students are so reluctant. What
we’ve found is that no one can resist a sweet treat! Invest in some candy to
give students who are willing to pose, and you will have line!

Print tags on colored paper using Avery Label Templates and tape to suckers

#3) Redesign:

Thoughtful design and layout plays a big role in how many students you
can cover in a book. My book is about 200
pages, the smallest trim size available, and we have about 600 students. Some pages you may have not thought of to use
for coverage include business advertisements and index. If a business has affiliations with a
student, maybe they would like to give a shout out on their ad. Another type of ad that generates both
coverage and money is the Senior Memory Ad paid for by the family of the
senior. Also, you can include sidebars or photo bars on the portrait pages or
club group pictures in the reference section. Just get crafty, shrink those
mugs, and move in some cute packages with tons of interesting pictures and
coverage. Most kids don’t love their school picture anyway! Use that space to
cover them in a more natural, fun way!

#4) Think Beyond Pictures:

Numbers “count” as coverage, too.

· – Include authentic quotes from students in
opening quotes and captions

· – Use charts and graphs to reflect survey results
that include entire classes or groups of students.

· – Scoreboards for sports seasons reflect entire
teams. With a quick quote or image carefully placed, those stats have extra
meaning.

Numbers are coverage, too!

#5) Maintain a Diverse Staff:

Birds of a feather flock together, right? You might be a yearbook nerd
if….

Yearbook Staff Application and Parent/Student Contract -Ed

Yearbook can definitely be its own little tribe, but staffers must be
open-minded and invested in the goal. I
think part of the problem that I had when I first started was that yearbook class was
only for seniors. It was an exclusive entity, and the privilege
was there to be taken advantage of. Only
certain people were able to join, and everything was a secret. I want my staff
to think of themselves as working for the school, not the other way
around. We are creating a gift for
everyone. If possible, take applications
to see what qualifications students have and how diverse they are with their
interests, activities, and skills.
Accept applications from sophomores, juniors, and seniors so that it is
easier to reach out more. Once you have
an established staff, be sure to keep it mixed up to avoid cliques forming inside
the staff. Randomly assign projects and keep page assignments thoughtful and
purposeful.

Covering each student at least three times is a huge task, but one very
worthy of our time and attention. We’ve never had 100% coverage of every
student three times, but we’ve gotten close.
It is something we start focusing our energies on from the first week of
school. Be organized, keep lists, and
make sure it’s everybody’s task. Challenge your staff to see how many different
people they can cover on a page and offer incentives to them. It is a struggle, but it’s a productive one!

End of Year Reflection: Best of the Best 2016

Tips for New Yearbook Advisers

Friday Flashback: April 2015 Edition

Growing Yearbook Coverage: 5 Easy Ways to Include More Students

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