There isn't any doubt! The first nine weeks of school are challenging. Your "feet" may feel like they may slip and you may struggle to maintain your footing. But do not worry, because we have some solid foundational practices that will help you keep your balance.
Keep Your Radar Up and Ask for Help!
In evaluating the upcoming months, what plans have you established for outside help? Remember, if you have work sessions late into the evening or overnight, you must have colleagues of both sexes to be chaperones and help with tasks. Will you need snacks or meals? Parents are great resources for these needs. There will be a time when someone(s) has the task of matching faces to names and checking for the correct spelling of names. Enlist someone in the Registrar or Front office to assist. If you need information from coaches, ask the Athletic Director to set up a coach's meeting for you to attend and explain your requests. Ask the students to recommend English teachers who can join one or two group sessions of copy review and provide support editing. As the saying goes, many hands make light work!
Prepare Yourself!
Some of the tasks mentioned above, or others coming ahead could seem overwhelming. To prevent that from happening, be proactive by breaking down the tasks into smaller components. Which skills, knowledge, and processes are required for each smaller component? Prepare yourself by learning those things before you teach the students. Learn alongside your staff, and allow the students to teach you.
Allow Your Student Leadership to Lead!
Part of your responsibility as the adviser is to pass responsibility to your students and back away. Let them lead! Be ready to intervene if necessary, but do not take away their jobs. Use learning activities and assessments, small group collaborations, one-to-one tutoring, and staff assignments to guide and teach. Supervise staff that leave class for photoshoots and interviews. Include leadership training as part of staff workshops. Use your weekly meetings as checkups on work progress. All of these provide a supportive framework for your team.
Don’t Be Afraid to Push the Reset Button!
As your year progresses, occasionally you may come across things you don't anticipate. There is nothing wrong with reassessing, rethinking, and reframing your ideas and content. Do not be afraid to push the reset button. The ladder organizing tool is flexible to match your needs. Be open to changing the student leadership structure mid-semester or at the end of the semester. A reshuffling of leadership can settle disputes, give opportunities to other students to improve skills and create space for collaborative creativity.
Lean into Your Administration!
Connect with the administrator responsible for the yearbook and meet with them as soon as possible at the beginning of the year. Ask if they'd be willing to come into the class, meet with the student staff, and have a Q&A on the district and school yearbook policies. Create a bridge from the staffers to the administration.
There will be a book come spring!
Believe it or not, no matter what happens, you will have a book at the end of the year. So remember to breathe! Help your students by teaching them stress management techniques that can be practiced individually or as a class. Build an area for "retreat" in the classroom: a calm, restorative space to regroup and refresh. Keep watch on the temperature of the class. Infuse the work time by sharing appropriate stories that encourage laughter. As often as possible, create family-type experiences, shared meals, an outing or two, group games, etc. At the end of the year, you will have a finished product to be proud of!
United Yearbook supports these solid yearbook practices throughout the year, not only at the beginning. In addition, there are resources such as curriculum and year-round workshops on this and other areas. Make sure to subscribe to our blog and our newsletter, and visit our website at www.unitedyearbook.net & our resource store to learn more! Use this link to schedule a one-on-one consultation with our representatives and find out all the design options that are available to you. United Yearbook is available to assist you throughout the school year.
Copyright © 2024. TSE Worldwide Press. All Rights Reserved.
Editor: Donna Ladner obtained a B.A. in Education and a minor in English from California Baptist University, and a M.S. in ESL from USC, Los Angeles. After she married Daniel, their family moved to Indonesia with a non-profit organization and lived cross-culturally for 15 years before returning to the U.S in 2012. Donna has been working as an editor and proofreader for TSE Worldwide Press and its subsidiary, United Yearbook since 2015.
Contributor: Lucy McHugh comes to United Yearbook Printing from a 39-year career in public and private school education. She was a former visual art teacher and yearbook adviser. She received a Bachelors of Science in Art from Columbia College in Columbia, SC, a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nebraska in 2000, and in 2014 earned a Certificate in Catholic School Leadership from Loyola Marymount University. Lucy enjoys her family, making art and gardening.
Comments