Yes you too can be organized
Yes you too
can be organized!
As a yearbook adviser, you wouldn’t think this, but one of the first things I look at when meeting an adviser for the first time is their desk. Can I actually see the desk? Is it a mound of paperwork falling over? Does the adviser remember our appointment or stare at me saying “I completely forgot you are coming today!”
We all have those days and moments where organization is not our best trait. After having my daughter I certainly feel scatterbrained and often times wonder where my brain went. But with yearbook advisers, I feel strongly that organization is the key to success. While it’s nice to have a journalism degree, understand desktop publishing and have experience, none of that matters if you aren’t organized.
So with the start of the 2014-2015 school year, I thought I would offer up some points on the top five ways to make your yearbook life more organized and therefore, more successful!
2) File everything in cabinets or bins. Need to find the rubrics we gave you at the summer workshop? Wait, you have a file folder called rubrics. Deadline agreements from this year and prior year are in your calendar and a file folder. InDesign or Online Design manuals are in their own folder. Fedex labels? Yes, there’s even a file for that.
3) Spread planners. What’s a spread planner? There are so many different varieties out there that teachers have used and Walsworth even offers. But at the simplest, it is usually some kind of folder that holds a printout of the spread, any copy, photo edits, caption charts and a checklist for the section editors and EICs. Long story short, it’s a great way to constantly check on the progress of a page and the progress of your editors.
4) Five minute meetings. Depending on the length of your yearbook class, these can happen daily or weekly. But it’s a great opportunity for your yearbook editors to speak with the class as a whole and then later on follow up with you on everyone’s progress. It’s so much easier to stay caught up when your students are actually doing their assigned roles.
5) Be their teacher. I know yearbook is overwhelming and often times you want to throw your hands in the air and say I’m not paid enough to do this! But the kids are relying on you and looking up to you. Make them accountable for missed deadlines, lost equipment, bad work. Conversely, reward them for a great job and hard effort. Let their principal know how hard they have worked. If you hold the kids accountable, chances are they will work harder and better to keep gaining your approval. And that in turn, will make your life easier!
Still not convinced you can be as organized as you need to be? Contact Melissa and me today to have us come in and observe your class. Afterwards, we can offer some tips and give you things to use immediately to streamline your process. Yes, your yearbook can run like a well-oiled machine!
