The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - AUGUST 28, 2016
THE YBA DIGITAL CLASSROOM: Your Complete One-Stop Shop for Yearbook Instruction
Hello! NOW we're moving as nearly every school in the neighborhood starts their new school year this week. And yes I expect it will be a CRAZY week of muggy weather, high expectations, new students getting lost in the building, reacquainting with favorite teachers and students, and the lead-up to the start of the fall sports seasons. Here we go!
But will yearbook staffs around the region be taking pictures this opening week? I hope the answer is YES because it only happens once and is always worth remembering.
Repeating here this week: our character online video series called The Harbor is positively changing culture and climate in schools across the country. If you're a Jostens school and not using The Harbor, PLEASE contact me because this is just too good NOT to use, a real game changer, and it's all at no charge. Find out more at www.jostensrenaissance.com, just scroll down to the section on The Harbor. Watch a sample episode and you'll be a believer.
Lessons, lesson plans, videos, Powerpoints, exercises, quizzes, rubrics - the Digital Classroom has it all to instruct your yearbooking staff!
As we start this new school year what's the most important thing that any yearbook adviser should be doing right now? It's not even a guess that every adviser should begin the solid instruction of their yearbooking staff, especially those rookie members.
Giving your kids a solid foundation in the basics of yearbook journalism right from the start is the key to ultimate success this year. Yet many yearbook advisers just "wing it" at the start - no real plan, no real instruction. It's more like "let's just go do some things" at many schools.
For all of my 17+ years as a Jostens representative I've had the same question this time of year - "what are the two most important aspects of yearbooking?" When I ask staffs (and advisers) that question I often get responses like "a nice cover" or "lots of photos" or "nice pages" or similar answers. And while those things are all important they are not the two most important aspects, especially here at the very start of a new year.
The correct answer? Organization and planning. It seems so simple, yet many yearbook staffs fall short on these two basic items and then struggle as the year progresses. Organization means who do we have on staff, what is everyone's responsibility, what is expected of everyone. Planning means what will the book look like, and who is doing what, when and how. Do those two things well here in the first few weeks of the school year and the rest of the year is a breeze. Don't do it well and you're reaching for the Tylenol.
And part of good organization and planning is solid staff instruction. But even a rookie adviser doesn't have to worry because the amazing Digital Classroom on your Jostens Yearbook Avenue website has all the lessons any adviser needs to turn their group into a storytelling powerhouse. And it's all in one place, no need to go elsewhere.
For my Jostens advisers who haven't already, please log on to your YBA site (link here in the upper left column) and click on the Digital Classroom link. The first thing to examine is the quick tour of the Digital Classroom. Click on Walk Me Through for a look at the top features of the site.
Then scroll down to begin seeing what lessons are available and how they are arranged. Every adviser does this job just a little differently. Some organize by month, some by season, while others prefer to proceed by topic. You can do any of those in the Digital Classroom.
But at this time of year, my favorite Digital Classroom feature is called the Start Right Seven Week Success series. It's all of the top lessons of the Digital Classroom put together in an organized seven week plan with different items covered each day. Just follow the plan and in seven weeks you'll have yourself a fully trained staff raring to go to create your best yearbook ever and have a great experience doing it.
As the year continues perhaps you'll spot certain weaknesses in your staff's performance, anything from writing to page design to photos to sales. Then you can check out the complete list of the Seven Minute Starters in the Digital Classroom, over 200 different lessons on everything yearbook. Pick and choose the lessons you need to use.
And everything is provided for you - lesson plans and lessons based on Common Core and 21st Century Skills requirements spelled out chapter and verse. Rubrics, handouts, worksheets, quizzes, videos, PowerPoints - all right there at your fingertips. Run the plays in the Digital Classroom and your administration will see you as the well organized expert no matter your prior experience.
Tell them you really slaved over the summer in bringing all of these fabulous lessons and materials together for your students. And it's all available in the YBA Digital Classroom with just a few button clicks.
Let me take a moment here to salute my friend Sara Sausker, the architect of the Digital Classroom. Talk about slaving - Sara has worked tirelessly over the last two years in putting this incredible resource together. A former teacher and Jostens representative, Sara recognized years ago that there was a need for better yearbooking instruction but in a logical series that was easily usable by any adviser, veteran or rookie. What she and her team have put together is the envy of the industry - such a collection at your fingertips just doesn't exist anywhere else.
For my advisers, if you haven't already PLEASE take the time today to examine this awesome resource suitable for use with any yearbook class but also for clubs and looser groups. Every staff needs better instruction - the YBA Digital Classroom has it for you. Let's teach your kids the basics and more, then cut them loose to create your school's best yearbook - and storytelling experience - ever.