Page 35 - Jostens Yearbook_Adviser Guide

AFTER-SCHOOL CLINICS

TAKE IT EASY BADGES
It often feels like there’s more curriculum
It is important to set priorities—you can’t teach it all. Advisers who have to teach than time to teach it. And for club
a new staff each year are challenged to build out individual skill sets and middle school advisers, it’s magnified
by limited instructional time. These advisers
in the same way as advisers who maintain a staff over multiple years. streamline curriculum, making lists of

Therefore instruction should be focused on specific skills required to make must-have concepts that students will need
to master to simply complete a yearbook, let
a yearbook, or the adviser’s or staff’s specific goals for the year. alone to complete a high-quality publication.

In some cases, offering after-school,
STUDENT LEADERSHIP This sort of system rewards student leaders who weekend, or summer clinics helps an adviser
emerge organically, based on interest and mastery of increase the specialized knowledge of the
It is challenging to produce a quality publication the course material. yearbook staff, while at the same time
without student leaders. Unestablished programs, building a base of student leaders. Clinics
clubs and middle schools with inexperienced staff Option 3: Badges can be optional for many students, although
or intermittent participation can further challenge *Ideal for clubs a certain number should be required for
advisers to cultivate a system that allows for students interested in editorial positions,
staff editors. A third system for promoting student leaders combines especially if using a badge system.
the thinking behind applications and decisiveness
Option 1: Applications of appointments. It considers that student interests Clinics present small group, hands-on mini
change over the course of production and lets them lessons, roughly 30 minutes in length,
There are a number of ways to select students for drive the direction. with advisers choosing to do one, two or
editor leadership positions. The first has students apply three clinics in a week. Ideally, clinics are
for editorial positions. In an application-based program, This system has students select their role, earning composed of two related sessions, paired
an adviser can simply include a question that indicates badges as they master a skill. While a certain set and offered one afternoon a week. Clinic
a student’s interest in taking on a leadership position. of badges is required to be a photographer, others
are involved for photo editor. They can be earned by topics alternate weekly, to cover a variety
Similarly, an editorial application can be easily added completing assignments, covering events, passing of topics. Some sample paired clinics are
to the resumé assignment from Chapter 1. proficiency exams or attending after-school clinics. listed below:
An adviser should set this system up based on the ■ Camera check out procedure/
Option 2: Appointments
most pressing demands. white balance
Some club and middle school advisers may choose ■
to appoint their student leaders, based on interest, ISO, shutter, aperture/shooting
availability and a demonstrated level of commitment. in manual
■ Modular design survey tools
■ Marking names for index/portrait
CLUB CLUES page layout

Since clubs are already meeting after school, in-school clinics may seem unnecessary or excessive. However, ■ Writing interview questions/
having one day a week that is optional, and that allows the adviser to work with a small group on a focused caption writing
skill area, can still prove beneficial to production and help in establishing leadership.
■ Editing for bias/active vs. passive voice
■ Type treatments/creating and using
color palettes
■ Photo cutouts in Adobe Photoshop /
®
®
adjusting levels and curves in Photoshop
■ Uploading and saving photos/rating
and reviewing photos

34 SECTION 2.1 ORGANIZATION AND LEADERSHIP