TO:
Robert Sennett, Principal, VAMHS
Robert Sennett, Principal, VAMHSFROM:Storey C. Smith, Yearbook advisor
Storey C. Smith, Yearbook advisorDATE:25 April 2006
25 April 2006SUBJECT: Yearbook After Action Report
Yearbook After Action ReportI write in follow up to completing the 2005-2006 VAMHS yearbook. This class is undoubtedly the most creative Language Arts opportunity available and I continue to enjoy the position of advisor, perhaps more correctly termed, “creative director.”
This year marked the start of my first full year as advisor. I introduced the In-design software to the class through a succession of “portfolio” assignments addressing a range of unrelated topics in order to develop class-wide competency in the fundamentals of desktop publishing as well as the creative application of internet research and image use without violating the laws of copyright and plagiarism. The topics diverged from The history of ancient cosmetics to Extreme sports. I am pleased with the creative results and believe the students can make good use of their work in any compilation of their high school achievements they might want to collect.
As you know, computer resources are minimal and were further hampered by the construction activities in the school. Despite this, the students displayed an acceptable level of commitment and interest in their page assignments and took advantage of after-school options as well as working independently during teacher workdays and before school. The students’ diligence in meeting deadlines needs considerable reinforcing and I am considering new methods to heighten the visibility of the individual contributors in the hope that signing their name to their work will bring out their best efforts. I believe the maneuvering needed to work on the few computers loaded with all the necessary software was tiresome and frustrating. This is true regardless of the assignment however, and not entirely a reflection on the detailed needs of yearbook development.
The development schedule was not well thought out. I allowed the students to set the content without sufficient oversight. Thus, we found that deadlines for certain pages occurred before the activity intended for the page had even started. Next year I will review the contents in conjunction with the master schedule. I also have a couple poster suggestions for our publisher in the scheduling department that will alleviate the incidence of “lost” files, photos, and pages. The pathway for storing work on the common drive was complex. Although I repeatedly requested use of, and demonstrated navigation to, the correct pathway for saving all work, students routinely saved to their private files. This prevented their editing and creative partners from viewing the work if the original student happened to be absent.
The student-developed teams and assignments worked reasonable well. Students formed competent partnerships and kept their colleagues informed about additional information needed. Collecting and securing photos for school events remains a problem. Students outside the yearbook class are sometimes tasked with or volunteer to take pictures. If the event is a one-time activity and the student forgets their camera, is a poor photographer, runs out of battery power, or simply fails to download their work before another user deletes the files, the yearbook suffers accordingly. This year the Golf Team suffered just such a failure and as a result, there are no photos of the team. I replaced the page with another school event.
Lastly, student leadership within the class is a source of strong peer-recognition. The “senior editors” and the “editor-in-chief” I selected this year were not the strongest of students academically, however they did pitch in with extra effort and, towards the end of the book’s development, this core group of students self-designated as the software experts provided much needed assistance to the slower producing students. Next year I hope to attend the publishers training classes with a couple students who can manage similar roles.
