2024-2025 Adviser Planner is now available!
The Organized Adviser Summer Training
Unlike most other program leaders who operate as a team or with an assistant director, journalism teachers often run their program alone. The subject matter is unique, as you're tasked with both teaching students and production responsibilities. Not to mention, you are publishing content the entire school community will see - and judge.
You're constantly juggling lesson plans, printer deadlines, communicating with advertisers, nurturing relationships with vendors, marketing, fundraising, and selling - all while also trying to wrangle students into creating content worth publishing.
You may have been thrown into this position, and may not even have a writing or design background. That can be a daunting task for anyone, but rest assured - you are not alone.
I joined the yearbook staff in 8th grade and it was my life in high school. I loved the storytelling, the design, the cover materials, my teacher, the trips, the contests, all of it. But I thought it was all over when I graduated high school.
After college, I went to work in marketing. Turns out, cubicle life was NOT for me, so I looked into teaching. I was a super young – first-year teacher – alternatively certified – who looked like I was still in high school myself – had literally never stood in front of a classroom before – given four preps – to handle by myself. I was thrown into the classroom mid-year and let me tell you – it was sink or swim.
Luckily – after lots of tears – I learned to swim.
Eventually – after more tears but also lots of laughs – I was running an award-winning program with kids who were actually learning valuable things and having so much fun doing it.
I was a high school journalism teacher for five years and it was one of the most special seasons of my life. Now, I am back doing marketing (for my husband’s company) and I get to help journalism advisers across the country learn how to swim.
Most journalism teachers are plucked from the English department. That makes sense, as writing and storytelling are such an important part of teaching journalism.
But most ELA teachers don’t have a background in design, leaving them stuck with decades-old boring templates and reaaaaaally not sure how to teach graphic and layout design.
Master the exposure triangle and learn how to teach it your students. We’ll cover the technical aspects of digital photography, but also discuss how to teaching it in a journalism setting.
You’ll be able to teach students how to document student events with captivating photos for their publications.
By investing in yourself, you’re investing in your program and your students. There are a lot of really great resources out there to help teachers master their craft, but it’s not that simple for journalism teachers.
Sometimes it take one-on-one training for things to really click. I’m so excited to learn about your program and see how we can take it to the next level!
The six-week program runs from June 7 – July 16, 2021.
We will meet 2x/week virtually via Zoom at a mutually agreed upon time. All sessions will be recorded to refer back to.
In-person training may be available, depending on COVID concerns.
All projects are taught from the teacher-to-student perspective as an example, but we will also cover how to teach the lesson to students.
ASSIGNMENT: One (1) photoshoot with a human subject. (You will need to find a volunteer.)
OBJECTIVE: You will learn how to plan, shoot, cull, edit, and write captions.
MATERIALS: digital camera, computer with Photoshop (and/or Lightroom)
TIME: 2 weeks
ASSIGNMENT: Two (2) layout projects – one for newspaper and one for yearbook.
OBJECTIVE: You will learn how to decide on a topic, source inspiration, create main content, include secondary coverage, build a layout, and revise after receiving edits.
MATERIALS: computer with InDesign (or publisher design software)
TIME: 2 weeks for each layout
NOTE
Additional projects are available upon request. Let me know what specific area you’d like to cover and we can adjust your projects.
All projects are taught from the teacher-to-student perspective as an example, but we will also cover how to teach the lesson to students.
ASSIGNMENT: One (1) photoshoot with a human subject. (You will need to find a volunteer.)
OBJECTIVE: You will learn how to plan, shoot, cull, edit, and write captions.
MATERIALS: digital camera, computer with Photoshop (and/or Lightroom)
TIME: 2 weeks
ASSIGNMENT: Two (2) layout projects – one for newspaper and one for yearbook.
OBJECTIVE: You will learn how to decide on a topic, source inspiration, create main content, include secondary coverage, build a layout, and revise after receiving edits.
MATERIALS: computer with InDesign (or publisher design software)
TIME: 2 weeks for each layout
NOTE
Additional projects are available upon request. Let me know what specific area you’d like to cover and we can adjust your projects.
Tuition for the private coaching program is $2,500 and includes private coaching of adviser and students, hand-on consultation through design and theme development process, lesson plans, and production of the early phases of your publications.
Tuition is to be paid in full prior to start of the program. Please contact me at [email protected] to start the contract process.