Blog #4: Interview 1 and presentation 1

1.) In what way did the first interview affect your presentation? Please explain, be specific and use an example.

The first interview didn't really affect the topic of my presentation, but it did sort of affect the content. I chose to talk about theme, but in order to properly explain theme, you have to have a good yearbook example. According to Joseph Chan, mastering writing, photo, and design is essential to creating a good yearbook. So, I picked one of my favorite books which I felt had mastered writing, photo, and design, which was Brentwood High School's "Where Brentwood Happens" yearbook.

2.) What do you say stood out about your presentation performance and why?

When I used the book for my presentation, I wanted to show what thought goes into making a yearbook theme smooth. It's sort of difficult to describe a "smooth" yearbook theme, but it's a kind of theme that doesn't get drilled word-for-word into your brain from repetition, or gets boring from being used too often throughout the book. A good theme plays on words, mixes and matches related phrases, and integrates itself into the very structure of the book (i.e. section titles, and how the book is designed or formatted.) A good theme doesn't scream at you. No, a good theme should seem gently patted and kneaded into the pages of the book. There, the theme becomes one with the format and the style of a yearbook, and becomes second-nature to the reader, an underlying and almost unseen part of the book. I wanted to show that to the class, and that it isn't just award-winning books like Brentwood that are able to do this. iPoly does it too. So, besides explaining Brentwood's book and how their theme was woven in, I also pulled examples from our past books, to try and create that little "a-ha!" moment in the eyes of the iPoly readers.

3.) What was the most challenging thing to do and why?

The most challenging thing to do, in my opinion, was try and come up with something for my 5-minute that I wouldn't need to use for my final presentation. I don't want to limit my options for activities and topics too much.

Blog #3: 5-minute presentation rough draft

Objective:

To help the class understand the concept of theme, and how it affects different aspects of the yearbook.

Procedure:

Because the students will not know what to look for if I don't explain to them what theme is, I will give a brief explanation of theme. I will touch on the different places where the theme is integrated into the book (such as: section titles, module titles, style of writing, etc.) [1 minute] I will then divide the class into 3-5 groups, each with their own yearbook (either a "My Paradigm" (2009-2010) or a "Know what I mean?" (2010-2011) book). Each group will have to find phrases that relate to the theme that are found within the book [2 minutes]. At the end, the class will share out what they found [1 minute].

Check for understanding:

Each group (or maybe one or two, depending on time constraint) will share what theme they had, which phrases they found within the book, and how it relates to the theme.

Materials:

• 3 copies of both "My Paradigm" and "Know what I mean?"
• Timer

Blog #2: Interview questions

Besides the five questions provided by the senior team, I would also like to ask my interviewee, Mimi Orth, these questions:

1. What are traits or similarities that you find in successful yearbooks?
2. What do you think makes a good editor?
3. What do you think are the differences between regular journalism and yearbook/scholastic journalism?
4. How does creative writing factor into yearbook copy?
5. What is the best way to strengthen a yearbook’s theme?
6. What do you think is the best way to help our photography?
7. Are there any activities that you suggest our photographers do?
8. What are the differences between ROP/artistic photography and Yearbook photography? How can I explain this to our staff?
9. What do you think are the problem areas in design for the average yearbook staff?
10. What kind of students should we look for when recruiting designers?
11. What do you think are the most common misconceptions when coming into yearbook? How can we dispel these beliefs?
12. Is there anything you would like to add about yearbook?

Blog #1: Senior project topic

1.) What is your senior topic?

Yearbook.

2.) Why?

Yearbook is really what has defined my experience at iPoly, and has basically been my life over the past two years. It has sucked up lunches and many after-school hours. It has stolen my weekends and breaks with editor meetings. It has kept me staring at a computer screen for hours on end, sorting images, measuring internal margins, cutting people out of pictures, fooling around with type, and designing spreads and division pages.

Yet, despite all of this time that has been absorbed by the giant sponge that is Yearbook, it is still what I look forward to during the week. When I walked into Strand's room last year and sat in front of a computer, poring over the tiniest details then stepping back to make sure the layouts flowed, I was in my element. I liked doing the work. Not to mention people praised me for it, which made it all the more enjoyable.

Last year, I was elected Editor-in-Chief for iPoly's 2011-2012 yearbook. This was also a factor in me deciding my senior topic; I already knew it was basically mandatory for me to have my senior project topic be Yearbook, but I didn't mind too much. It was honestly a bit of a relief - this is something that I enjoy doing, and I also wouldn't be distracted from Yearbook by my senior project this way. I could focus on making this year's book.

3.) What do you hope to accomplish after studying this topic all year?

My main goal is to take this year's book to the next level, and produce a beautiful book. The book has improved drastically from just my freshman year, even from just 2010 to 2011. I plan to keep this progress going in full force, and I hope that studying Yearbook this year will help me.