2. Stories are everywhere
Be interested to create an interesting story.
If you act like you care about people, you will have
opportunities to care about them.
If you care about them, you will want to tell their
stories.
Whole school surveys
Assigned beats
Focus groups
Randomly selected students
Specifically selected students
Teacher recommendations
Open your eyes and ears
Ask people about themselves
4. Whole school surveys
Obtain administrative approval
Get teacher buy-in (bribes can work)
Have teachers support your goal
Do it on one day, collect it that day
Sort& read all the surveys as a sponge
activity or “bonus time” activity (this can
be extra credit, an assigned grade, or a
“work night” activity)
5. Assigned beats
Journalistic approach to coverage
Setup a system for getting and reporting
information
Have share time so staffers are made aware
of interesting events (overlap coverage)
A regular beat report IS a grade and has
academic merit
7. Focus Groups
Invitations- specific vs. general topics
Scheduled events- organized & prepared
On-the-spot- stop in to a meeting
Surveys- tailor questions to each group
Infiltrate the group- have staffers join
10. Specifically selected students
Everyone who had only 1 entry last year
Students
who are in a given group or
demographic designation
Students our staffers know (1 degree)
Students staffers’ friends know (2 degrees)
Students the friends know (3 degrees)
11. Teacher recommendations
Emails to teachers
Don’t just ask for “kids who are different”
Counselors also have access to students
Can be standouts or just interesting
13. Open your eyes & ears
Hallway observations are valuable
Stay IN at lunch
Go OUT at lunch
Come to school extra early
Stay extra late
Make it a contest to find the best story
14. Ask people about themselves
Insteadof staying in your comfort zone,
begin conversations with others
Comment on a piece of clothing, an
accessory, a homework assignment, a
situation, the weather- whatever
Learn to ask questions and listen more
than you talk- the one who leaves with the
most information wins, and you want to win.
17. Proximity
How close is the event to your school?
Isthe event in your town or surrounding
area? (city, county, region, state, country, etc.)
How much is it reported in local news?
Ifit’s not close, it doesn’t have proximity,
but that doesn’t remove it from the list, it
just doesn’t get full points for MOST
IMPORTANT
18. Currency / Timeliness
Since
the book comes out in May (or
August), it needs to be a story that still
matters.
Historical content matters.
Evergreen material matters.
19. Impact
How many people were affected?
In what way were they affected?
How significant were the effects?
How many people could relate to this?
20. Prominence
Important people matter to others.
Famous people anchor the year in their
timeliness or popularity
Student Body Officers, Elected Queens &
Kings, Teachers & Administrators, etc.
Politicians,
School Board members,
Superintendent, etc.
21. Conflict
If it bleeds, it leads (gross!)
Teenagers can relate to drama
We like to hear about a problem- we get
emotionally involved
People who overcome tragedy are inspiring
22. Entertainment
Funny isn’t universal, but it’s close
Bizarre traits or events catch our attention
Thisis pretty much the excuse for telling a
story when it doesn’t have any other news
value at all
23. All materials presented…
Remain the property and copyright of the various
owners of the original works.
These yearbook samples were presented at BALFOUR
workshops for the benefit of their clients and
customers.
Please do not alter these presentations.
Use of these shows is intended only for individual
adviser-to-staff classroom teaching, not for publication
or reproduction in any form for any type of
presentation at a conference, camp, convention, or
gathering of multiple schools’ staffs.