It is now a few months in and I have to say that I could not be happier with the way that my students are progressing. The yearbook is coming along wonderfully. I am starting to feel a bit more confident when using InDesign. I still have a lot to learn, there are so many different steps that have to be taken to place photos and text. I am still working on relearning it all.

The students have been wonderful and trying to keep me up to date with what they have been working on and what they have been doing to gather their information. They are still a bit unsure on choosing the right pictures, so we have spent time going through pictures and discussing why this one would be good or why it would be a bad picture.

We are also starting coming up on the first deadline, which they are not so thrilled about. They are now starting to realize that its approaching crunch time. This is a pretty laid back class and sometimes keeping them on task can be a challenge. However, I think with the deadline looming up ahead they are starting to realize that they need to really buckle down and get to work.

I have also had the chance to sit down and start reviewing these pages. There are some really good ones, ones that need a little work and then there are those that really need some work. I can really tell which ones have been on task so far and have really been working on their pages. I just have to keep in mind that for most of these students this is the first time they have worked on a yearbook or a project of this nature.

I have also been working with the newspaper staff, though I don't get to see them as often. I have already taught one lesson for them. I did that lesson on the use of the AP Stylebook, a book that if any of them are planning a career in journalism, will find it to be one of their best friends. This book is a set of rules that guides all journalists. It can be a bit confusing at first but once they start using it more often, they will become more comfortable with the book.

In the lesson, I went through what it was and what it is used for. I believe that like a new computer program, sometimes the easiest way to learn how to use it is to just start playing around with it. So, I went through some of the major sections that the students would be working with most often. I gave them examples and had them look up the answers. I would not just allow them to throw out answers, but they had to explain to me where in the book they found it and the reason the book gives.

I have already noticed that a few of them have started to use the book, which is nice to see. There are a couple of students in this class that I can see have a very successful journalism career. Maybe one day I will see their name in the newspaper, as a by-line.