Grade 12 • Lesson 1 of 43
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Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 12 • Phase 1, Unit Y1: Kickoff & Planning Systems

Understanding the Yearbook as a Whole Project

Today's focus: Understanding the Yearbook as a Whole Project

⚠️ Heads-Up: Only About a Third of the Senior Class Is In This Room

Most seniors are enrolled in other CTE programs, not this class -- so the roughly one-third of the senior class actually producing this book is responsible for capturing and representing all of them. That's exactly why cross-class coordination, advance photoshoot planning, and a hard production schedule matter so much: there's no spare roster to redo missed work at the last minute when this few people are covering an entire grade.

✅ Before Students Arrive

📓 Daily Notebook Routine (students already know this)

Keep this going every day, in your class notebook: date today's entry, jot your Do Now response, add any new vocabulary word(s) from today's Key Vocabulary section (word + a quick picture + a simple definition in your own words), and take 60 seconds to sketch something connected to today's topic. This notebook is yours to study from, reference on projects, and pull evidence from later for your portfolio.

🗣️ Opening: Do Now

Write or project this, and have students start immediately:

“Flip through a past yearbook. List every distinct section you can find in 3 minutes.”

📋 Class Plan (step by step)

  1. Step 1 — 10 min

    🗣️ Say: "Today we're looking at ___." Then walk through the point(s) below at the front of the room.

    📋 Mini-lesson: why yearbooks run on a fixed print deadline, and what happens if a section misses it (10 min).

  2. Step 2 — 15 min

    🗣️ Say: "Let's hear from a few people before we move on."

    📋 Class discussion: finalize our own section list for this year's book, informed by the sample and by what's realistic for our class size (15 min).

  3. Step 3 — 10 min

    🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.

    📋 Preview the systems ahead: shared Drive folder, planning Google Doc, tracking spreadsheet, and photo submission Form -- we'll build each one together over the next few lessons (10 min).

🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today

Section
One defined part of the yearbook (like Senior Portraits or Clubs & Sports) with its own owner and content.
Production Schedule
The fixed timeline a print project must hit at each stage to ship on time.
Stakeholder
Anyone with a stake in the yearbook's outcome -- classmates, families, staff, and the school.

✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket

A few minutes before the bell, say: "Time to finish your exit ticket."

“Which yearbook section are you most interested in helping lead, and why?”

Collect exit tickets (or have students leave them in the usual spot) for the regular teacher to review.

⏳ If You're Short on Time

Protect the Do Now and the Exit Ticket above all else -- those are how the regular teacher tracks daily progress. If a step above is optional/homework, or is a "share out"/discussion step, shorten or skip it first.

⏳ If Students Finish Early

Have them keep working in their notebook: add extra detail to today's vocabulary sketch, review previous vocabulary, or -- if this is a portfolio update week for this class -- work on their portfolio. Early finishers should never be idle or distracting to classmates still working.

📝 For the Regular Teacher (fill in ahead of time)