As we find ourselves adjusting to our temporary “shelter-in-place” and “social distancing” it’s hard to image what we can cover in the yearbook when no one is at school, or even able to stand closer than 6 feet to one another. Rather than filling your yearbook with a bunch of school closure signs or panoramic shots of kids standing far from each other, we’ve pulled a list of virtual classroom yearbook ideas to help you brainstorm. Virtually brainstorm of course.
Virtual Yearbook Spread Ideas
Virtual Spirit Week. We heard from our friends at Springton Manor Elementary School and Stewart Elementary that they are hosting Virtual Spirit Week! The teachers have set up private Google Forms for parents to access and upload photos of their children to each day. This can be a great way to keep school spirits up along with make sure you get a lot of fun photos for the yearbook.
Virtual Spirit Week
A day in the life/A week in the life. What did a typical “shelter-in-place” day/week look like? Like everyone, I’m sure it was a bit chaotic at first, but how did families keep up with their studies, healthy eating habits, and exercise? As everyone is home, it’s easy to ask for a few people to share their stories and photos, to make a memorable page or spread that will serve as a great reminder of how we all got through this experience together, yet from afar.
Remote study space. Just like you would want photos of your classroom in the yearbook, it would be great to add photos of students remote study spaces. Find out where in their homes they studied. Ask them for photos of what their workspace looks like? What did the students like about virtual leaning, and what was difficult? What hacks were students finding to make it easier?
Virtual birthday parties and events. Did your students have any virtual playdates, or birthday parties? Did they mail gifts to your friends who had birthdays now? How did celebrations continue when kids were confined to their homes? With all the online gaming capabilities, where students finding new ways to party together?
Lending a helping hand. To brighten the spirits of your entire community, now might be a good time to ask students how they are helping their communities. We heard from one of our students at Our Lady of Angels, that she and her mom went for morning walks, and collected trash around the neighborhood to help keep their streets clean.
Virtual entertainment. Though parents likely heard, “I’m bored.” more than they care to admit, students have a way of finding entertainment. What were the most popular activities for friends to do while unable to see their friends on a daily basis. What were the most popular indoor and outdoor games? Most creative? What was the most popular binge-worthy show or online game?
Pre-designed Yearbook Spreads
Be sure to check with your yearbook company to see what pre-designed yearbook spreads they offer. We’ve include some examples of ours below, feel free to bring these ideas to your own yearbook.
Social distancing may seem counterintuitive to a yearbook editor, but a yearbook is meant to represent and preserve our memories for a lifetime. And though this isn’t the most pleasant reason to make memories, I think you will be surprised to find how well communities, students, parents, and teachers are coming together, and that is definitely worth remembering.
