March 26, 2008

Going Out With a Whimper

It might be a little early to proclaim that I've hardly had to throw any tantrums to get the yearbooks finished...but it might be true. As a staff, they got an earful on Tuesday. Individually, some of them have gotten an earful several times this year. Today was the day for pages to be finished, and almost everyone did. Quietly.

"Jamie, is there any reason why your pages cannot be finished today? I adjusted your layout so you CAN get it to work."

"Okay, miss."

Twenty minutes later, Jamie is sitting on the floor chatting with her partner.

"Jamie! Did you finish?"

"Yup."

And that's how most of them are. They finish and don't tell me. They don't mark their pages complete. They don't run up to me and beg for my approval when they finish. It's so strange. They just go back to their ipods, and well...whatever they do.

Of course things aren't perfect. A few of them are having difficulties with their pages. Of course. It's what's yearbook is all about. Damn difficulty. The biggest difficulty was trying to get the band director to submit her name rosters. It's been weeks. The quiet-kid-from-the-corner has been bugging her, and today I stopped by to implore that she finish because we have a deadline. I suggested to the kid that he try to get some waterworks going today. Plead with her that his life is on the line or something. He respectfully declined to resort to such measures. I had a good laugh at his expense, though. He's warming up.

The band teacher finally finished her rosters, and there goes our biggest issue. Can you believe how easy we've had it this year?

I spent all day proofing and doing minor tweaks. Tomorrow will be the same. By Friday I'll be blind from squinting at the screen, and my wrist will be limp from the fine tuning mouse work of moving elements 1/8 of a pica to find perfection. And I'll be so thankful that I'm finished--and that I'm a teacher instead of a graphic designer!

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