Booklets for annual teacher professional development sessions
Project Description
Communication and Information Technology (CIT) received two very different manuscripts for briefs to be used as training materials at two sessions of a professional development conference for teachers. The briefs were written by MSU faculty members. Although the sessions were part of the same event, the goals of each publication were different, and therefore the treatments were different.
Portfolios and Student-Led Conferences
The first manuscript, Portfolios and Student-Led Conferences, had a recruitment motive in addition to its simple how-to agenda. The author wanted to encourage elementary-school teachers in the use of this teaching tool. She also wanted something that could be shared with parents to help them see the value of participating, and give them suggestions about their role. In addition, she had a number of color photographs of classroom interaction and excerpts from children's workbooks (portfolios) to illustrate the tool in action. For these reasons, we gave the piece an attractive high-end design treatment, with a hand-tailored layout and full color production. We decided that the (potentially very expensive) combination of full color and low print volume would be most cost effectively served by digital printing.
Best Practices in Classroom Management
The second manuscript, Best Practices in Classroom Management, was more straightforward in its approach. Its goal was simply to summarize current issues, research, and practical suggestions on the topic for teachers who were experiencing difficult classroom management situations. There were few graphic elements, so we adapted a standard technical report template to give it a professional look, and gave it a two-color digital production (due to the low print volume and speedy turnaround time required). This piece required extensive editing and adaptation for the audience; the original was a rough draft of a journal article.
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