Information Gathering and Organization

As a personal stylist for Lara Veronin for three years, I had the opportunity to hone my information gathering and organization abilities. Through combining primary and secondary research, I analyzed Lara's public image from media sources and later conducted a style consultation to understand her personality, body type, lifestyle, values, and preferences. My approach to organizing information for Lara involved using digital tools, categorizing information, ensuring relevancy, and regularly updating the information. First, I made a “Lara” folder in Google Drive to access and review it from anywhere, most conveniently on my phone. Initially, I put all files into one folder, but the amount of information quickly became overwhelming, and it took me a long time to find what I wanted. So, I sorted all files into smaller categories (new sub-folders) that made sense to me as I collected them, like Inspiration for Performances, Press Conferences Looks, Where Do We Go Music Video References, etc. This helped me to quickly find files or sort new references easily, which saved time when meeting with others and referencing during shopping. I kept a Notes file about Lara’s style and preferences on my phone to help me tailor research for her. I reviewed my folders every quarter to ensure I had properly categorized files, sorted the miscellaneous, and deleted files no longer relevant to free up digital storage space. I set a reminder on Google Calendar to renew every three months to make this process easy to remember.

 I became well-versed in gathering information about styling clients and analyzing their images from the Personal Stylist course at The Academy of Professional Image (AOPI) (3.1: Certified Personal Stylist and Image Mastery for Women Certificate). The AOPI course taught me styling principles and techniques and how to adapt them to individual people. To do this well, I had to collect sufficient client data. First, I created my own Pre-Consultation Questionnaire to understand my clients and their goals better before we met during a style consultation. I used several forms for collecting personal data and analyzing clients’ styles provided by AOPI in their proprietary template, the Style File, such as the Lifestyle Analysis (% of time spent in a typical week as client’s different roles and activities), the Style Personality Quiz, and a Shopping List Form. I stored the master template files on my laptop but preferred printing and professionally binding color copies. Early on, I had clients tally hours for the Lifestyle Analysis (different roles and % of time spent in a typical week) by hand during the consultation. I found clients had trouble balancing how much time was spent doing which activities, struggled with math calculations, and was time-consuming. After realizing this, I created a Lifestyle Analysis Sheets file to conveniently compute the total hours, making completing the form easier and quicker for my clients, which I sent out with the Pre-Consultation Questionnaire. I sent clients these as editable forms via Drive to make them accessible and efficient. My clients said having access in Drive made it easier to review on their phones.

I created a style file for Lara, which organized and summarized my research on her (3.2: Lara Veronin’s Style File). I printed color copies of the Style File and coil-bound it with a transparent cover for each client. As Lara and I did the consultation, we filled out the template pages with a pen together to personalize the book about her style. I removed irrelevant pages by ripping them out, such as other face shapes, so the only pages left were tailored to Lara. The first page summarized the book's essential points, which I completed as we went through it to make the most important information accessible. Because Lara was an early client, she tallied her Lifestyle Analysis in the Style File by hand. The colorful pages of Do's and Don't's garment suggestions are located at the back for quick access, as is the list of alternations needed. A criticism I had about the design of the Style File was the lack of a table of contents or page numbers, which would have improved the efficiency of locating information. Without page numbers, it was easy to rip out different pages and for the result to still be cohesive. I do not own a binding machine, but with one it would be more efficient to print only the pages I needed for each client and bind them myself. If I begin doing style consultations again, I would love to personalize the book on Google Slides or PowerPoint during the consultation by adding page numbers that auto-update when adding or removing pages and by curating a table of contents. I cannot alter each page's design because AOPI created this book, and I bought an annual license for its use. I would love to invest the time to create my version of the Style File, with the ability to update my references quarterly. I think AOPI made the Style File to be printed out and personalized with a pen to prevent digital plagiarism and unauthorized use of their materials. Still, I feel it comes across as unprofessional, and the information would be better printed and further personalized.

Throughout my 14 years of teaching English at Beth’s Academy, writing report cards has been a valuable way for me to develop my information gathering and organizational skills. Initially, I used to handwrite report cards for my students. However, I found this process time-consuming, and I struggled to remember all the details about each student at the end of the semester. Over time, I have refined my method by using a more systematic approach to gathering information and polished my presentation (3.3 Beth's Academy Grade One First Semester 2022 Report Card Comments).

I evaluated my system and made several changes to improve my report cards. Instead of handwriting my comments, I began typing them using Word to allow for longer and more detailed feedback. I added a class overview to inform parents better and recreated six categories, such as participation and behavior, that were not tested but observed and “graded” from 1-5. For the “homework” category, I calculated the percentage of homework completed and commented on their effort. I solicited teachers for help, and one shared his system of observing two students daily. I tried this, detailing information on a few students during class each day and noting their strengths and weaknesses throughout the semester. I kept some lined paper on my clipboard and wrote observations, like “raises hand often” or “loses attention when choral reading,” Initially, I was very unstructured. I learned to use different symbols to collect information quickly, like using checks for raising hands during discussions for participation. I made the mistake of waiting until the end of the semester to decipher and organize my notes and found I failed to collect enough information.

To fix this, I created a form to match the categories to gather intel mid-lesson quickly. In my first draft, I used Word to create a table of 20 rows (class list) x 3 columns (categories), each on two pages, with my class list on the left side. I forgot to use symbols and just wrote notes, quickly running out of room. Therefore, I recreated a second draft, creating a 2x3 table (one box per category). I split each box in two, so I could record two students on the same paper and use one form per day. I used this for a few months and found it hard to know which students I observed. Recently, I decided to use one page per student and record multiple days of observations in the same box; I usually switched my pen color to keep track of different days. This enables me to see changes and patterns in each category over time and much less flipping through pages of notes. On my monthly attendance sheet, which is always the top page of my clipboard, I put a colored dot next to the students’ names as I observed them to see whom to watch next. I put the student forms under the attendance sheet to quickly flip and record mid-class, concealing from students. I used these forms as one of the sources of information to inform my detailed comments for the report cards, with the other source being grades.

Student grades are integral to the report card. When we adopted our new curriculum, I suggested to my manager, Albert, that we switch to an online grading system. I shared my adapted digital templates with him, inspiring him to create Google Sheets templates for our school. I learned to input test scores to calculate and summarize grades, which saved time, was more accurate, and helped me identify patterns in my class’s performance. Despite a learning curve with efficient data entry, I eventually figured out a faster system. I learned to correct assessments and immediately update the spreadsheet to prevent the workload from building up, usually weekly. I use the Sheet file to inform my report card comments better and mark student growth over the semester. The class overview and student summaries help me identify struggling students and provide intervention. I recently trained a new teacher and suggested using the weekly planning period to mark and input grades for efficiency and printing and organizing resources for the upcoming week. Teachers administer a Benchmark test three times a year to measure student performance. I requested Albert to create a Benchmark spreadsheet to compare students’ scores so we can better adjust our lessons. Gathering information on my students and organizing the data is fundamental to inform the decisions I make as a teacher and for my manager about the future of how our school is run.

Evidence in Support of Information Gathering and Organization

3.1 Certified Personal Stylist and Image Mastery for Women Certificate

3.2: Lara Veronin’s Style File

3.3 Beth's Academy Grade One First Semester 2022 Report Card Comments