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Advisory - For Real

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The first session I attended was on Advisories.  The presenter acknowledged that not all schools have Advisory programs, others have beginning programs, and others have long-established programs, so the presentation would address the research-based facets of long-established programs that have shown student success and growth.

Advisories are times for social and emotional development and growth.  In order to "work" Advisories should be at least 15-20 minutes each day.  There are three components of every Advisory meeting: Belonging, Significance, and Fun.  Each student should feel like they belong to that group (their Advisory), which, in turn, develops into a larger belonging to the school family.  The activities done in Advisory should have obvious significance for the students - and not the type of significance where the teacher knows why it is significant, but the students shrug their shoulders when asked.  Students play main roles in developing content of Advisory time.  Finally the activities and time spent together should be fun!

 The suggested Advisory plan had the same structure each day:

  • Arrival Welcome - greet each student by name, ask them how they are, or how something specific in their life is going - show from the first minute that you care about them.
    • Presence - be ready when the students arrive. Greet them in the hallway if possible.
  • Announcement - Post the schedule so that as students come in their plan to expect the activity for the day - list any new announcements they will need to be made aware of.
  • "Hello" - have students greet each other by name each day; (this can be a fun activity).
  • Activity - this is the time to help foster social and emotional growth. Activities vary on students, school programs, and goals
The takeaways I left the session with are:
  1. As it stands now, when do we have time in "Advisory" to foster social and emotional growth?
  2. How can we make Advisory time 15-20 minutes each day?
  3. If all Advisories are not created equal, how can we make each experience equal for all students?

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