HowTo: Have a good advisory
- Eat. Stop at the store. Pick up some donuts, mini-muffins, and assorted fruit. Advisory isn't a fun place for students. Make it more inviting. Bribery through food is a good start.
- Apologize. Mainly apologize for using the "curriculum" you're supposed to be using. Be honest. Tell them you were trying to the the right thing, but some times the "right thing" isn't what's right.
- Talk. This is big. At this point students will most complain about how stupid advisory is and how it could be used for so many more useful things. Complaining is good
- Share. Show a couple video clips you particularly like. Show a couple video clips students like.
- Enjoy. The first advisory meeting you've had all year that wasn't forced or awkward.
Advisory (a.k.a. mentor/mentee, homeroom, seminar, etc.) is designed to be a time where students meet with a teacher to form a relationship outside of the traditional teacher/student interactions. Teachers meet with the same group of students for all four years of high school with the expectation that deeper and more lasting relationships will be formed between students and teacher. I believe that a well executed advisory can be a positive influence on school culture and student success. However, our system is broken.
In a nutshell, here are the major problems:
- We meet with our advisories every two weeks for 30 minutes. This isn't enough to form lasting relationships.
- Activities and "curriculum" used for advisory are developed on an "as-we-go" basis. There just isn't time to develop this stuff on the fly.
- A small, under-attended, over-stressed committee of five or six individuals designs the "curriculum" that is used for advisory. Six simply isn't enough people to tackle this monumental task.
- All levels use the same "curriculum" materials. All grade levels- and especially freshman and senior levels- should have their own goals and activities.
Today, I quit. I stopped using the materials provided. I stopped using any formal materials. I couldn't put my students or myself through that uncomfortable hell of pushing through an activity that neither of us thinks is appropriate or helpful.
If you had been visited my classroom during this time you wouldn't have been blown away by anything that happened. If you had been in my classroom for every other advisory to see the awkward and forced interactions that used to be the norm you'd understand my enthusiasm more clearly.
As educators we want so much for advisory to be valuable that we forget the most valuable part is just getting to know our students. You don't need a formal curriculum for that. You just need time and desire (a few donuts don't hurt either).
At least you get 30 minutes every other week. We get 15 minutes, once a month. While we don't have a curriculum, we also don't have time to do more than hand out library overdue notices and student handbooks...
I sincerely hope the school isn't trying to sell that as anything other than a designated place to pass out notices and paperwork. 15 minutes once a month is barely enough time to get to know anyone's name, let along form any sort of relationship.
I think an advisory can be a valuable & positive part of school culture- if it is implemented in a thoughtful, meaningful way. Too often schools seem to be thinking that just throwing a bunch of kids and a teacher together a few times a year will make school a happier place for everybody. Too often it does the opposite...
Ben,
Good, good, good. All this is very good.
I believe Dy/Dan had some stuff up about semi-recently about making advisory work; a search would probably pull it up.
Chris Lehman, out of Science Learning Academy (http://practicaltheory.org) also has revolutionized advisory in his school.
Me? I say continue in this excellent vein you've established and let the kids take even more control. This is *their* time. They know what they need. Guide a conversation in which they brainstorm the most effective ways for them to use advisory with your expert guidance, and co-create a situation where they can do just that.
And thanks for the tweet on my last post. I always get a little giddily embarrassed when someone thinks enough of what I've written to advertise it. 🙂
Unfortunately there are only two more advisories for my Seniors before they're gone. I waited much too long to put the relationships first. I mean, I always cared about the relationships, but by using the planned curriculum I wasn't demonstrating that care.
I think I've read the bits over at dy/dan and many of Chris Lehmann's posts as well. I like your comments here about making it their time. At this point I think much of my planning will go towards next year's advisory- but this time I start off making it clear that I'm interested in them first.
You probably don't get as many shout-outs as you deserve. Your thoughts, critiques, and comments at your blogging space and in other locations around the web are generally insightful & thought-provoking- and in my mind that's exactly what makes this format powerful.
Do you have a twitter account? I tried finding it but didn't have any luck.