Just to clarify- Tomorrow (6/25) at 8-10 in the library, our meeting agenda will include: Looking at the larger group's concerns and issues about advisory, Decide whether or not those are issues that actually deal with us, Create a mission for what our (Cross's) advisory will try to accomplish and what it will look like. I'm thinking we should start with that, and then go on from there as time allows.
With all the changes coming next year, I would like to suggest we spend our first year in houses working on relationship building - among kids, ALL school staff, and administration while simultaneously piloting advisory groups. Once we have really done our homework and prepared for advisory, THEN we should roll it out (mid year or 2011/12). I think the preliminary work this summer is very, very important and I look forward to contributing... but would like us to devote substantial energy to the other big tasks that MUST be done prior to 8/30 if we are going to have functional houses next year - advisory-like work is a HUGE part of quality interpersonal relationships - so by all means GENERATE stuff - but maybe think about it in a more global (house / class) level rather than small group of 8-10 student level. Thoughts?
Chris- I hear what you are saying, and I understand that we can't afford to make critical errors when trying to implement Advisory if we want it to work, but I STRONGLY feel that whole house/grade level advisory groups will do nothing to create relationships OR disseminate information. If we are trying to reach everyone, small groups are neccessary. This is a perfect time to start, with all of the other changes going on. Our sub-committee is staffed with intelligent, passionate teachers who have great ideas and a few have experience with what we need to do. Let's see what we come up with!
I'm sorry I had to leave today's meeting early. Could someone please fill me in on what I missed after I left? p.s. I haven't seen my name on a committee list. Does this matter...and if so, who do I tell? ~Karen Robinson (I am not blog savvy... how do I get my name up?)
Sorry I couldn't make the meeting, and won't be able to make any of them, because I'm out of town. However, I'm going to weigh in on the blog because I think this is something that is tremendously important to Cross and has a lot of potential to really help kids- as well as the possibility of turning into a failure, like freshman seminar, if it's not implemented correctly. One thing I heard that troubled me is that we are considering making homeroom the time for the advisory meetings. With all due respect to the committee members, I think that homeroom is a terrible time to meet. Kids are going to skip advisory; they'll say they don't have to go to class until 7:55, and stay in the hallways an extra ten minutes. For them, it's an excuse to be late without getting in trouble for class time. Plus, it's not a long enough block of time for the advisory to really do anything. I think a much better time, as Mr Meadows said, is every other week for at least 25 minutes. If you meet every day for ten minutes, you're going to do exactly what every class does in homeroom already: nothing, while kids trickle in and the teacher waits for the announcements to be made. I really hope we can work with the scheduling committee to find a better time for advisory.
I strongly agree with James on this. Our kids barely hear the announcements during homeroom. Also, let's remember that the morning is just not the best time for most teens. Their biological clocks aren't made for great 7:30 a.m. discourse (although our English and History teachers may disagree with me).
One thought I've heard, which has its plusses and minusses, is to have a lunch period once every week or two that is held in the teacher's classroom as advisory. This may run into contractual issues and could be a logistical nightmare, but there is something pleasing to having teachers have lunch with students on a regular basis.
Another possibility is to do something last period on Fridays, when all the ECA kids are there. Last period could be rough, though.
The consensus or the advisory subcommittee at present is that teachers should meet with Advisees for a 10 minute period (Homeroom) on a daily basis and a weekly session for a longer period of time. This determination of time is to be built into the student schedule. It is important for teachers and students to meet daily for consistency and to establish relationships. The weekly session could be used for larger house and class meeting for some weeks. We need to liaison with Scheduling Committee on this topic.
We are researching successful models from other schools and considering them as well.
I was away at a Convention the 23rd thru the 27th. Looks like oodles was accomplished. I was not placed on a committee and asked Liz J. if I could join theirs. Any other group that has room, let me know. Dee the
I was at the meeting, and the more I think about all the changes, and the HUGE effort it would require to get good use out of the first 10 minutes of school (as James so clearly stresses), I'm wondering if for the first year Advisory should focus on 9th graders only.
Given that we lose almost half by the time their graduation should occur, a push to integrate the 9th graders into the school with the goal of graduation would be a great benefit to them.
As to how to schedule, we need some creative thinking. Teachers don't like losing class time, but maybe for 9th graders on a block day using 25 - 30 minutes a week (alternating block on Tues and Wed for example). If advisors can't be subject teachers, maybe the administrators, Senior Buddies, Guidance, Social Development, Body Shop etc can come and do the class.
Another thought would be to see how many 9th graders have PE teachers and art teachers (and other teachers who aren't excluded from being advisors --- per NEASC --if that is true)and if the schedule could carve out the 25-30 minutes per week from say 2nd block on one week, the next from 3rd.....it that isn't too confusing to all. IF teachers and requirements allow, time could always be taken from the same class (say 2nd block on Tuesdays......)
I think figuring out a system for 9-12 that involves all teachers sharing a classroom with 10-15 advisees, and having "lesson" organized is too much to plan successfully for this coming year.
I won't be at the meeting this Thursday, as I'm working at Fair Haven Clinic.
The goal of Advisory at Wilbur Cross High School is to ensure that each student stays academically focused, experiences a sense of community and belonging, and is guided and supported by at least one adult member of the faculty during their high school years.
This will be accomplished by addressing the following: • Providing an opportunity to develop personal and community relationships with adults and peers • Demonstration of acceptable social behaviors & attitudes • The development of positive self-images, and promoting greater understanding of themselves: interests, values, needs, abilities, and healthy choices • Providing information and strategies for the prevention of at-risk behaviors; including how their choices regarding drugs, alcohol, and violence affect their success • Providing academic and emotional support • Understanding what it takes to be successful in school and taking the responsibility of their own success • Students will be matched with a teacher/advisor who will be with them for all four years and who will be a contact for parents at the school.
first of all, im using a computer in paraguay and i havent figured out the punctuation, so forgive that i have no capital letters and no punctuation. its not my teachers fault! haha at risk of sounding repetitive, i really think that the first ten minutes is a hopeless time for advisory. one of the key things about advisory that would benefit students is knowing that they have an adult in the building other than a teacher who is looking out for them. if we make advisory and homeroom one and the same, a students advisor will be their teacher. this leads to problems-- if a student has a problem with that teacher, they have no one to turn to. there is also a huge temptation for teachers to use this time to teach, rather than look after their kids. lastly, there is the problem that kids change homeroom teachers every year, but it is important for kids to develop a close relationship with their advisor over a period of four years, so that they can truly trust each other. we already have homeroom, and its useless. if we decide make advisory in a classroom other than homeroom- in other terms, ten minutes of advisory every morning before first period- that just puts kids in the hallways and encourages them to stay there. advisory needs to be once a week for a longer block of time.
For those of you who missed Thursday's meeting, here are the minutes. FYI, advisory during homeroom is no longer the plan.
Advisory Committee Meeting July 1, 2010, 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Present: Sharman Tait, Alexandra Torresquintero (student), Bernadette Horowitz, Eden Stein, Maria Stockmal, Samara Vaiuso, and Noelle Shipley (notekeeper)
Meeting Times: We agreed to meet Wednesdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m., and Thursdays 10:30-11:30. Unfortunately Eden will miss our meetings from July 19-23, and Samara will miss July 28th. We expect we may be able to make up that time with work outside of the meetings.
Major Goals of Committee (to be completed by 8/1) 1. Finding/Designing Curriculum A. Need to talk with Judy Puglisi about CT Scholars’ advisory program B. Month 1 dedicated to “orientation” to high school i. study skills ii. team building iii. House art project “quilt” idea – each group adds pieces to a major artwork, to be completed before “Meet the Teacher” night B. Entire year planned out C. Hands-on activities D. Community Service (perhaps second half of the year) E. Year 2 curriculum can be co-planned with students, from surveys i. need to plan for most students in the groups to be returning ii. integrating into the family unit: 9th graders, 11th grade incoming Scholars, and transfers F. Grading i. Students should earn ¼ credit for each year in advisory ii. Need rubrics for grading iii. grading to help us measure success of advisory II. Calendar A. Fridays every other week, 30-40 minutes before lunch B. 5-10 minutes taken out of every class period those days C. Possibility of more time made available during first short week of school for team building D. Possibility of using time on ½ days before holidays/vacations for more “fun” advisory meetings E. Next meeting we will map out each of the advisory meeting dates III. Budgeting A. Materials for advisory projects B. Binders for tech-resistant teachers, plus 1 binder for each house & library C. All materials should be available on an advisory page on the WCHS website IV. PD/Orientation for teachers A. teacher buy-in great so far B. Need an overview of house & advisory system on Monday 8/30 (perhaps during welcome breakfast?) C. need PD on leading advisory groups (Tuesday 8/31 is PD day)
Other Discussions I. Assignment of advisors & advisees A. Advisory groups will be heterogeneous as to grade level, course levels, including ELL & students with IEPs B. Michele will likely assign students to teachers through scheduling; this may be “tweaked” after the fact, for example, making sure ELLs are with teachers who are comfortable working with bilingual students C. Teachers may not choose who is in his/her group, and may not opt-out of advisory II. Parent Communications A. Every advisor a contact to/for parents B. Meet the Teacher Night i. Advisory Art Project ii. Teachers could call each advisee’s parents/guardians to bring in snacks for reception in each advisor’s room C. Report Card Night i. Scholars program and student led parent-teacher conferences ii. Parents could pick up report cards from advisors rather than in long lines in lobby D. CT Scholars Advisory Program i. Great interest in student-led parent teacher conferences ii. Dina Pollock provided us materials from Scholars’ program iii. Includes feedback from teachers about what worked & what did not.
Next Steps I. Homework: Find advisory programs/curricula from other schools a. Each committee member to bring in 1 example b. post source on the blog to reduce duplication c. Bring 7 copies of materials (one for each committee member) d. Reach out to friends/classmates/former colleagues to learn of different advisory programs. II. Next meeting on Wednesday July 7, 9:30-11:30 in Library Media Center a. Look at materials people have brought in b. Set calendar for advisory group meetings
The advisory group is generating great ideas and having lively discussion. Thank you.
I don't see a decision on which students will comprise each advisory group. Does is make sense to have advisories separated by grade? Juniors and seniors have VERY different needs from those of sophomores and freshmen. Chris.
We have discussed the pros and cons of the make up of advisory groups, and have agreed that the groups should be heterogeneous as to grade level, course levels, including ELL & students with IEPs. Yes, Juniors and Seniors do have very different needs, however, our Advisory is more about creating a positive sharing environment where a teacher and students (of all grades and backgrounds) can learn from each other, than about anything grade-specific. We are attempting to create small intimate groups- "immediate families" which are connected to larger families (each House), which all makes up the Cross community. The Junior and Senior classes will still have their own "advisories" as they have referred to it in the past... we may need to drop the advisory and come up with a different title. Maybe instead of saying "Senior Advisory" when announcing meetings, it could be more detailed; ex. "Senior Prom Committee meeting" or "Senior Class Fundraising meeting". By the same token, Advisory is NOT taking the place of Freshman Seminar or Senior Buddies classes. Hopefully with these classes and committees and the addition of Advisory, we are moving in the right direction in creating a more holistic and intimate environment for our students.
Just for the record, the junior advisory board works to make decisions on behalf of the junior class (well i guess we are now the senior clas). it does not do anything with regard to advising kids about college, etc. instead, it plans prom and graduation and fundraising. there is no group, at least for our class, that addresses age-specific needs. however, kids have time to do this in english class, senior buddy, classes, etc. hope this clears up the record.
I would like to see advisory groups include all grade levels. Students can learn from each other and hopefully develop healthy relationships.
Counselors will continue to provide assistance with the college application process. Hopefully SLC's will provide counselors with the opportunity to spend more time with students and less time buried in paperwork.
Thanks, Linda. We agree with you completely. Each school that has Advisory does it to best fit the needs of their students- and (I) totally agree with you that the best thing for Cross is to include all grades. And I am also hoping we can get you guys out from under the mountain of paperwork! I appreciate all your input, and look forward to your suggestions after the school year begins.
At our meeting tomorrow we should compile all of our recommendations that have been accepted, as well as our recommendations that need to have consensus at Thursday's meeting.
I feel undeserving to comment as I have been away and unable to participate in the advisory committee. You guys (both genders) are doing great work thinking through the items to make advisory work at Cross.
I feel that advisory is the most important aspect of improving the educational experience at Cross. The objective of relationship building: student to teacher and school to family can be completed through this model.
Having a set curriculum for "advisory" at Cross is a great idea because all teachers will need to be involved and many of us (me included) won't always know what to do with that time. Coming up with that curriculum, which will create personal bonds, is a great challenge.
It seems to me that there is a fundamental flaw however in what I saw from the minutes of the last meeting. It said that Advisory will meet biweekly for 30 minutes, a total of 20 times a year. That seems like a very weak time table for relationship building. I imagine that a lot of discussion went into that decision with possible issues of dedicating time every day to something that we don't have a full plan for yet, etc.
An article in the Independent mentioned that with Advisory, we were following the model of elite private schools. In my experience those school's advisory have the following: 1. The advisory is the primary contact home for each of their advisees and all teachers for that student reports issues to the advisor, which are then discussed with student/parent by the advisor. This means each teacher builds a family relationship with 10-15 families 2. The advisory group has a study hall period together daily or at least multiple times a week as part of the school schedule. 3. The advisor checks student's organization during the study hall time and helps the students with any issues.
Thus the relationship is built based on time together and much of that time is study time for the student to process/practice, etc. Setting activities for advisory is great, but the relationships won't happen on 2 30 minute "classes" a month.
Thanks for your comments and research John. I do agree whole-heartedly with you about the amount of time it takes to forge relationships, and the fact that we really aren't going to have that much time, looking at the year as a whole. The Advisory committee knows this. However, we are working within a situation that is calling for complete change of our school structure. Since we are going into houses for the first time, the Scheduling committee had enough to deal with, and agreed within their committee that the schedule would remain the same for this first year. We are lucky that they are "bending" somewhat in giving us a set time every other week. (I was personally pushing for (at least) once a week, while others were trying to get once a day.) What we are looking at for next year is not the end product. It is a starting point for the Cross community to begin a culture change, along with the other major changes to our school. It is my hope that Advisory will be successful enough to talk about expanding the program for the following year- hopefully at least once a week. The advisory/study hall idea is a great idea also. I think our major hurdle right now is bringing ALL faculty onboard. We need to spread our enthusiasm and help others understand why this is important and show how it can make a difference. I realize that our plan is not perfect, but it is where we are being allowed to fit in right now. Please continue to voice your opinion (everyone) and consider joining us throughout the year in promoting and planning advisory!
Just to clarify- Tomorrow (6/25) at 8-10 in the library, our meeting agenda will include:
ReplyDeleteLooking at the larger group's concerns and issues about advisory,
Decide whether or not those are issues that actually deal with us,
Create a mission for what our (Cross's) advisory will try to accomplish and what it will look like.
I'm thinking we should start with that, and then go on from there as time allows.
With all the changes coming next year, I would like to suggest we spend our first year in houses working on relationship building - among kids, ALL school staff, and administration while simultaneously piloting advisory groups. Once we have really done our homework and prepared for advisory, THEN we should roll it out (mid year or 2011/12). I think the preliminary work this summer is very, very important and I look forward to contributing... but would like us to devote substantial energy to the other big tasks that MUST be done prior to 8/30 if we are going to have functional houses next year - advisory-like work is a HUGE part of quality interpersonal relationships - so by all means GENERATE stuff - but maybe think about it in a more global (house / class) level rather than small group of 8-10 student level. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry to miss yesterday's and today's meetings, but I promise that I will be at most all of the meeting moving forward.
ReplyDeleteChris- I hear what you are saying, and I understand that we can't afford to make critical errors when trying to implement Advisory if we want it to work, but I STRONGLY feel that whole house/grade level advisory groups will do nothing to create relationships OR disseminate information. If we are trying to reach everyone, small groups are neccessary. This is a perfect time to start, with all of the other changes going on. Our sub-committee is staffed with intelligent, passionate teachers who have great ideas and a few have experience with what we need to do. Let's see what we come up with!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I had to leave today's meeting early. Could someone please fill me in on what I missed after I left?
ReplyDeletep.s. I haven't seen my name on a committee list. Does this matter...and if so, who do I tell?
~Karen Robinson (I am not blog savvy... how do I get my name up?)
Sorry I couldn't make the meeting, and won't be able to make any of them, because I'm out of town. However, I'm going to weigh in on the blog because I think this is something that is tremendously important to Cross and has a lot of potential to really help kids- as well as the possibility of turning into a failure, like freshman seminar, if it's not implemented correctly.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I heard that troubled me is that we are considering making homeroom the time for the advisory meetings. With all due respect to the committee members, I think that homeroom is a terrible time to meet. Kids are going to skip advisory; they'll say they don't have to go to class until 7:55, and stay in the hallways an extra ten minutes. For them, it's an excuse to be late without getting in trouble for class time. Plus, it's not a long enough block of time for the advisory to really do anything. I think a much better time, as Mr Meadows said, is every other week for at least 25 minutes. If you meet every day for ten minutes, you're going to do exactly what every class does in homeroom already: nothing, while kids trickle in and the teacher waits for the announcements to be made. I really hope we can work with the scheduling committee to find a better time for advisory.
I strongly agree with James on this. Our kids barely hear the announcements during homeroom. Also, let's remember that the morning is just not the best time for most teens. Their biological clocks aren't made for great 7:30 a.m. discourse (although our English and History teachers may disagree with me).
ReplyDeleteOne thought I've heard, which has its plusses and minusses, is to have a lunch period once every week or two that is held in the teacher's classroom as advisory. This may run into contractual issues and could be a logistical nightmare, but there is something pleasing to having teachers have lunch with students on a regular basis.
Another possibility is to do something last period on Fridays, when all the ECA kids are there. Last period could be rough, though.
That's all I have so far.
The consensus or the advisory subcommittee at present is that teachers should meet with Advisees for a 10 minute period (Homeroom) on a daily basis and a weekly session for a longer period of time. This determination of time is to be built into the student schedule. It is important for teachers and students to meet daily for consistency and to establish relationships. The weekly session could be used for larger house and class meeting for some weeks. We need to liaison with Scheduling Committee on this topic.
ReplyDeleteWe are researching successful models from other schools and considering them as well.
Further thought, anyone?
I was away at a Convention the 23rd thru the 27th. Looks like oodles was accomplished. I was not placed on a committee and asked Liz J. if I could join theirs. Any other group that has room, let me know.
ReplyDeleteDee the
I was at the meeting, and the more I think about all the changes, and the HUGE effort it would require to get good use out of the first 10 minutes of school (as James so clearly stresses), I'm wondering if for the first year Advisory should focus on 9th graders only.
ReplyDeleteGiven that we lose almost half by the time their graduation should occur, a push to integrate the 9th graders into the school with the goal of graduation would be a great benefit to them.
As to how to schedule, we need some creative thinking. Teachers don't like losing class time, but maybe for 9th graders on a block day using 25 - 30 minutes a week (alternating block on Tues and Wed for example). If advisors can't be subject teachers, maybe the administrators, Senior Buddies, Guidance, Social Development, Body Shop etc can come and do the class.
Another thought would be to see how many 9th graders have PE teachers and art teachers (and other teachers who aren't excluded from being advisors --- per NEASC --if that is true)and if the schedule could carve out the 25-30 minutes per week from say 2nd block on one week, the next from 3rd.....it that isn't too confusing to all. IF teachers and requirements allow, time could always be taken from the same class (say 2nd block on Tuesdays......)
I think figuring out a system for 9-12 that involves all teachers sharing a classroom with 10-15 advisees, and having "lesson" organized is too much to plan successfully for this coming year.
I won't be at the meeting this Thursday, as I'm working at Fair Haven Clinic.
Clarice
Mission
ReplyDeleteThe goal of Advisory at Wilbur Cross High School is to ensure that each student stays academically focused, experiences a sense of community and belonging, and is guided and supported by at least one adult member of the faculty during their high school years.
This will be accomplished by addressing the following:
• Providing an opportunity to develop personal and community relationships with adults and peers
• Demonstration of acceptable social behaviors & attitudes
• The development of positive self-images, and promoting greater understanding of themselves: interests, values, needs, abilities, and healthy choices
• Providing information and strategies for the prevention of at-risk behaviors; including how their choices regarding drugs, alcohol, and violence affect their success
• Providing academic and emotional support
• Understanding what it takes to be successful in school and taking the responsibility of their own success
• Students will be matched with a teacher/advisor who will be with them for all four years and who will be a contact for parents at the school.
first of all, im using a computer in paraguay and i havent figured out the punctuation, so forgive that i have no capital letters and no punctuation. its not my teachers fault! haha
ReplyDeleteat risk of sounding repetitive, i really think that the first ten minutes is a hopeless time for advisory. one of the key things about advisory that would benefit students is knowing that they have an adult in the building other than a teacher who is looking out for them. if we make advisory and homeroom one and the same, a students advisor will be their teacher. this leads to problems-- if a student has a problem with that teacher, they have no one to turn to. there is also a huge temptation for teachers to use this time to teach, rather than look after their kids. lastly, there is the problem that kids change homeroom teachers every year, but it is important for kids to develop a close relationship with their advisor over a period of four years, so that they can truly trust each other. we already have homeroom, and its useless.
if we decide make advisory in a classroom other than homeroom- in other terms, ten minutes of advisory every morning before first period- that just puts kids in the hallways and encourages them to stay there. advisory needs to be once a week for a longer block of time.
obviously i wont be at the meeting but i hope someone will bring these points up at the next meeting as i feel they are very important!
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who missed Thursday's meeting, here are the minutes. FYI, advisory during homeroom is no longer the plan.
ReplyDeleteAdvisory Committee Meeting
July 1, 2010, 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Present: Sharman Tait, Alexandra Torresquintero (student), Bernadette Horowitz, Eden Stein, Maria Stockmal, Samara Vaiuso, and Noelle Shipley (notekeeper)
Meeting Times: We agreed to meet Wednesdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m., and Thursdays 10:30-11:30. Unfortunately Eden will miss our meetings from July 19-23, and Samara will miss July 28th. We expect we may be able to make up that time with work outside of the meetings.
Major Goals of Committee (to be completed by 8/1)
1. Finding/Designing Curriculum
A. Need to talk with Judy Puglisi about CT Scholars’ advisory program
B. Month 1 dedicated to “orientation” to high school
i. study skills
ii. team building
iii. House art project “quilt” idea – each group adds pieces to a major artwork, to be completed before “Meet the Teacher” night
B. Entire year planned out
C. Hands-on activities
D. Community Service (perhaps second half of the year)
E. Year 2 curriculum can be co-planned with students, from surveys
i. need to plan for most students in the groups to be returning
ii. integrating into the family unit: 9th graders, 11th grade incoming Scholars, and transfers
F. Grading
i. Students should earn ¼ credit for each year in advisory
ii. Need rubrics for grading
iii. grading to help us measure success of advisory
II. Calendar
A. Fridays every other week, 30-40 minutes before lunch
B. 5-10 minutes taken out of every class period those days
C. Possibility of more time made available during first short week of school for team building
D. Possibility of using time on ½ days before holidays/vacations for more “fun” advisory meetings
E. Next meeting we will map out each of the advisory meeting dates
III. Budgeting
A. Materials for advisory projects
B. Binders for tech-resistant teachers, plus 1 binder for each house & library
C. All materials should be available on an advisory page on the WCHS website
IV. PD/Orientation for teachers
A. teacher buy-in great so far
B. Need an overview of house & advisory system on Monday 8/30 (perhaps during welcome breakfast?)
C. need PD on leading advisory groups (Tuesday 8/31 is PD day)
Other Discussions
I. Assignment of advisors & advisees
A. Advisory groups will be heterogeneous as to grade level, course levels, including ELL & students with IEPs
B. Michele will likely assign students to teachers through scheduling; this may be “tweaked” after the fact, for example, making sure ELLs are with teachers who are comfortable working with bilingual students
C. Teachers may not choose who is in his/her group, and may not opt-out of advisory
II. Parent Communications
A. Every advisor a contact to/for parents
B. Meet the Teacher Night
i. Advisory Art Project
ii. Teachers could call each advisee’s parents/guardians to bring in snacks for reception in each advisor’s room
C. Report Card Night
i. Scholars program and student led parent-teacher conferences
ii. Parents could pick up report cards from advisors rather than in long lines in lobby
D. CT Scholars Advisory Program
i. Great interest in student-led parent teacher conferences
ii. Dina Pollock provided us materials from Scholars’ program
iii. Includes feedback from teachers about what worked & what did not.
Next Steps
I. Homework: Find advisory programs/curricula from other schools
a. Each committee member to bring in 1 example
b. post source on the blog to reduce duplication
c. Bring 7 copies of materials (one for each committee member)
d. Reach out to friends/classmates/former colleagues to learn of different advisory programs.
II. Next meeting on Wednesday July 7, 9:30-11:30 in Library Media Center
a. Look at materials people have brought in
b. Set calendar for advisory group meetings
The advisory group is generating great ideas and having lively discussion. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a decision on which students will comprise each advisory group. Does is make sense to have advisories separated by grade? Juniors and seniors have VERY different needs from those of sophomores and freshmen. Chris.
We have discussed the pros and cons of the make up of advisory groups, and have agreed that the groups should be heterogeneous as to grade level, course levels, including ELL & students with IEPs.
ReplyDeleteYes, Juniors and Seniors do have very different needs, however, our Advisory is more about creating a positive sharing environment where a teacher and students (of all grades and backgrounds) can learn from each other, than about anything grade-specific. We are attempting to create small intimate groups- "immediate families" which are connected to larger families (each House), which all makes up the Cross community.
The Junior and Senior classes will still have their own "advisories" as they have referred to it in the past... we may need to drop the advisory and come up with a different title. Maybe instead of saying "Senior Advisory" when announcing meetings, it could be more detailed; ex. "Senior Prom Committee meeting" or "Senior Class Fundraising meeting".
By the same token, Advisory is NOT taking the place of Freshman Seminar or Senior Buddies classes. Hopefully with these classes and committees and the addition of Advisory, we are moving in the right direction in creating a more holistic and intimate environment for our students.
Just for the record,
ReplyDeletethe junior advisory board works to make decisions on behalf of the junior class (well i guess we are now the senior clas).
it does not do anything with regard to advising kids about college, etc. instead, it plans prom and graduation and fundraising. there is no group, at least for our class, that addresses age-specific needs. however, kids have time to do this in english class, senior buddy, classes, etc. hope this clears up the record.
I would like to see advisory groups include all grade levels. Students can learn from each other and hopefully develop healthy relationships.
ReplyDeleteCounselors will continue to provide assistance with the college application process.
Hopefully SLC's will provide counselors with the opportunity to spend more time with students and less time buried in paperwork.
Thanks, Linda. We agree with you completely. Each school that has Advisory does it to best fit the needs of their students- and (I) totally agree with you that the best thing for Cross is to include all grades.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am also hoping we can get you guys out from under the mountain of paperwork! I appreciate all your input, and look forward to your suggestions after the school year begins.
At our meeting tomorrow we should compile all of our recommendations that have been accepted, as well as our recommendations that need to have consensus at Thursday's meeting.
ReplyDeleteI feel undeserving to comment as I have been away and unable to participate in the advisory committee. You guys (both genders) are doing great work thinking through the items to make advisory work at Cross.
ReplyDeleteI feel that advisory is the most important aspect of improving the educational experience at Cross. The objective of relationship building: student to teacher and school to family can be completed through this model.
Having a set curriculum for "advisory" at Cross is a great idea because all teachers will need to be involved and many of us (me included) won't always know what to do with that time. Coming up with that curriculum, which will create personal bonds, is a great challenge.
It seems to me that there is a fundamental flaw however in what I saw from the minutes of the last meeting. It said that Advisory will meet biweekly for 30 minutes, a total of 20 times a year. That seems like a very weak time table for relationship building. I imagine that a lot of discussion went into that decision with possible issues of dedicating time every day to something that we don't have a full plan for yet, etc.
An article in the Independent mentioned that with Advisory, we were following the model of elite private schools. In my experience those school's advisory have the following:
1. The advisory is the primary contact home for each of their advisees and all teachers for that student reports issues to the advisor, which are then discussed with student/parent by the advisor. This means each teacher builds a family relationship with 10-15 families
2. The advisory group has a study hall period together daily or at least multiple times a week as part of the school schedule.
3. The advisor checks student's organization during the study hall time and helps the students with any issues.
Thus the relationship is built based on time together and much of that time is study time for the student to process/practice, etc. Setting activities for advisory is great, but the relationships won't happen on 2 30 minute "classes" a month.
-John Isaacs
Thanks for your comments and research John. I do agree whole-heartedly with you about the amount of time it takes to forge relationships, and the fact that we really aren't going to have that much time, looking at the year as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe Advisory committee knows this. However, we are working within a situation that is calling for complete change of our school structure. Since we are going into houses for the first time, the Scheduling committee had enough to deal with, and agreed within their committee that the schedule would remain the same for this first year. We are lucky that they are "bending" somewhat in giving us a set time every other week. (I was personally pushing for (at least) once a week, while others were trying to get once a day.)
What we are looking at for next year is not the end product. It is a starting point for the Cross community to begin a culture change, along with the other major changes to our school. It is my hope that Advisory will be successful enough to talk about expanding the program for the following year- hopefully at least once a week. The advisory/study hall idea is a great idea also.
I think our major hurdle right now is bringing ALL faculty onboard. We need to spread our enthusiasm and help others understand why this is important and show how it can make a difference. I realize that our plan is not perfect, but it is where we are being allowed to fit in right now. Please continue to voice your opinion (everyone) and consider joining us throughout the year in promoting and planning advisory!