Advisory - What is going well? What do we need to improve? What is one activity that your class enjoyed during advisory? How have you built a connection with your students?
I think keeping to a schedule and routine has really helped my advisory this year. Each day there was a specific routine we followed. Monday in the gym, Wed and Fri in the dance room, and Thursdays were always circle. Much better than last year when I was stuck in the handball courts for 90% of the time.
I think many in my advisory enjoyed the AR reading challenges I presented to them- Primo's Challenge, Chipotle Challenge, and the Century Club. All of these had specific AR goals for points and percentage correct. I had many students rise to the challenge who told me they were motivated for the rewards.
I build connection with my students through many, many individualized conversations. I always try to engage them to learn about their families and their life outside of YOKA. I too also shared some things in circle that garnered some respect,which hopefully reciprocated their trust in me. I am also very truthful with them. Sometimes the truth hurts, but more often than not it builds connection that I am here to support and guide these students through their middle school experience.
I think the reading of Touching Spirit Bear is going well. We definitely can improve on our A.R reading, and reading levels. The students really enjoy the outside activity. They look forward to playing basketball, soccer and the other fun activities every other week. Regarding connection, we do activities where we get to know one another, like RJ circles and other activities.
Establishing daily routines have made my advisory run well. Students know that they need to be reading for the first 15 minutes followed by our housekeeping portion: announcements and any clerical items. Then on Monday we have our circle share-in. Wednesday is our academic day part 1 and Thursday is our Academic day part 2. Every other Friday is our TRI-M meeting.
I have a mixed advisory so very rarely do I see everyone on the same day. But my advisory has been extremely helpful in helping me advertise our events, concerts, and have spread music joy throughout the year.
We can always use more time during staff meetings and events to plan for advisory since it's the only class we see almost every day. It's very difficult to balance prepping for our classes and advisory that advisory usually ends getting the short end of the deal.a
I have such gratitude for all that I have learned in the process of building my Community Circle skills. I am grateful for the teachers who have welcomed me into their classrooms and helped me build my skills, and the students who have shared honestly and openly. I think that Community Circles are something I will always incorporate into my teaching practice, and advisory is where I had the opportunity to develop those skills.
routines and consequences coupled with rewards. We read together, talked, and went out to the yard to play. At all times they know what was expected, and didn't have to think twice.
My advisory as a class have done very well in AR and ALEKS. I have many girls who are very focused on their studies and are voracious readers. I was very pushy about staying up on them. The checkins in their journal helped me connect to my students.
The daily routine of AR reading followed by the focus of the day and weekly routine of academic day, circle, and social/emotional learning lessons has worked really well. My advisory really appreciates the class as a whole. They appreciate having a day to catch up or stay on top of their academics. Some of them enjoy having circle. A lot of students really enjoy intramurals.
I build connection with my students through the conversations I have with them. Whenever they need to voice something out, I try my best to make myself available to them.
Being in charge of school-wide intramural activities was really good for my girls. It gave them a sense of responsibility and importance. I also enjoyed partnering with Mr. Valenzuela's 6th grade girls this year for some mentoring activities as well. My girls acted as their "big sisters", dispensed advice and participated in team building activities. We bonded and built connections through RJ circles. We talked about a lot of serious topics All year. . There was a lot of crying and hugging In circles!
I have fun activities planned throughout the year that works as a team building, relationship building, and incentive for students to cooperate such as secret Santa, secret valentine, Easter egg hunt, craft making sessions, game day, etc. the students really enjoy these activities and many step up to lead and organize these events.
RJ circles have been going well since the beginning of the year. Some of my girls have been really honest with the group, which set the tone for our class. I loved having Peace Over Violence come into our class to educate our girls on abuse and sexual harassment. We are on the second to last lesson on Second Step and the students are answering the questions honestly and reflecting on our school culture/environment. I need to figure out how I can make sure I have less tardies and fewer students that ditch next year. I don’t want to admit it but I did enjoy all the different personalities this year and how open the girls were. I know my girls next year will be a lot more timid than them, so it’s something that I’ll miss. One way I connected with my students was talking to them about my family history and it was surprisingly how much we all had in common. Once I shared honestly, the students were more open to share.
Thank you to the teachers that have welcomed me into your classroom to facilitate RJ circles. It has been a great learning experience for our students and myself. At times I wonder if this has been effective for our students and then I run into them in the hallways and they are always asking when is the next RJ circle?! This confirms to me that we are moving in the right direction and it encourages me to keep learning about RJ circles and ways to improve on my circles.
I enjoyed doing the Dragon Pact & IGP presentations to the 7th grade advisories, and I hope the students found some value in me sharing my academic journey with them. I connected with the at-risk students via individual in-depth student conferences about their IGP, behavior., and improvement plan
Having a new 6th grade advisory this year I would say I have had small successes and hope to make them grow in the next two years. One success is having my students knowing that when they come in after lunch they have SSR and everyone is with a book to read during the first 15 min. I have tried building community with Kahoot with questions about ourselves which they enjoy.
Intramurals went well. My students enjoyed being out of the traditional classroom setting, in the gym, MPR, library, etc...(halloween was also one of many highlights:) I use half and half Fridays. Students work on school assignments for the first half of advisory, then vote on a fun activity for the second half. It gave students something to look forward to each week. All week when the students were bored of AR or ALEKS, I would remind them of Friday and it helped keep perspective. The student liked sharing in RJ circle and the second steps lessons were pretty quick. I gave the opportunity for students to get a lot of work done and use technology.
I agree with my colleagues that having a consistent schedule and routine since 6th grade has helped this 7th grade year be smooth. I can tell the girls appreciate knowing what to expect in advisory class.
In March/April we strayed away from our normal routine in preparation for our Denim Day Campaign. I was inspired by the ideas and the work the girls wanted to put in. That month, our circle topics were framed around the ideas of sexual harassment, speaking out, and how we can commit to being leaders of change. After our Denim Day event, I had my girls reflect on what they thought went well, and what needs improvement for next year ( I had them include a possible solution to that issue).
While working on Denim Day, I was receiving a lot of interest from my other 7th grade students. A lot of them stayed after school to help put up posters and to help prepare materials. I am thinking that maybe next year, it might be a nice event for the 8th graders to be involved.
Overall, I appreciate that I have gotten to know my girls more this year and that I am seeing so many of them wanting to help and be involved in something- I think that is something I look forward to helping nourish in their 8th grade year.
I think keeping to a schedule and routine has really helped my advisory this year. Each day there was a specific routine we followed. Monday in the gym, Wed and Fri in the dance room, and Thursdays were always circle. Much better than last year when I was stuck in the handball courts for 90% of the time.
ReplyDeleteI think many in my advisory enjoyed the AR reading challenges I presented to them- Primo's Challenge, Chipotle Challenge, and the Century Club. All of these had specific AR goals for points and percentage correct. I had many students rise to the challenge who told me they were motivated for the rewards.
I build connection with my students through many, many individualized conversations. I always try to engage them to learn about their families and their life outside of YOKA. I too also shared some things in circle that garnered some respect,which hopefully reciprocated their trust in me. I am also very truthful with them. Sometimes the truth hurts, but more often than not it builds connection that I am here to support and guide these students through their middle school experience.
I think the reading of Touching Spirit Bear is going well. We definitely can improve on our A.R reading, and reading levels. The students really enjoy the outside activity. They look forward to playing basketball, soccer and the other fun activities every other week. Regarding connection, we do activities where we get to know one another, like RJ circles and other activities.
ReplyDeleteEstablishing daily routines have made my advisory run well. Students know that they need to be reading for the first 15 minutes followed by our housekeeping portion: announcements and any clerical items. Then on Monday we have our circle share-in. Wednesday is our academic day part 1 and Thursday is our Academic day part 2. Every other Friday is our TRI-M meeting.
ReplyDeleteI have a mixed advisory so very rarely do I see everyone on the same day. But my advisory has been extremely helpful in helping me advertise our events, concerts, and have spread music joy throughout the year.
We can always use more time during staff meetings and events to plan for advisory since it's the only class we see almost every day. It's very difficult to balance prepping for our classes and advisory that advisory usually ends getting the short end of the deal.a
I have such gratitude for all that I have learned in the process of building my Community Circle skills. I am grateful for the teachers who have welcomed me into their classrooms and helped me build my skills, and the students who have shared honestly and openly. I think that Community Circles are something I will always incorporate into my teaching practice, and advisory is where I had the opportunity to develop those skills.
ReplyDeleteroutines and consequences coupled with rewards. We read together, talked, and went out to the yard to play. At all times they know what was expected, and didn't have to think twice.
ReplyDeleteMy advisory as a class have done very well in AR and ALEKS. I have many girls who are very focused on their studies and are voracious readers. I was very pushy about staying up on them.
ReplyDeleteThe checkins in their journal helped me connect to my students.
The daily routine of AR reading followed by the focus of the day and weekly routine of academic day, circle, and social/emotional learning lessons has worked really well. My advisory really appreciates the class as a whole. They appreciate having a day to catch up or stay on top of their academics. Some of them enjoy having circle. A lot of students really enjoy intramurals.
ReplyDeleteI build connection with my students through the conversations I have with them. Whenever they need to voice something out, I try my best to make myself available to them.
Being in charge of school-wide intramural activities was really good for my girls. It gave them a sense of responsibility and importance. I also enjoyed partnering with Mr. Valenzuela's 6th grade girls this year for some mentoring activities as well. My girls acted as their "big sisters", dispensed advice and participated in team building activities. We bonded and built connections through RJ circles. We talked about a lot of serious topics All year. . There was a lot of crying and hugging In circles!
ReplyDeleteI have fun activities planned throughout the year that works as a team building, relationship building, and incentive for students to cooperate such as secret Santa, secret valentine, Easter egg hunt, craft making sessions, game day, etc. the students really enjoy these activities and many step up to lead and organize these events.
ReplyDeleteRJ circles have been going well since the beginning of the year. Some of my girls have been really honest with the group, which set the tone for our class. I loved having Peace Over Violence come into our class to educate our girls on abuse and sexual harassment. We are on the second to last lesson on Second Step and the students are answering the questions honestly and reflecting on our school culture/environment. I need to figure out how I can make sure I have less tardies and fewer students that ditch next year. I don’t want to admit it but I did enjoy all the different personalities this year and how open the girls were. I know my girls next year will be a lot more timid than them, so it’s something that I’ll miss. One way I connected with my students was talking to them about my family history and it was surprisingly how much we all had in common. Once I shared honestly, the students were more open to share.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the teachers that have welcomed me into your classroom to facilitate RJ circles. It has been a great learning experience for our students and myself. At times I wonder if this has been effective for our students and then I run into them in the hallways and they are always asking when is the next RJ circle?! This confirms to me that we are moving in the right direction and it encourages me to keep learning about RJ circles and ways to improve on my circles.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed doing the Dragon Pact & IGP presentations to the 7th grade advisories, and I hope the students found some value in me sharing my academic journey with them. I connected with the at-risk students via individual in-depth student conferences about their IGP, behavior., and improvement plan
ReplyDeleteHaving a new 6th grade advisory this year I would say I have had small successes and hope to make them grow in the next two years. One success is having my students knowing that when they come in after lunch they have SSR and everyone is with a book to read during the first 15 min. I have tried building community with Kahoot with questions about ourselves which they enjoy.
ReplyDeleteIntramurals went well. My students enjoyed being out of the traditional classroom setting, in the gym, MPR, library, etc...(halloween was also one of many highlights:) I use half and half Fridays. Students work on school assignments for the first half of advisory, then vote on a fun activity for the second half. It gave students something to look forward to each week. All week when the students were bored of AR or ALEKS, I would remind them of Friday and it helped keep perspective. The student liked sharing in RJ circle and the second steps lessons were pretty quick. I gave the opportunity for students to get a lot of work done and use technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my colleagues that having a consistent schedule and routine since 6th grade has helped this 7th grade year be smooth. I can tell the girls appreciate knowing what to expect in advisory class.
ReplyDeleteIn March/April we strayed away from our normal routine in preparation for our Denim Day Campaign. I was inspired by the ideas and the work the girls wanted to put in. That month, our circle topics were framed around the ideas of sexual harassment, speaking out, and how we can commit to being leaders of change. After our Denim Day event, I had my girls reflect on what they thought went well, and what needs improvement for next year ( I had them include a possible solution to that issue).
While working on Denim Day, I was receiving a lot of interest from my other 7th grade students. A lot of them stayed after school to help put up posters and to help prepare materials. I am thinking that maybe next year, it might be a nice event for the 8th graders to be involved.
Overall, I appreciate that I have gotten to know my girls more this year and that I am seeing so many of them wanting to help and be involved in something- I think that is something I look forward to helping nourish in their 8th grade year.