Advisory

In what ways can Advisory be improved? Should the role of Advisor be changed at all?

I think Advisory can and should change. I don't think what we're doing now serves students, parents, or teachers overly well. For example, I rarely see my advisees (all are 8th graders and I do not teach 8th grade). There's not time built into the schedule for Advisory, and meetings are often added quickly with little time to plan. I'm pretty sure I met the author of [|THIS] book at a conference, and she had really good ideas and the book has many quick, effective activities. Maybe we could purchase a copy for advisors/to get ideas? LB

I think we should consider the idea of only have advisees that we teach. I know this goes against the building relationships and keeping advisees for 3 years concept, but I believe that if you have a relationship with a student you will continue to have that relationship whether you are the advisor or not. Reading Lauren's comment, she says she doesn't teach 8th grade, which means she isn't ever at an 8th grade meeting. If you have a concern about your advisee you get to hear 2nd hand what happened at a grade level meeting. I think with the system the way it is right now, many of go days, if not weeks, without having any contact with our advisees. JD

Maybe we can merge Lauren and Jen's ideas somehow and come up with an advisory compromise. First, Lauren is absolutely right; I have VERY little contact with the advisees that I taught last year, so my comments to them during Advisory seem disingenuous. Because of this, I am intrigued by the idea of making sure you teach your 7th & 8th grade advisees. I think 9th graders should still be able to choose their advisors, though-- It's nice for them, and the 9th grade advisees can make an effort to sit with their advisors periodically at lunch to keep in touch with them. We could also just restructure time with advisees so that we see them more often, and thus don't feel so alienated from them. I think looking at Lauren's book would be a good place to start. SB

Agree that //ideal// is to be both teacher and advisor, and acknowledge logistical issues above (concur w/Jen that good relationships w/students don't depend on advisory contact). I also agree more regular time to see advisees, and helpful activities (as suggested by that book or other resources), would be good. Maybe Friday mornings could be Advisees rather than homeroom, as Fridays are a "different" day anyhow and less in need of announcement-type time? (But we already have In what ways can Advisory be improved? Should the role of Advisor be changed at all?

I think Advisory can and should change. I don't think what we're doing now serves students, parents, or teachers overly well. For example, I rarely see my advisees (all are 8th graders and I do not teach 8th grade). There's not time built into the schedule for Advisory, and meetings are often added quickly with little time to plan. I'm pretty sure I met the author of [|THIS]book at a conference, and she had really good ideas and the book has many quick, effective activities. Maybe we could purchase a copy for advisors/to get ideas? LB

I think we should consider the idea of only have advisees that we teach. I know this goes against the building relationships and keeping advisees for 3 years concept, but I believe that if you have a relationship with a student you will continue to have that relationship whether you are the advisor or not. Reading Lauren's comment, she says she doesn't teach 8th grade, which means she isn't ever at an 8th grade meeting. If you have a concern about your advisee you get to hear 2nd hand what happened at a grade level meeting. I think with the system the way it is right now, many of go days, if not weeks, without having any contact with our advisees. JD

Maybe we can merge Lauren and Jen's ideas somehow and come up with an advisory compromise. First, Lauren is absolutely right; I have VERY little contact with the advisees that I taught last year, so my comments to them during Advisory seem disingenuous. Because of this, I am intrigued by the idea of making sure you teach your 7th & 8th grade advisees. I think 9th graders should still be able to choose their advisors, though-- It's nice for them, and the 9th grade advisees can make an effort to sit with their advisors periodically at lunch to keep in touch with them. We could also just restructure time with advisees so that we see them more often, and thus don't feel so alienated from them. I think looking at Lauren's book would be a good place to start. SB

Agree that //ideal// is to be both teacher and advisor, and acknowledge logistical issues above (concur w/Jen that good relationships w/students don't depend on advisory contact). I also agree more regular time to see advisees, and helpful activities (as suggested by that book or other resources), would be good. Maybe Friday mornings could be Advisees rather than homeroom, as Fridays are a "different" day anyhow and less in need of announcement-type time? (But we already have no homeroom on Mondays due to MMMeetings, so that'd mean homeroom only on Tues-Wed-Thurs.) ~JK

I think that our advisees need to be our students. In short, we should be currently teaching our advisees. Being present at grade meetings where our advisees are discussed is or can be important. What does the relationship between adviser and advisee imply? What should we know about our advisees? Do we restrict this relationship to school and academic affairs only? Should we have lunch tables arranged by advisees on a monthly basis? Should advisees be part of our home room? Should we have money made available to promote adviser-advisee events. (Movie night? Athletic event? Pizza night?) Should we have someone coordinating or helping to define the advisee role? JJ

If we have enough classrooms or other spaces, it would be beneficial to have the advisor the homeroom teacher. This way we could have more time with out advisees. Also, with some longer homeroom times, we could help with students using their planners for assignments, review study skills now and then, check lockers, etc. BBS

Advisee lunch tables is an interesting idea....Would we fit? I think we can fit 10 total at a table.. AB

How much facetime with advisees is the right amount...one meeting per week? Once every two weeks?