building relationships through school-wide advisory

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Advisory “Without Advisory, school would be more distant. It would not be as cheerful. We would not be as connected to everybody.” -7th Grade Student Gravelly Hill Middle School Efland, NC

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Advisory

“Without Advisory, school would be more distant. It would

not be as cheerful. We would not be as connected to

everybody.”-7th Grade

Student

Gravelly Hill Middle SchoolEfland, NC

What does your school do to

facilitate relationship

building among students and

teachers?Go to

todaysmeet.com/Advisory2015 to share your best practices!

Like you, we also strive to build strong relationships

with our students. This year we implemented our Advisory program to try to accomplish this goal.

Why?● To enhance relationships among teachers and

students; to provide every student with at least one adult advocate they connect with in the buildingo Research suggests that school connectedness is

linked to higher grades, higher test scores, and lower dropout rates among students' of all socioeconomic backgrounds

● To support students through:o Grade monitoringo Goal settingo Character educationo College/career awareness

Student Data from September

I feel a personal connection with at least one adult here at school

70%30%

Background Information about Our

School

● Middle school (grades 6-8)● Approximately 500 students and 50 staff

members● Traditional schedule● Equal core periods (students take 4 core

classes and 2 electives)● Located in Efland, NC● 1:1 school district

Who?● Everyone in the building is

involved in Advisory (administrators, support staff, teachers, and all students).

● Even the principal has an Advisory group!

● Each staff member has 10-15 kids from the same grade level; they will loop with them for all 3 years of middle school.

● Students were grouped alphabetically to simplify the scheduling process.

When?● Advisory is held school-wide each

Friday during a 30 minute session.● Advisors engage students in a pre-

made Advisory lesson.● Lessons were created over the summer

and during selected times throughout the year by our Advisory committee (one teacher from each grade level, one elective teacher, various support staff members).

What?● Staff can access lessons through a

shared Google document.● Monthly Structure of Lessons:

Week 1: Character educationWeek 2: Grade monitoring/goal setting

Week 3: College/career readinessWeek 4: Grade monitoring/goal setting

***If you/your school is interested in viewing our lesson plans in detail, please contact one of us directly!

What?● Character education: takes place every first week of the

month.● Purpose: to help our students develop civic virtue and

moral character.

Sample Lesson

What?● Grade

monitoring: takes place every other week.

● Advisory Notebook: self-monitoring grades using PowerSchool.o tracking progress

visually on graph.o reflection tabs.

What?● Goal setting:

takes place every other week.

● Advisory Notebook: self-establishing goals.o students

brainstorm steps to achieve goal.

o students reflect on results.

What?● College/career readiness: takes place every third week.● Purpose: preparing our students for success in the post-

secondary world.

Sample Lesson

Each week, Advisors check student planners to ensure that guardians are signing weekly to

consistently communicate academic and behavioral information to guardians.

Student Planner Check-In

Advisors can use the behavioral data provided by the teachers to intervene in

the capacity of acting as a student advocate.

Advisors and students take time to develop problem-solving techniques to

curb some behaviors that may be interfering with student success

academically or socially.

Reflection and RevisionAfter (nearly) one year of implementing the

Advisory program at GHMS:● Relationships between students and staff have

greatly improved.● Students are upset when we don’t have Advisory!● Everyone wishes there was more time for Advisory.● We hope to add lessons to the days where we

monitor grades.● Looking ahead, we want to use the same lessons for

6th grade next year and create new lessons for 7th and 8th graders.

Wow!● Feedback from staff

and students

● Articles from newspaper● Food Drive ● Some groups get

creative and have done special “projects”

● Other schools in our district are now implementing Advisory programs

“I like [Advisory] because I don’t have to be scared of anybody. I’m around my peers, and I

know that if I have to share something that is sort of personal, I know that they would actually listen

and care.” - Bradley, 6th Grade Student

Student Data from March

I feel a personal connection with at least one adult here at school

28% Increase

13% Increase

Student Data from March

3% Increase

Community Contracts

Kahoot!

See if you remember the details and ideas from today’s

presentation!

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/b146bcc8-6a5e-4a45-a905-87dcb4ea482e