Middle School Advisory Field Trip

I hope that you enjoyed witnessing advisory today. For me one of the most important aspects of advisory is the relationship you build with your students. While it is a given that you are trying to make a connection, it is surprising how quickly the students in your advisory become "my students". As indicated by Miss L., that is the most rewarding part of her day, I echo that sentiment.  Please reflect on your experience. What were you expecting? Is it what you saw? Do you see the role of the teacher in advisory a little differently than you did before? What is your impression of advisory? Feel free to share your thoughts about our trip. Remember to use initials.

Advisory Activities

Search online for some advisory ideas and activities and share them with your classmates. These can be projects or simple activities.

In your other class, I am sure you have talked about how rapidly adolescent's bodies change. There are a couple of ways you can document that growth at the beginning of the year that really makes an impact at the end of the year. I would use these activities at the beginning of the year when I was getting to know my students and creating a sense of community. The first is to have students measure each other's heighth with a string. Cut the string, wind it up and tape it and label with students' names. At the end of the year have them cut a new string measuring their heighth and compare it with the first string.  It is one thing to say "I've grown 4 inches--eventhough they know what an inch is--it is surprising when they see the visual representation of their growth. You can do the same type of thing by taking a picture of them next to a poster on the wall and compare how tall they were based on the poster.

This is just a quick and easy activity - there are a lot of resources to use for advisory. If you come across a really good site, include the url.

A Vision of Students and the State of the Union

Looking at the video we watched in class and the remarks made by the President (passed out in class), if you were sitting at lunch with Obama and the Secretary of Education, what would you tell them about education in the 21st Century ? Not focusing specifically on technology in education but on providing education that is relevant and appropriate.

Here is a link to the video if you would like to view it again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8
 

Getting Started!

As we begin the semester, reflect on what excites you about being a middle level educator. What led you to the decision to focus on middle school? Do you have concerns about being a middle school teacher?

Breaking Ranks in the Middle

As you read this article, look back at your middle grades experience. There may be things that you don't recall or are not privy to, like how data was used to make decisions. But reflect on the topics that you can. How was academic performance (you may want to check your schools scores now -http://paayp.emetric.net/), did you feel connected to a person, were your classes integrated or did each content area work as an "independent state?"