Why does it matter?
Most educators know what academic support services are offered to students — but not whether students know they are available, and whether or not they are helpful. The YouthTruth Survey question “This year, have you participated in an advisory class at your school this year?” can help educators fine-tune how they are advertising available programs and services and also to make sure they are offering the right ones.
Daily Advisory: Building social, emotional and academic skills
Combining social and emotional learning with literacy lessons in daily advisory meetings helps students build strong positive relationships and listening skills. Here’s a video from Edutopia about what advisory looks like at Pearl Cohn High School. Watch for details on implementation and tips on how to get started.
Twenty face to face advisories
Teaching Tolerance and The Origins Program partnered together to create 20 advisory activities based on Linda Crawford’s collection, Face to Face Advisories: Bridging Cultural Gaps Grades 5-9. Advisory time is meant to be a time to grow authentic relationships between students and adults, and build a community that feels safe and supportive for all students. These activities are designed to be relevant and engaging to adolescents, and expose students to diverse range perspectives and ways of thinking through problems critically.
The activities are divided up into two formats: Circle of Power and Respect (CPR) and Activity Plus (A+). Here’s a quick look at the general outline of each format:
CPR ADVISORY FORMAT
The Circle of Power and Respect (CPR) format for advisories is ideal for creating inclusive communities. Each activity contains four key components:
Daily News: Previews the advisory activity’s focus and helps students shift into thinking gear as they transition from home to school.
Greeting: Teaches students to respectfully greet someone they hardly know or don’t particularly like.
Share: Provides time to talk about daily issues as well as challenging topics like bias, discrimination, justice and acceptance.
Activity: Connects students through play
ACTIVITY PLUS (A+) ADVISORY FORMAT
The A+ format allows more time for the final activity, which allows students to reflect on the implications of what they have learned or thought or heard—for them personally, for the school community and/or for society.