It has been difficult also for me to get my group of 11 eighth graders to participate in a community service project of their choice. I have consistently told them to leave their books and lap tops at the door on Fridays when we have community service so that we may all focus together on brainstorming ideas for a project. They are really unmotivated though. Even when I encourage them by saying I'll reward them by throwing a party after we succeed in making a difference somewhere, they are not willing to do too much. I have not forced them to do anything so far, because I've been trying to make this something they want to do and have it be something they come up with on their own. That has proved difficult, so last week they asked if we could have a party or if we could make some food together. I said sure, great idea, let's bake something to sell as a community service project. They bought into the idea! Now today they have come up to me about 10 times separately all excited about the fact that we will walk around to other advisories and sell the cookies to donate to a charity.

Bottom line... it takes effort and work from the adviser, but if you listen to your students long enough and keep encouraging them they really will get involved.

Our struggles with participation are really with just a few kids who, I think, have decided that it isn't "cool" to participate in things like intramurals when all of our different advisories compete together at silly games, for instance. We cajole and hope that peer pressure will work in our favor, but I wondered if others had strategies for reluctant kids. We've asked this small group (three or four kids, really) for ideas about what they'd like to do, and they are also reluctant to get involved that way. All of our kids attend advisory itself. It is mandatory, but we've never actually had anyone challenge that part of the attendance.

Additionally, our service learning currently takes place in our classrooms, through different projects that fit with curriculum, but we're brainstorming ways to move some of it to advisory, as we struggle with higher stakes tests at the middle level.

In response to kprause on participation...

There is no greater deterrent to youngsters participating than adults who do not participate... I am not accusing you of that, but I am wondering if there are other adults who do not, and the kids are just doing what they see the adults modeling?

-- GLA

Ah... community service... a great theme for TA.

For the last couple of years, middle schoolers at my school have collected lunch room scraps which are collected for compose by a local farmer... kind of a different type on community service, but the dumpster sure smells better (or at least not as bad) since they started.

Anyone else with community service ideas?

-- GLA

Usually students do not have a choice of attending an advisory or there are not other activities scheduled during this time. Usually the best way to engage students is to get them involved. Ask them for ideas and have them make some choices about activities. As k them what condition would need to exist for this to be a "great advisory". Ask them what they could do for community service with an advisory as a basis.

All for now,
Bob

We, too have a service learning component in our middle school, Angela,
and we're having the conversation about whether or not to combine it with our advisory.

Our latest struggle is with students who choose not to particpate with their advisory during an intramural game, for instance. How do folks address the issue of participation in advisory?

I really like the juggling idea, Gary! What a great way to be REAL with your students. I think that is what most students are really seeking- an adult to be real with them, to show them who s/he really is. By showing one of your own hobbies like juggling, you do just that. That is one trick of the counseling trade that I use by keeping stress balls or card games or the juggling you used, you allow students to open up and talk more comfortably with you. It's all about being creative!

At my school we have Fridays in our advisory designated for community service. My students have been lazy at organizing a community service project. So today we are baking cookies (and of course eating some, too!), and then walking around to the other advisories on Friday to sell the cookies to collect donations for a local charity. Thinking outside the box, that's all we have to do with these middle schoolers!

Although it has been a few years since I was a TA advisor, I always enjoyed when a TA group found the thing they loved. Once it was juggling. I had learned to juggle, so I brought in my juggling bags (and then my wife made us a basket full of juggling bags). Sometimes, we would do group juggles... sometimes, there were small groups juggling... always there was (as Angela points out is so important) small talk about pets and plans and what we were happy about and what we were sad about, and the list could continue.

-- GLA

We all know there are 1,000 or more ways to do anything, and that is especially true for school advisory programs. One thing I think is really important is a time for just talking or checking-in with students. I try weekly to make time to ask how my students' weekends went, if they did anything fun, what they have going on this week inside and outside of school, etc. It's a nice re-grouping exercise. It brings us all back together after a weekend or a long week. Last year I was able to do this every Monday, as our advisory schedule permitted that. We spent a lot of time then talking about the weekend and future plans for the week. Whereas this year my advisory schedule lends me to do this exercise on Fridays, where we spend time talking about the past week's ups and downs, as well as any weekend plans.

No matter when during the week or how this exercise is done, I believe it is really important to hear from all of my students. It's a good time for them to feel important and valued by their adviser.

"Base Camp supports students academically ad socially by providing:
1 A safe place to explore and voice new ideas.
2. An opportunity to make new friends.
3. An opportunity to learn about being a positive member of a group.
4. An opportunity to celebrate accomplishments.
5. A go-to adult who is in your corner.
6. A team that is in your corner.
7. A place to catch your breath."

This is really great! I love these statements. They seem to sufficiently describe what an advisory should be all about. I like the idea also from someone else who constructed the mission statement out of surveys from students. Great idea.

Hi!

What Bob said is exactly how we do it. We also use the NMSA "Treasure Chest" sourcebook by John Lounsbury as a resource for activities.

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Is is always the question; how much structure to provide? Some want none, others want day by day lesson plans. The answer is in the middle of course. After looking at successful advisory plans, we suggest that there be a framework of big ideas, some suggested specific resources for some of them. Using the resources is optional, getting to the big idea is not. If need be, any teacher should be able to establish how they went about helping students "get" the big idea.

We also encourage sharing of activities and conversations among all in advisory and therefore, it helps others steal good practices.

Hope this helps,
Bob Spear

Thanks, Bill - the survey idea is a great one!

Do you design advisory activities around that purpose, and then all advisors run the same activities, or do you give advisors some autonomy around that purpose?

Hi!

Our advisory mission statement was created following surveys of the kids, and edited by faculty. It incorporates all views expressed. In writing it, we were also able to use language reflecting our school's overall mission.

"The purpose of Stoneleigh-Burnham's advisory program is to provide a core support base at school which allows students to connect with themselves, their teachers and their peers as they build confidence, develop skills for success in school and in life, monitor their progress, and have fun."

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

I hope that everyone is beginning to settle into the roller-coaster ride that is the middle school year!

Our advisory program is beginning a year of re-focus, and I'm interested in knowing how other schools view the purpose and goas of their own programs. Please take a minute to share a short description of your program's purpose and main goals (let's try to stick to these first, as construction, scheduling, advising, etc. are all hot topics that I'm sure we'll get to separately!).

As part of our advisory re-focus, the middle school team (core teachers, as well as the principal and myself) spent a day this summer clarifying our own view about what an advisory should be. As part of that work, we created a poster that we could hang in each space that advisories meet. We wanted to answer the question, "How does Base Camp (the name of our program) support students?" We answered it in a way that we think kids and their parents can relate to:

Base Camp supports students academically ad socially by providing:
1 A safe place to explore and voice new ideas.
2. An opportunity to make new friends.
3. An opportunity to learn about being a positive member of a group.
4. An opportunity to celebrate accomplishments.
5. A go-to adult who is in your corner.
6. A team that is in your corner.
7. A place to catch your breath.

How about you? Do you have a purpose or mission that you could share?

Welcome to our advisory section. I look forward to the discussion and improving advisory experiences for our students.
Bob Spear
Executive Director