the day is, of course, different. Advisory purposes can be academic, motivational, relational, to plan a learning pathway, to discuss post–high school plans, or simply to help students feel included and accepted. This may be a time for students to share thoughts and concerns or perhaps compliments. Everyday advisories are ideal, but scheduling them for twice a week will work, too. Here are some ideas for how to fit an advisory meeting into the day:
Use homeroom time.
Find time during the lunch period (see "Form a Lunch Bunch").
Choose a time normally used for classroom routines.
Schedule time as necessary. (If my homeroom time wasn't enough, we met at lunchtime, too.)
Conduct Morning Meetings
Morning meetings are a wonderful way to build community in a classroom. Generally considered a gathering for lower grades, many schools find the meetings rewarding and use them throughout the grades. Here are the typical components of a morning meeting:
Greeting: Even though you have already greeted your students at the door, the meeting is a great way to greet them again and offer a welcome to the day.
Sharing: Students have an opportunity to share something in their lives and give classmates a chance to ask questions.
Group activity: The beginning of the year is a great time for a "getting to know each other" activity. My favorite is "A River Runs Through Us," which was introduced to me decades ago at a workshop I attended. I have used it in my classrooms and my workshops ever since. Here are the steps:Chairs are arranged in a tight circle, with no spaces in between.Students sit in the chairs, and the teacher stands in the middle of the circle.The teacher begins with, "Hi, I'm Miss (or Ms., Mr., Mrs.) ___."Students respond with, "Hi, Miss ___."The teacher continues with personal content, such as "I have a dog … and a river runs through us."At this point, all students who also have a dog must get up from their seat and find an open seat to sit in. At the same time, the teacher tries to grab a seat.The person left standing goes to the middle, introduces herself, and makes a statement.
Students at all grade levels enjoy this activity. We play until I am sure all students have been in the middle and shared something about themselves. By the time the activity is over, I know everyone's name and some things we have in common, making future interactions (like 2 × 10) much easier.
Announcements: This segment could include mention of special events like an assembly or anything else that has come up and needs to be shared.
Form a Lunch Bunch
Many middle and high schools don't allow enough time for a morning meeting. Schedules can be tight, and classes may be short. As an alternative, meeting for a few minutes at lunch or having lunch with students has worked well at some schools. As a middle school teacher, I had a very short homeroom period. As I mentioned previously, I ate lunch in the cafeteria with my students on Fridays. Doing so gave me a chance to check in with them to find out who was looking forward to the weekend, how they felt about their class work or assessments that week, and whether they needed to talk later about anything specific. It was really one of the best opportunities for me to connect with my students.
Nurture Relationships
Cook and his colleagues (2018) at the University of Minnesota conducted a study of classrooms in which teachers used a series of techniques centered on establishing, maintaining, and restoring relationships. The original study was done with 220 4th and 5th graders, and it was repeated with middle school students. The results showed that academic engagement increased by 33 percent and disruptive behavior decreased by 75 percent—outcomes that resulted in more quality, uninterrupted classroom time. The establish-maintain-restore (EMR) method breaks relationships into three steps: starting and establishing, maintenance to avoid deterioration, and repair to fix any breakdown. Strategies recommended at each step include the following:
Starting and Establishing
Offer positive greetings at the door (as described in this chapter).
Ask open-ended and reflective questions.
Incorporate student-led activities.
Make time for one-on-one encounters (as in the 2 × 10 strategy).
Maintenance
Check in with students regularly.
Recognize good behavior.
Keep interactions positive.
I like to add Stephen Covey's ways to make deposits in emotional bank accounts:
Keep commitments.
Attend to the little things.
Clarify expectations.
Repairing and Restoring
Avoid holding mistakes over students' heads.
Criticize behavior, not the student.
Take responsibility for your part of the problem.
Work with those affected—face up.
Make things right—fix up.
Change behavior—follow up.
The process of relationship building, maintaining, and repairing comes in many different forms. Letting students get to know you is the first step.
Every Student Has a Story
Sarah, the teacher in the opening scenario, tried many of the strategies discussed in this chapter. She found the 2 × 10 strategy to be very effective. Even with 150 students, she found that kids talk, and as she spent those few minutes each day with one student, that student told his friends. The perception of her not caring changed.
We live our lives in relationships. As we work with students, sometimes it's hard to remember that they are not there to give us a hard time; rather, they are having a hard time. Some of them have come from situations that have wired their brains for stress. They may perceive new and unfamiliar situations as a threat. All students need is one caring adult in their lives to make a difference. We need to know and use positive ways to respond when addressing situations. The following are some if/then statements to consider.
If … You want to build relationships, Then … Build trust, speak respectfully, and call students by name.
If … You want to build trust, Then … Make eye contact, follow through, use their names, and go the extra mile.
If … You want to improve behavior, Then … Use the relationship you have to speak to students, create a contract, or say something like "That's not
