Last day in training :(

Day 4: Friday 1/12

          Sadly, today was my last day at Peace St. Before PMU started, I sat with some staff, like I've done this week and continued asking questions. I asked Christen, Heath, Erica and Matt a few questions and took notes on what they said. After PMU, I went to Christen's Advisory and see how she and her students transition from PMU to advisory in compared to Heath's. What I like is that both advisors have the agenda for the day written on the white board so that the students can visually see what's going on for the day. After transitioning from PMU, Christen checks-in with the students and ask if there are any highlights they want to share from yesterdays LTI day or just any shout outs in general. Students then have have 45 min to blog.
          At 10, I switched over to Heath's advisory for a LTI project planning (a project consult). This time consisted of a 30-minute consultancy protocol with 5 steps. 1. presentation of dilemma, 2. clarifying, 3. probing questions, 4. group discussion, 5. reflection by presenter. The consultancy started with a student presenting her dilemma of not having a LTI project. Here the student takes 5 minutes to give an overview of internship and problem. Students then spend 11 minutes asking clarifying questions and then ask probing questions. It then becomes a group discussion where suggests are made and ideas are brainstormed. Lastly, the presenter gets to reflect on what was said. It was great to see how Heath ran the consultancy protocol and how the students reacted to it. I took a lot of notes. I was very pleased that students participated and actually tried to help their advisory mate come up with ideas for a project. I also liked how Heath asked for feedback about the consultancy protocol so it can be better for next time.

Mentor meeting, coverage and more!

Day 3: Thursday 1/11

          I started the day off by observing Heath have a meeting with a mentor and a student. This meeting lasted about 45 minutes. I took notes on how Heath conducted the meeting. I was able to hear from all three, the student, advisor and mentor. The meeting mostly consisted of the mentor explaining some of projects the student is involved in. A project proposal was then mentioned. It was great to hear the mentors feedback and recommendations because it shows how interested he is in the student's work. All three parties asked questions and answered questions. It was great to see how Heath and the mentor communicated and the relationship they have.
          Once the meeting was over, I quickly observed Heath do a check-in with one of her students on coverage. She made sure the student was working on something related to LTIs. She also gave feedback and advice to the student, as well as praised the student for the work he has done and will continue to do. I also witnessed her quickly speak to the learning specialist to check in regards to a student.
          From 10:30-12, I popped into Matt's QR class and observed. It was interesting to see a "teacher" teach a specific subject for a 1 hour and a half and compare him to advisors and their "teaching".  During QR, the advisor would check in with students and ask questions to make sure they're completing assignments. Matt would also go around, one-on-one to make sure the students understood the assignments given. The relationship Matt has with the students is great, reminds me of the relationship we had with our math specialist.
          After lunch, I was able to observe 9th grade and 11th grade coverage. I shadowed Sara, the learning specialist, who was on coverage. To make sure she and everyone was aware of what the students should be working on, she wrote it on a white board for a visual presentation. After coverage, I continued shadowing Sara and saw her in her role, which today involved meeting with seniors who are in danger of not graduating. She met with two students, one who needed help on their post-Met essay and another one who needed help on their project proposal. I was able to witness Sara conduct her meetings. Sara was helpful in the way of sharing information regarding her position and what a learning specialist does. She also answered any questions I had.
          At 2, I went to Erica's Advisory. Erica is a 10th grade advisor who took on freshmen for the first time last year. She had previously taken over 10th grade and a 11th grade advisories the previous years. There I was able to watch Erica and how she runs her advisory. I saw her do 1-on-1s binder checks with students. She told me, she randomly does binder checks to make sure all her students have their work and have their binder neat so when exhibition time comes, they're prepared. She gave me advice on how she does certain things. For example, Erica has an advisory website, where her students can access all the documents they need without asking her. She also has her students blog. In addition, Erica also explained to me what CTE was and showed me the website and list of Career and Technical Education standards.
          It was awesome to be around other staff members today. From observing a mentor meeting and a QR class to seeing what coverage would be like to shadowing a learning specialist to seeing how things get done in a 10th grade advisory. I feel like I was able to get a gist of a little bit of everything.
         
       Few questions for blog.
- What advisory setup is more effective for students learning (round table or two-seater desks)?
- How do you first build that trusting/respectful advisor-student relationship?
- How should you communicate with certain students to get their attention?
- What are some procedures I would like to have in my own advisory?
- How can I create a safe learning environment for my students?
- How do you keep students engaged in advisory as well as in their own work?
- What are some strategies used to redirect students and have them refocus on a task?
- How do you discipline students when not following "norms"?
- How does one transition from one topic to another topic?
- How do you get students to actually do work during IWT or while being on coverage.
- How do you encourage students to be creative with projects and help them build strong project proposals that meet all goals.
- How can I incorporate students wants and needs to help them complete their work (breaks, time alone, listen to music etc.) so I can get what I want and need from the student. In other words, how do I compromise with student.
- How do you correct a student when wrong?
- When do you know who your strongest/non so strong student is?
- How do you manage both so one doesn't influence the other?
- What is the hardest/easiest part of being an advisor?
- How do you motivate students to search for LTIs?
- Is there an actual guideline for an being an advisor?
- Differences between classes (generations)?

          While spending time at Peace St., I've noticed a few things have changed since I graduated The Met. All the students have Chrome books, which I think is great. When I was at The Met, we had advisory computers to use, not personal ones. All students are provided with a personal laptop to help them with their academics. Now, students actually have a math class. Before, our building QR specialist would come to our advisory to teach us for 30 min - 45 min, while today, the QR specialist has his own room and the students go to him for 1 hour and a half. Another difference I noticed is that The Met now uses CTE to guide students when it comes to their internship standards. We never had CTE. When it comes to internships, different grades have different LTI days. When I was at the Met, internship days for the whole school/building were only Tuesdays and Thursdays. At Peace, 9th and 11th graders have internships on Tuesdays and Thursdays while 10th and 12th graders have their internships Mondays and Wednesdays. While there are some differences, they're are some things that haven't changed. LTIs are one. Students still have amazing internships. Major projects like LTI project, STPs and Who Am I? projects are still in place. Exhibitions are also still being done.

A split day with both Heath and Christen's Advisories

Day 2: Wednesday 1/10

          Today, I had the opportunity to shadow both of Heath and Christen's advisories. After PMU, I went to Heath's Advisory and observed. I took notes on how the advisory looks, any assignments, the students, themselves and how she ran advisory. I enjoyed that she continued with the PMU topic in advisory and let her students have an open discussion, sharing their thoughts/opinions regarding the matter. I observed her having a 1-on-1 meeting with a student and took notes on how she conducted it.
          At 11, I popped into Christen's (3rd loop advisor) advisory, another 11th grade advisory for their NEWSELA article. There I took notes on the student who lead NEWSELA, the topic of the article and the reactions, responses and participation of the students. I took notes on Christen and how she managed this time as well.
          After lunch, I continued observing, this time it was QR time. For the first half, I observed and took notes on how Christen and Heath ran their QR Data and Stats workshop and for the second half, I observed Matt, the QR specialist in his space, teaching the other half of students Algebra II.
          At 2, it was time for more IWT, so I was able to observed more 1-on-1s and how students worked on their own.
          While being in both advisories, I compared and contrasted each in my notes. I literally wrote down everything each advisor did/talked about from how they transitioned from one topic to another to strategies they use to communicate with their students.
           Something I tried to focus on while shadowing both advisories was procedures the students have learned and/or still need to practice. I will list them below.
  • Preparing for PMU (transitioning from having breakfast, behavior, etc).
  • Advisory check-in/out (transitioning from PMU, lunch, IWT, settling down, getting ready to start/continue with the day, etc).
  • Phone usage 
  • Speaking/Participation (talking one at a time, raising hand, not interrupting others, etc). 
  • Visitors (visiting other students in other advisories)  
  • Bathroom break
  • IWT (project work time) 
  • LTI (behavior, interviews, etc). 
          It's hard to say how both advisors taught their students these procedures but I know within the first days of the school year is when it happened because I saw a "norm contract" in each advisory with the signatures of each student. I'm sure they used the three-step approaches to teaching classroom procedures. Explain. Rehearse. Reinforce. Advisors state the "norm", explain it, model and demonstrate it. They continue to practice the procedure with the students and lastly, reteach/reinforce the "norm" until it becomes a habit. I think its safe to say besides, internships and bathroom breaks, the students still need to practice these procedures. I witnessed a few students who follow the procedures better than other and I also witnessed the advisors rehearse and reinforce certain procedures. When corrected, the students were fully able to follow each procedure.
          Overall, today was a great day. I really enjoyed every minute of it.

LTI Visits!

Day 1: Tuesday 1/9

          Today I started my advisor training at Peace St. I spent the whole day with Heath, a first loop 11th grade advisor. I shadowed her on two LTI visits. On our way to The Raynham Channel, I was able to get to know her a little and ask her all the questions regarding what it's like being a Met advisor and more. We spent about 3 hours playing Q&A and having great conversations. Heath answered all my questions without a problem. 

          When we got to the Raynham Channel, I was able to observe Heath observe her student in their video/editing internship environment. As I observed, I took notes on Heaths every movement and wrote down any questions I had. After the observation, I asked Heath what she was looking for, what she was writing down, what she observed and what are the next steps that follow a LTI observation.


          When we got back to school, we had lunch and then I met Heath at The Met's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for another internship visit. There, I observed Heath have a 1-on-1 check in with a mentor, regarding her student and their work/work tracker.  Again, I took notes about what was being said and any questions Heath had for the mentor.






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