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.
2018 Alumni Training Week at the Met!