Advising Reflection

Middle Institute SP 2017 Blog post II

Based on the research and readings, what makes a strong advisory program?  What would this look like in practice.  

From the readings and my experience in class it seems that what makes a strong advisory program is the length at which the advisory program goes to support its students. During this tumultuous time for adolescents what they need most is a sense of self worth and peacefulness and through strong support that is what middle educators must strive to provide through their advisory programs. Advisers must do their best to get to know and understand their students to provide effective support as well. In practice, this would require the learning institution to ensure it dedicated enough time for it’s faculty to advise and meet with students.  For the educators working with students this means they have to do their best to make personal connections and deeper understanding with their students. Doing so will help educators understand the student’s perspective and will provide educators with further insight on how to most effectively teach to all of their students needs.

Teaming Reflection

Teaming is the heart and soul of middle school organization.  What are you wondering about middle school teaming?  What ideas in the readings or class discussions have challenged your thinking?  What ah-ha's have you had thus far?

I’ll start off by saying that I went to both a middle school (grades 7-8) and an upper elementary school (grades 5-6) that had divided their student body into teams. Through these four years and up until this class really I had never really understood the purpose of teaming in a middle school. This I think was due to the lack of commitment to team building and team building in my middle school experience. The only purpose I derived of having team organization in a middle school from my experience was to create a localized environment to prepare students for the more independence needed in high school. The academic teams in my experience lacked much of what is emphasized as necessary for creating a successful team in our readings. After reading and discussing teams in class, I’m starting to see as to why teaming is considered a good approach to teaching middle schoolers. Teaming, if done properly, does seem to have serious potential with regards to student support and academic achievement.