The Challenge of Advisory Without an
Advisory Period
By Theresa Hinkle
Whether it’s due to budget cuts or shifts in philosophy, it appears that more and more middle
schools are abandoning the practice of dedicating a period of each day (typically 20–30 minutes)
to affective education, homeroom, advisory, or advisor-advisee (AA) as you may know it. Some
have viewed this practice in the narrow sense as a series of self-esteem building activities to help
you get acquainted, so it’s easy to see why the concept would end with the amount of time that
must be dedicated to it. Yet in reality, advisory consists of much more than a period of time filled
with activities. The National Middle School Association’s document This We Believe tells us,
“Advocacy is not a singular event or a regularly scheduled time. It is an attitude of caring that
translates into action when adults are responsive to the needs of each and every young adolescent
in their charge.”
So our challenge is to create an attitude of caring that is pervasive throughout the school day and
year. Perhaps the first step is to help everyone in your building understand that the needs of
young adolescents are unique. While schools are in the business of educating students, we must
also acknowledge that the social and emotional well-being of each student is of tremendous
importance, and such an awareness provides the foundation for academic success. Provide your
staff with information on the physical, social-emotional, cognitive, psychological, and moral
development of your students—through activities like book studies or by bringing speakers in—
then engage them in conversations designed to help them apply that knowledge to support the
students.
Beyond this attitude of caring, we must look to establish a culture that supports young
adolescents in their development as well-rounded young adults. In order to do this, we must be
aware that truly listening to the voices of our students is crucial. Ask your students questions
such as, “What do you think every middle school teacher should know about middle school
students?” Researchers Nancy Doda and Trudy Knowles asked this to nearly 3000 middle school
students and heard answers such as:
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“Teachers, teachers, teachers, when will they learn? I have the attention span of a raisin. I
need to be kept busy with things that are fun. Teachers need to find out what interests
kids and what stuff they like to do. So for a less whiny, annoyed and temperamental
class, make it fun.”
“Teachers also need to remember what it was like just entering teen-hood. I can bet you
all of them would agree that it was not an easy transition from innocence and being
sheltered from the world to realizing what pain and suffering there is and suddenly
becoming extremely self-conscious. It was, and is, always a hard transition, no matter if it
was in 1900 or 2000. We, as middle school children, are never constantly happy with our
lives, unlike adults who seem to be continuously happy. We’re confused and scared by
the world around us. We either hide it or show it to the world and many times we switch
those two around, day by day, hour by hour.”
How would the students at your school answer the question? Do they believe that the adults in
your building care about both their academic success and their personal development?
Young adolescents should also be engaged in the development of the procedures and protocols of
the school. This level of involvement will produce students who are more aware of the need for
these norms and much more inclined to follow and support them. Building an awareness of and
commitment to a set of core values that will guide the school is an important step. My team
referred to our core values as the Distinctions of Integrity. These 12 character traits and actions
(i.e.: respect, trust, responsibility, honesty, communication, commitment, etc.) are more than just
a list of words on the wall. They truly form the basis of our lives together.
When faced with the news that advisory periods were being eliminated at my school, we decided
that the benefits of our program were far too important to be allowed to disappear so we set out
to find ways to infuse advisory throughout the day. First, we needed time. In years past, the team
had used an extended AA period to explore the meanings of each of these core values through
discussions, skits, and writing assignments.
The following are just a few of the ways we incorporated the attitude of advisory throughout our
day:
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The first year, with time no longer in the schedule, we made the commitment to use 10–
15 minutes of each core class for three days for this purpose. While it did take time away
from our academic classes, we felt this investment of time helped ensure that every
student had a thorough understanding of the core values and emphasized to the students
just how important these values would be in our life together for the coming school year,
and that in the long run, this time would pay off
Each teacher focused on one Distinction a day. In order to ensure variety, we designated
the type of activity that would take place in each classroom. For example, day one would
find students in math class exploring “acknowledgement” through skits; English students
would complete a graphic organizer on “appreciation;” science classes would create
posters about “commitment;” and the social studies classes would have a discussion
about “compassion.” On the following days, the activities would be changed from
classroom to classroom as the remaining Distinctions were explored.
In later years, we decided to begin the school year by holding an all-team meeting lasting
for at least half a day. In this meeting, students were introduced to the team teachers
through pictures, songs, poems, and stories. The atmosphere is one of celebration and
excitement. We did not read off a list of rules; but insteaed, we get to know one another
(acknowledgement).
Students left this first day meeting with a homework assignment to write about two of the
team’s core values or distinctions. The completion of this assignment (responsibility) was
their ticket into a team meeting to be held the next day. Those who failed to complete the
assignment were given the opportunity to finish the assignment under the supervision of
one of the team teachers and then joined the team meeting already in progress.
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During the shorter meeting on day two, students discussed not only the meaning of these
distinctions but they began to explore exactly what adherence to these values would look
like. The process continued for several days and often involved skits, writing, discussion,
and more but always ended with students being asked to make a commitment to follow
the distinctions of integrity.
At every opportunity, the team distinctions were included in class discussions
(communication). For example, when studying a famous scientist, mathematician, or
story character, students might have been asked to identify and explain which of the
team’s distinctions of integrity this person exemplified. During a study of traditional
African life, students compared the values exemplified in African proverbs to the teams’
distinctions. In analyzing an important event from history, students were asked to predict
how the outcome would have been different if a particular distinction had been more
evident. By incorporating these values into class discussions, students saw that the norms
established for their school life had relevance beyond the classroom.
When students acted inappropriately, they completed a behavior reflection sheet as a way
to help them find insight into their choices and behaviors. These reflections required
students to consider which of the distinctions had been violated, which were needed,
and/or how they might go about fixing the problem or changing the behavior. This
process was also used schoolwide with great success.
Goal setting is an important aspect of helping students challenge themselves and then
(hopefully) celebrate their successes. Whether the goal was being set for an upcoming
field trip, in preparation for a student-led academic conference, or as a response to a
particular need, students were asked to include a “distinctions” goal in their thinking.
During weekly team meetings, students were acknowledged for their successes of the
past week both academically and behaviorally and were invited to acknowledge their
fellow students. As a part of project reflections, students were asked to consider which of
the distinctions had best been utilized by their team and which were needed. Students-ofthe-month were recognized based on their accomplishments in one (or more) of the team
distinctions.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it hopefully shows how the attitude of caring about students’
social and emotional development was at the core of my team’s values. Our consistent reference
to the distinctions of integrity helped our students connect the importance and relevance of these
core values to their daily lives both in and out of school. By integrating the heart of AA into our
established curriculum, we were able to maintain our advisory program despite the loss of
dedicated time. Losing an advisory period is no excuse for losing the attitude that the well-being
of each child should be at the core of what good middle schools do.
Theresa Hinkle taught middle school in High Point and Greensboro, NC, for over 30 years. She
is now an educational consultant and can be contacted at theresa_hinkle@yahoo.com.