The listserv conversation about advisories and "enrichment"
periods spun off from our "guest chat"
with middle school guru John Lounsbury. We begin here by repeating a little
of the Lounsbury conversation, for context. But read on!
Linda Haskell asked John Lounsbury about student advisories:
John,
Currently, we use school-within-a-school and looping together. We have dropped
advisory (which I am sorry about) because many teachers felt it was an "extra"
that took away from academic time, caused extra work on the teachers' part,
and was a "forced" connection that didn't really work for kids.
How do schools overcome these perceptions?
Linda
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John Lounsbury had this reply:
The advisory component has been the most difficult one to implement because
it calls for a different role. In schools that are essentially subject-centered,
advisory is important to give students a time and a place when their non-academic
needs can be met as well as providing support for their academic needs.
However, in my judgment, 20 years from now no middle school of note will
have an advisory program because such will become unnecessary when long-term
student-teacher relationships are in force and when curriculum integration
has been achieved.
In this way students' affective needs will be melded into their congnitive
needs. Perhaps I am a bit optimistic, but as we are freed from the prescribed-in-advance
course of study and can involve the kids themselves in setting both the
topics to be studied and the ways they are to be studied, all of their developmental
needs can be a part of the problem-centered block of time conducted by a
small team. . . .
I think we should recognize that advisory is instructional. It instructs
in behavior as well as supports the academic program. It is often viewed,
as in my earlier answer, as if classes and advisory are in conflict, when
in fact if properly done they are very much in concert. So long as we view
the teacher's job narrowly as an instructor whose almost exclusive responsibility
is covering content and checking on the students' temporary acquisition
of that content, we will have a problem. The needed re-definition of the
teacher's role will solve it, but it is difficult to counter a deep-seated,
traditional concept of what teaching is.
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Beverly Maddox asked:
How do schools overcome the perception that advisory is an extra, that it
takes away instructional time, causes extra work for teachers, and is so
contrived in an attempt to "connect" to kids that it is irrelevant.
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Alexis Ducat replied:
I believe you must have a total buy in as to what best practices are for
middle school students. Every teacher in my school (including Principal,
Asst. Prin.and nurse) are advisors to about 13 students. We have tons of
planned activities with them and never run out of ideas. This bonding time
is essential in middle school. Of course, without advisory, our teachers
would teach 5 classes per day, since we also give them full prep and an
additional hour at the end of the day for professional dialogue with their
team.
Alexis
Cherry Hill, NJ
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Then Anne Jolly wrote this about "enrichment" periods:
I've been reading with interest the conversations on advisory periods. Along
the same line - in order to solve scheduling problems at several middle
schools in my area each teacher has one class of students each day for an
"enrichment" period. There's no real plan or coordination as to
what should happen during this time, and overworked faculty members - many
of whom are teaching 190 students per day in 50 minute shifts with one 45
minute period to catch their breath and take care of office paperwork -
haven't come up with a collective picture of what this could look like to
really benefit students.
I like the ideas and thoughts you're generating about advisory periods,
and wonder if any of you have had success in using daily enrichment periods
in the same manner as advisory periods. Or, do you have other ideas?
Thanks!
Anne
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"FourHacksUK" (who must have a real name!) replied:
I have only worked at one school where enrichment periods were incorporated
in the schedule. Actually, I truly enjoyed that 30 minute period! Each of
us were given the leeway to "teach" one of our hobbies. As a student,
I took chess and calligraphy. As a teacher, I repeated the calligraphy I
had learned as a sophomore in high school. Many of my students enjoyed the
experience. That was ten years ago and I am told at least one of them still
uses this knowledge -- or so her parents told me when I ran into them this
past year.
Other courses ran the gamut of the teachers' interests. Needlepoint was
one I can remember. Etiquette (having a "proper" tea, shaking
hands, etc.) was another. We rotated our students every six weeks. The seventh
graders were divided into seven groups (we had seven teachers on our team),
so each group did not get every class. The classes were relatively small
in size. Most of them seemed to enjoy learning about this other aspect of
their teacher's life.
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Deb Bambino commented on the issue of "contrived" advisory
periods:
I heard this complaint by teachers all the time at my old school. I think
it goes to the heart of either understanding the particular needs of this
age group or misunderstanding them.
I don't think there's any substitute for getting to really know kids in
terms of classroom management or curriculum. If kids feel like they're just
a number in your class, they won't respond in the same way.
It's up to the advisor to make it relevant vs. contrived. If I were in a
classroom right now, teaching science, the election would not be part of
my regularly scheduled plan, but how can a teacher ignore what's going on
in the world? When we do, don't the kids take note and pull back.
As a non-advisor I was always trying to sneak in real conversation. The
other night I was pleased to see a teacher on the news, who was conducting
an election and multiple hand counts to demonstrate the possibilities for
errors. Talk about a teachable moment!
When Columbine went down, lots of classes didn't touch it. It was disturbing
and it wasn't part of the curriculum. Kids didn't want to talk at first,
but didn't we all need to "connect"? Wasn't that the lesson of
the tragedy?
In Making Big Schools Feel
Small it seems it all starts with making the connection. In Michael
Wynn's book, Building
Dreams, it 's the same message.
I keep returning to the question of the relationship between teaching and
learning. Can we teach, if students don't want to learn from us? Will they
want to learn from "strangers"? Can we teach "strangers"?
In the book Schools
That Learn by Senge et al, they begin with a section called "The
Remembered Moment" and they ask everyone to think about a time when
they felt truly supported in their desire to learn.
Maybe we should all do that on line and then compare the key characteristics
of those experiences. I wonder what patterns we would find... I' ll hazard
a guess that there won't be much about standards or test taking skills in
our memories. What do you think?
Deb
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Michelle Pedigo commented on "enrichment periods":
Regarding enrichment periods, in our middle school in Kentucky, we planned
our enrichment period around the areas in which students are assessed per
grade level. We also integrated keyboarding and a remediation class in reading
for those who did not read at the fifth grade level. Also during this time,
at the eighth grade level, we offer advanced classes to challenge those
who may not have been challenged in their strengths all day: HS Latin I,
Adv. Technology that leads to an industry-standard A+ certification, Adv.
Art, etc.
Also, this is the only time of the day that our students are tracked. We
pull the 1,2,3 stanines out and the 7,8,9 stanines (according to their 6th
grade CTBS scores) and everyone else is mixed together. With this arrangement,
we hope to pull students up by their boot straps and challenge the advanced
students as well.
This has worked well for us; hope it helps.
Michelle
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Then Michelle had another thought:
I try to tread lightly... In an effort to meet the high standards for academics,
we must find a way to have "purposeful fun," and I'm not convinced
that the enrichment periods being discussed here address the standards.
I advocate more of a hands-on approach toward the standards instead of a
hodgepodge of classes that really don't address anything.
I guess I am being rather blunt, and if I offend anyone, I am sorry; that
is not intentional.
Michelle
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Sue Chanda responded:
Addressing the statement , " I tread Lightly..."
I also have an enrichment period, when not working on mathematics project,
my students are doing service projects in the community. They make items
to give to residents of nursing home that is in walking distance of the
school. We visit the home at least once a month and the students talk/visit
with the residents. My students have gained alot from this experience and
I have gotten a better relationship with them through this interaction.
I believe it to be a valuable lesson in life.
Sue
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Diane ( at Gcepela@aol.com) shared Michelle's concerns about the way
enrichment periods are often used:
I agree with the uselessness of enrichment periods. My kids school went
through a period of 3 years with them and they became nothing more than
a second study hall. I do believe that if we teach more to critical thinking,
engaged learning, and problem based learning we automatically enrich.
Have any of you seen the
Japanese math class video put out by I believe the NCTM or the originators
of TIMSS? What an enriched math lesson for all!
Diane
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Naomi Smith gave her endorsement to advisories:
Advisory is so important. As a middle school administrator I believe this.
At our school we have advisory periods scheduled. Actually, we have one
advisory period and two community service periods for each advisory group.
The advisory group works together on a project for the year (reading with
younger students, recycling, etc.) This gives the advisor and advisees time
to know each other in different ways.
One concern is that some advisors really bring the students together and
have quality discussion, community building time. Others are at a loss.
We have an advisory manual with activities and tips. We have had staff development
too. With yearly turnover, it is just overwhelming to get everyone "on
board" every year.
My other concern is that advisory groups should be half a class (15 - 16)
and I do not have enough staff to do that across the board. I have used
everyone (including a wonderful school secretary, a great school aid and
our Drug education counselor) This leaves several of my 6th and 7th graders
in groups of 20 and some 30.
Any suggestions????
Naomi Smith, New York City
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Alexis Ducat offered these ideas:
Our school has done much research re advisory. We call it Transformation
and Discovery. We all came together during the summer and read the National
Middle School Association's This
We Believe - Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Schools. We believe
in our shared vision of an adult advocate for every student.
We meet every morning and there are times when the discussions are not academic--in
fact, the best ones are adolescent centered talks. Sometimes, I may share
a story about my 16 year old with my eighth graders and ask them their opinions.
We dialogue about parents, peer groups, learning vs grades, setting goals,
and their is a respect, a bond that is built early on. However, our two
other middle school attempted to put in an advisory period twice a week
(to placate all the parents who wanted their kids to come to our school).
Teachers who did not have the buy in, who wanted to only teach "science"
or their academic core subject area, felt very put upon. Their advisory
consists of playing cards and time to finish homework. Our lessons are quite
relevant and I would be happy to share with anyone who wants them. Also,
twice a week our students begin working on a personal project, while we
speak about the Flip It Model of research--basically, all students write
and extend their thinking of a middle-school I-search paper. We have a celebration
at the end of the year that is awesome. We are only two years old and still
learning along with the students.
Deborah, thank you for the book recommendations.
Alexis
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A little later, Alexis had this to add:
Keep the classes small. Ours are only 13-15. Sometimes we pair up with another
teacher, but more often than not, we keep our advisory small. More bonding
that way. I totally agree with new people coming on board, there is a loss.
They just need time to see how well it works and the spirit of community
it builds in the school. We also have a 25 hour minimum requirement for
every student in the school doing community service. Wow! This has really
taken off this year. When it is Drug Awareness Week, all advisories decide
what they will do, etc. Keep it small and keep the dialogue open as to the
effectiveness of its worth.
Alexis
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Later, Alexis posted these further comments:
Advisory periods allow us to get to know our students (I have 13) as does
every single adult in our school. No one is exempt from the building and
forging of these relationships. Our 25-hour component of community service
has become a wellspring of ideas where students help other students in the
school for causes that are important to them.
For instance, one 7th grade student works with a 6-year old child with cancer.
She wrote up a flyer asking each advisory class to donate some spare money
to help with his cause. As she walked from classroom to classroom, she was
so proud as it certainly made her feel good when students gave up candy
money to help this child. We have students involved with Homework Hotline
and peer tutoring in our school. There is a spirit that pervades throughout.
When parents have concerns re grades, their first line is to speak with
the advisor who will then go to the team where information can be gathered
for the child.
Sometimes, especially after this week, with one emergency after another,
I wonder about the worth of pushing kids for better test scores, etc. At
this age, they really need support, guidance, and someone who believes in
them - an advocate.
Alexis
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Myrna Rubel shared this advisory activity in her school:
Our media specialist always puts together an awesome Veteran's Day unit
for the entire school to experience. She invites vets to come and talk to
advisories in small groups. We have an active VWF post(?) here that helps
her set everything up so we have WWII vets, WWII vets who were POWs, Vietnam
vets, and even Desert Storm vets.
They are scheduled to speak twice and are hosted around the school by a
escort. This student has to call the vet on the phone before their presentation
day and interview them. That way the escort is able to introduce the vet
to students with some personal information.
The advisories prepare by watching a couple of neat videos on veterans---Coming
Home with Honor (PBS American Experience video about Vietnam POWs) and Monuments
to Freedom (Discovery Channel special about ARlington and the Vietnam Memorial).
We also read "From Flander's Field" the WWI poem. The advisories
develop questions that the kids wonder about being a veteran or what it
was like to serve. We also teach the kids about being respectful towards
the flag and why we do it. Most of them don't know what to do or when to
do it, so they are surprised to learn that there is a protocal for how you're
suppose to act.
You can't believe how respectful and powerful those interviews are. The
kids are amazed at how brave and courageous all these men and women (although
we've only been able to find one woman to participate) were. They listen
to attentively and show so much respect.
Then at the end of the day, we have an assembly. Usually the 7th grade choir
sings some good 'ol fashion patriotic songs and the local police department
color guard brings in the flag. The vets are introduced by their hosts and
asked to stand one at a time for recognition. Usually two or three speak
to the kids about "What Freedom Means to Me". It stuns the kids
to hear the guys talk about how they would gladly serve as a POW again if
it meant that the United States would remain free. Students can't believe
that it's true.
This year we had an extra special memorial. One of our faculty members had
received an email from a crew member from the Kohl and it was read aloud.
Afterwards, we stood in silence for the men who died. You could have heard
a pin drop even with almost 700 students/teachers/parents in the gym. Our
band teacher played Taps on the trumpet and an eighth grade trumpeter echoed
from in the hallway.
The students go back and we discuss what happened. Even the students who
have participated in this all three years always get something out of it.
The day ends with students writing Thank yous to vets for their contribuation.
These are delievered to the local VA hospital to be put on food trays at
meal time. The kids work hard to make their notes special and attractive.
Many of them say they hope they could be as brave and how appreciative they
are of the sacrifice that was involved.
Now I know some people don't believe middle schoolers can do this. But I'm
here to tell you that every year our kids rise to the occasion (ok, maybe
not all---but only 5-8 stinkers are in the student body). I hope that it
will make a lasting impression on them and I think it will. The 8th graders
are my measure and they even think it's neat to understand more and more
about what went on.
We also do the follow-up at Valentine's Day. Valentines for Vets. Again
I think because of what we do in November, there is lots of willing participation.
Advisory is the perfect venue for this type of activity. I think it's wonderful
and hope this might give you an idea.
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Advisory is not irrelevant, Rick Selby said:
It is hard to convince teachers, at first, to see that Advisory is not an
"additional prep". We try to get teachers to try it out first
before they complain. If a teacher makes even a small attempt at bonding
with the kids, then Advisory is NOT irrelevant. However, if teachers are
set with a negative attitude, and just let them sit and do homework, then
there is not much you can do.
Rick Selby
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John Norton chimed in:
Dr. Howard Johnston wrote an article several years ago proposing a new approach
to advisories -- the "integrated" advisory. We've archived the
article at MiddleWeb. Here's the closing paragraph:
"When the advisory program is connected to the central mission of the
middle level school, students and teachers are more likely to participate
fully in its development and operation. Further, parents and community members
can more easily see the links of the advisory program to the most desired
outcomes of the middle level school: high levels of achievement, good citizenship,
strong self-concepts based on important attainments, and productive behavior
for all students. It's a program worth having, but only if it takes on an
important role in achieving the school's mission, and only if we decide
to do it well."
In his article, he talks about why advisory programs have failed so often:
1. Many advisory programs were developed, initially, by guidance departments
and took on a group guidance format. This led many teachers to say, "I'm
a teacher, not a counselor. I'm not comfortable with this role; I'm not
well trained for it." The result was that many teachers resisted the
inclusion of advisory programs into their schools at all.
2. Some advisory periods were scheduled simply to provide unstructured,
free time for adults and children to interact with one another. Many teachers,
uncomfortable with their roles in this setting, assumed a supervisory stance:
they would supervise the kids during this "free time." The bulk
of the interaction was among the kids themselves rather than between teacher
and students. In other cases, teachers created "activities" which
were designed primarily to engage students in some form of structured task.
Because they were unconnected to discernible school goals, these were often
seen as trivial or simply a waste of time.
3. Other programs took on an "issues" or "hot topics"
focus in which students had an opportunity to discuss matters of personal
or school-wide concern. While this approach is the one that is probably
most closely related to the original purposes of the advisory function,
many of these topics, such as drug and alcohol use, sexual behavior, peer
relations, and values education, became quite controversial and invited
a great deal of public scrutiny. In order to quell community concerns over
the treatment of these topics, many programs abandoned them altogether or
couched them in vague, non-offensive topics and activities which were less
controversial.
The entire article is at:
http://www.middleweb.com/johnston.html
If folks are interested, we could collect some questions for Dr. Johnston
and ask him to answer them for us.
John
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Deborah Bambino commented on Howard Johnston's proposal:
Dr. Howard Johnston wrote:
"When the advisory program is connected to the central mission of the
middle level school, students and teachers are more likely to participate
fully in its development and operation. Further, parents and community members
can more easily see the links of the advisory program to the most desired
outcomes of the middle level school: high levels of achievement, good citizenship,
strong self-concepts based on important attainments, and productive behavior
for all students. It's a program worth having, but only if it takes on an
important role in achieving the school's mission, and only if we decide
to do it well."
This quote reminds me of the presentation I attended by Mychal Wynn at the
NABSE conference on Friday. Mr. Wynn felt we needed to be organizing assemblies,
trips, bulletin boards etc. so that they all supported the stated vision
of the school. He was critical of the haphazard approach to these vehicles,
which could be put to better use. He differentiated between the mission
and vision because so many mission statements are interchangeable and not
particularly meaningful to our kids. He felt we should have clearly stated
visions with clear steps to realize them. I think his message could be extended
to advisory programs as well.
Deb
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Sid Tanner tried to tackle Howard Johnston's complete article:
Having just read the full article, John thank you for (summarizing for)
those who don't have to read the whole thing. ;-}
The difficult thing is to get teacher buy-in. Something we did that was
effective was modeling. The principal and I(Asst. Prin) had an advisory
period just like everyone else. The principal made a point of speaking about
something that had happened in TA every faculty meeting. Our TA was the
most challenging, and everyone knew it. But we demonstrated that we could
and would talk to those kids who didn't have much of a chance. One day,
we had a large piece of bubble-wrap. We just sat there popping bubbles and
talking about the things that are important to 13 year olds. He told the
faculty about that several times to point out that the time didn't have
to be real structured. Our advisory was only 18 minutes long also so teachers
didn't feel too stressed out by loss of control.
Finally, some teachers will never get what advisory is all about and those
people shouldn't be in middle schools. Send them to the High School or the
Elementary, where they will be happier.
Sid Tanner
Ingalls KS
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Myrna Rubel shared this information about her school:
In our school, advisors call home within the first 2 weeks of school. They
introduce themselves and become the "first stop" for parent communication.
The parents really like the contact and knowing that their child has an
advocate. We then use a postcard system to mail small notes home as well
as to recognize students. Students and advisors complete one or two community
service projects, plan several social activities for themselves. Some of
the time is structured but in many cases the 'talk' is generated by the
students. Students stay with the same advisor for three years and really
develop close relationships.
Myrna
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Principal Susan Fedor wrote this about "making advisory work":
We have advisory period scheduled first thing in the morning and combine
this 28 minute segment with the first instructional block of the day. Only
core teachers are involved which means that the student teacher ratio is
not ideal. However, these teachers do get to know students better than others
they teach because of having them this extra bit of time.
We have advisory scheduled for alternating days of the week. So, "A"
days, we have "Channel One" and our school produced news show
which take up the entire time. On "B" days, designated as "team
time," teachers have a variety of options: we ask for a schedule from
them that involves a "town meeting," when student government reps
(including those in the principal's cabinet) report on their meetings, receive
input, and go over items from suggestion boxes in each room; SSR; morning
meeting to discuss pertinent topics identified by students or team teachers;
a guidance-counselor developed activity which focuses on the character trait
being emphasized for the month; or a "fireside chat" from me (usually
about a subject near and dear to my heart such as name calling that leaves
a scarred heart....I can wax eloquent on that topic and have to every year).
Team time groups join together as a whole team for quarterly "celebrations,
" award ceremonies with a subliminal purpose of reinforcing school
values of compassion, volunteering, diligence at homework and the like.
Team time teachers advertise themselves as the champion for each and every
child assigned to their first block class. Team teachers make certain every
child's parent is contacted at the beginning of the year. Further, every
child receives a "good news" postcard written by the team time
teacher at some point during the school year suitable for posting on the
frig.
As the principal, I address what support I expect children will need as
they enter our sixth grade school. The teachers adopted the mission/vision
statement that we would be a school where "children were cherished
and challenged" and acknowledge that advisory is the main part of the
"cherished" part of that statement.
Even though we have not so far involved all teachers in advisory, we annually
evaluate the way we have structured this part of the day. I do not know
how to get all the morning duty posts covered without the help of exploratory
teachers. This is an outstanding group of willing teachers, but their not
being tied directly to a team at team planning time keeps them somewhat
on the fringe of school activities through no fault of their own. We have
evolved to this model having tried a number of other approaches which we
have abandoned for many of the reasons outlined in previous postings.
The approach that never rang true, but served a purpose, was a selection
of activities from which to choose in a book form. When teachers became
more confident, and this did not take very long, they chunked the book and
went on for a more timely and authentic approach. There is no better way
to clarify and spread school values than through advisory. It is middle
school missionary work.
And may I add my vote of confidence for the book published by Heinemann,
What
Every Middle School Teacher Should Know. I ordered 12 copies and cannot
decide whether or not to make this a summer reading club activity. More
likely, we can't wait that long.
Susan Fedor
CrossRoads Middle School
Columbia, SC
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Alexis Ducat replied to Susan:
Advisory that works seems to center on very student-focused ideas. At Rosa,
my middle school, it set us apart from the two other middle schools. We
have it five days a week and it is pretty much sacred time.
We have a wonderful team of teachers who put together a great advisory program
consisting of: the Mission, Advisory Themes, Roles of the Advisor, Requirements
of Advisory, a Scope & Sequence for sixth, seventh and eighth grade
students, advisory quarterly reports, etc. Our advisory teams team it up
by Weeks - such as Week 1: Social Connections: Bandana Toss/Treasure Hunt
and incorporates Life Skills Standards to each advisory lesson. Before Interims
and Report Cards, student self evaluate. However, even though there are
tons of activities to do with our 13 students, what the kids love is those
"fireside chats" - just talking.
We've been so busy this year with activities, I don't feel as if I know
my kids well enough and I feel bad about that. Last year, as a teacher,
I had the added advantage of seeing them twice. This year, as an administrator,
I only see them once and the bonding isn't as strong. They told me the other
day, they are not accountable for this and sometimes we have great talks.
Today, we talked about a rubric for collaborative work and it was wonderful.
What I love is the ability to be with a small group of students and that
everyone in the school is involved in the mission of what middle schoolers
really need. Our other two middle schools adopted a somewhat limited advisory--however,
as stated before, some teachers think it is fluff and spend the time playing
cards with their kids. This is when I think teachers should be in a different
profession.
Alexis
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Found another URL re advisory lessons, etc. that some on the listserve might
find interesting. I am planning on compiling a letter to the parents in
my advisory group (they are not graded for this--which shows sometimes as
they do not see advisory as a grade-counting class). However, I'll write
a note and so will they to parents re their participation in the collaborative
spirit of community building.
http://www.acsamman.edu.jo/~ms/advise98/
Alexis