The Do's & Don'ts of Advisory:
Do:
| Don't:
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So, what did my advisory class end up looking like?
A typical Tuesday in advisory class

Students who get to their seats early can choose to work on their coloring page while I am at the door greeting everyone. I discovered adult coloring last year and found it to be very calming. It can be especially nice when accompanied by some meditation music or the soothing sounds of nature. I wanted to do a little research, so that I could justify coloring as part of a mindfulness/social-emotional learning curriculum. I was pleased to find out that coloring, while not a form of art therapy, is still considered therapeutic.
- "Like meditation, coloring allows the brain to switch off other thoughts and focus." -CNN.com
- I like it as a "back-up" plan for if we ever have a substitute teacher. We have talked about how to color mindfully , as well as the benefits and purpose for the coloring activity, so that if the coloring activity is used in my absence, students will understand the point of it and not just take it as mindless busywork they were given by a sub. But for today, it is used as a warm-up for the day's lesson.
The Walk-in SOng
While the walk-in songs aren't exactly the kind of spa room tunes that you might expect, I love the mix of mindfulness and hip-hop. It works for my students. The walk-in songs are about four minutes long and so is our passing period-another reason to like the songs. So, to recap, students are entering, getting chairs, coloring, listening to (and some are singing and dancing) to "Gratitude is my Attitude", and I am at the door wishing everyone a good morning. Then the bell rings. A volunteer reads the quote from the screen aloud to the class and we talk very briefly about what that means, making connections to previous lessons on gratitude. | |