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During the beginning weeks of the school year, teachers should be intentionally creating a welcoming environment in their classroom by having students engage in intentional community building activities that allow the students to get to know each other in a meaningful way.
This time is essential to setting a solid foundation where students can thrive.
All students on campus have an Applied Learning Advisory period. However, different grade levels engage at different levels of support. For example, at ALA, our 6th graders participate in a guided scaffolded year of advisory while our 7th and 8th graders are given choice on which advisory topic they want to deep dive into for the year.
On Advisory workdays students spend the entire day in their Advisory class which allows for a large block of uninterrupted time to immerse themselves in the work. Students may take experiential field trips to observe how their topic of study connects to the real world. Or a panel of experts in the field may be invited to share their knowledge with the class. This is also an opportunity for students to dive into a more complex and time intensive project.
One entire school day dedicated to allowing students to showcase their learning journey. The End of Year Symposium is designed like a professional conference. Every student is expected to present on their learning journey which includes authentic artifacts that demonstrate their deep understanding of the topic studied.
Advisory classes are allotted specific times where they are allowed creative freedom over how they want to exhibit their work. In the past students have transformed classrooms into cinemas to show their videos, led cooking classes, given conference style presentations, performed music recitals and theatrical productions.
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