Planning & Organization

Week of     October 1-5, 2012

Theme:  Planning & Organization

 

From The Advisory Book:  “Many students fail not for lack of ability but for lack of organizing skills.  They never seem to get it together.  Their lockers are a mess, they lose things, they come to class unprepared, and homework is a hit or miss proposition.  Rather than assume our students already know how to get & stay organized, we need to model organizational skills for them, and give them time to practice, step by step, what we demonstrate” (p. 176).

     Date                   News                             Greeting             Sharing               Activity

 

Mon	Good Morning  ___th graders! It’s time to get organized.  What is something an organized person does? Write your idea on the board. (during attendance)   School / Athletic Team News	One Minute Mingle Greeting (1-2 min)	“What tool do you see that you like (from the white board)? (3-5min)	Planner Development for the Week (see below) (10 min)
Tuesday a.m.	Hola, Organizers! How important is being organ- ized to your success in life? Indicate your answer by writing your initials next to it. Not important    Somewhat important Pretty Important Very Important [during attendance}   School / Athletic Team News	Greet everyone whose (first or last) name begins with the same letter as yours. (3 min)	SQ	SQ   Processing Progress: Advisors begin 1 on 1 talks w/ advisees about Interims
Tuesday p.m.	Hello Again! This afternoon we will discuss interims & work on your academic goals.   School / Athletic Team News	Informal Hello’s	Group Discussion / Intro to Activity:    What are some examples of academic goals? Social goals? Emotional Goals? (5 min)	Processing Progress: 1on1 talks about Interims   Worksheet (in your boxes Tues a.m.) (25 min)
Wed	Bienvenidos… Organized people get more done.  List a person you know who is well-organized.    School / Athletic Team News	Huddle Up Greeting	Partner Share: Tell your partner about something in your life that needs organizing.  Partners give at least one suggestion for getting organized.  After, group share.	n/a
Thursday	Bon Jour!   School / Athletic Team News	One Minute Mingle Greeting	SQ	SQ
Friday	Happy Friday!   School / Athletic Team News	Puzzle Greeting (5 min) (supplies will be in your boxes Tuesday morning)	How are you doing keeping your binder purged & organized? NO LOOSE PAPERS!   Is your planner completed every day this week?  Look for holes. Celebrate successes!	Planner Check   Game Time (let Brandy if you need some board games for advisory)

 

General Notes:

 

Based on feedback from our Friday Advisory meetings plus informal discussions, we are going to pack a little less into the weekly lesson plans, to allow for a bit of informal “down time” among advisors and advisees.  We are calling this “SQ,” for “social intelligence quotient.”  Learning to make small talk in less structured ways is a key skill to learn during adolescence.  SQ time addresses this need. 

 

Keys to its success will be…

… advisors modeling during this practice, relaxing and enjoying some unguided conversations with advisees.  Not the time to check e-mails.

… mixing up the seating occasionally.  It’s not much of a skill stretch to chat up your best friend.  Encourage skill-building by mixing up the seating from time to time.

 

Greetings

 

One-Minute Mingle (p. 224) – Each person greets as many students by name as possible in one minute.  Model how to efficiently complete a greeting before starting.  Give examples of how to be greeted and return a greeting, maintaining eye contact, before moving on to the next person.

 

Huddle Up Greeting (p. 221) – Leader makes a statement and students to whom it applies come to the middle of the circle and greet the others in the middle.  Those for whom the statement doesn’t apply stay where they are, quietly waiting for the next statement.  Example:  “Huddle up if you enjoy watching football.”  Everyone who likes to watch football comes to the middle of the circle & greets everyone else who shares this trait, while those who don’t enjoy watching football remain where they are.

 

Puzzle Greeting (p. 225) – Cut note cards or any piece of heavy, colored paper into 2 or 3 pieces each & hand out pieces to students, and have students find the rest of their group by matching pieces till they make a complete card.  All in the newly formed group greet each other.

Activities

Monday         Ask students to fill out their planner for the week, writing in test/quiz                                    dates, assignment due dates, games, practices, Marine Lab, etc…                                  

                        Planning the week out and taking a look at the whole week at once                              gives the brain a blueprint and prevents surprises!  This “cools” the panic button of the brain (the amygdala) and increases blood flow and   energy in our “thinking brain” (the prefrontal cortex, or pfc, which is behind our forehead).

 

Tuesday        An important part of the Advisor/Advisee relationship is one-on-one                                     talks about academic progress.  Interim time is the perfect time to assess & problem-solve together.  A good idea might be to keep a notebook so that you can write down thoughts and goals to review next Interim time.