Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

  Today was the first Advisory group of the school year. It was also the first official school-wide community-building endeavor I've been part of. This is my 29th year in the classroom. This has been a dream of mine for many years, having been School Improvement Co-Chair and the Character Group Chair for a while. It seemed Advisory would become reality several times in my tenure, only to see the timing was off. This will be an excellent way to live our our school Character Goals of Honesty, Empathy, Responsibility, and Determination! Advisory is meant to be a dedicated time period with a smaller group size than a typical class. It's also meant to strengthen ties within the school--the teachers that run Advisory groups may or may not have their own students in their groups.  Advisory is not a homework-help activity, but rather is meant for us to get to know one another in a setting without expectations of formal learning or grading. Today's activity started with the teachers...

It's important for students to know what they are learning at the start of class. Studying History is important and I strive to help my Historians appreciate what we do in class everyday. My Cooperating Teacher always had a place on her chalkboard to post daily activities. I continued this practice, and as a young teacher, was encouraged to not only state the "WHAT" of the lesson but also the "WHY" for the lesson.  I now create digital slides for my Agenda and reset my MacBook every hour to display this slide on the monitor as students are walking in to class. The slide is also available on Schoology for students to view. The Agenda lists the day/date, gives a bullet point list, daily schedule (which changes for Pep Assemblies, Half Days, etc.) the WHAT and WHY of the lesson, and an inspirational quote. It's always reassuring for me to see students look at the agenda as they're preparing themselves for the hour. I realize that my efforts are important an...