Meet Me in the Middle: chapter 12

Chapter 12:

In this chapter the topic of discussion is how to be a good advisor to young adolescents. Wormeli used one of past situations to demonstrate how important it is to change how we do advisory programs. In his case, they went hiking, and while on the hike his students behaved in ways that were different from the way they behaved in the classroom. Doing this activity allowed teachers to see another side of their students and for students to see the good in one another. Wormeli suggests that doing a full-day advisory session gives the chance for all students to shine in one way or another. When students are in the classroom the only way you can normally gain attention is for being a good student or a bad student, whereas doing a physical activity a student could be recognized for being athletic.

I really liked Wormeli’s suggestion to change the way we do advisory sessions. I think that giving students a chance to see teachers outside of school will help them feel more comfortable around them. Also, when you do the advisory days teachers have the chance to see their students in a new light. For example, if you took students hiking you may learn about how certain students really like to hike. I feel like if we had done this in my middle school people would have loved the opportunity to get out of the school and do something fun together.