What is advisement?

   Advisement is a two year program in which students are grouped with a teacher/ advisor.  These groups stay together, working on projects, team building, doing workbook exercises to help guide them to possible career decisions, and do a civic responsibility project as eighth graders.

   The first year deals with self esteem, peer pressure,  creating goals and handling problems or issues that seem to appear in today's society.  Students work in groups to tackle social issues or simple teen problems like what do you do if you see someone stealing or cheating.    Parent conferences each trimester help to open the doors of communication between student and parent, as well as school to family.  Parents are involved in helping their child to set goals each trimester and in each class.

   8th grade is a very special year.  After team building and working together on projects, students are given an opportunity to get out into the community and make a difference.  They decide together what cause they want to support.  For example, they can volunteer to help at the animal shelter or read books on tape for blind children.  They can have bake sales or garage sales or car washes to raise money to buy seeing eye dog leases or donate to March of Dimes in the fight against birth defects.  Most of the year is spent planning and implementing this.  This is a great lead into the community service they are required to do as high school students to graduate.

   I enjoy this class because it is a great opportunity for me to get to know a core group of students and work with them for two years.  I encourage my classes to be competitive and try hard in all activities.  The 8th grade community service project is my favorite as it is a chance for students to be less absorbed with themselves and give to others who are less fortunate or in need.  Each new advisement is a challenge filled with new experiences and wonderful memories!

- Kay Gee

Over the next two years, this Advisement class is working to promote in each member a sense of:

1.                    Community, helping each other in a safe environment and belonging together as a team

2.                    Self-worth, that all people have something to contribute and are valued

3.                    Purpose, setting realistic goals to strive to meet in the course of the year

4.                    Altruism, unselfish concern for the welfare of others through community service projects and in class involvement

5.                    Global prospective, what is going on in the world and how it affects everyone

Monday: Journal reflections on your past week/ weekly quote

(Students will have folders in class that they will personalize and journals to write about their feelings or things happening in their lives or just a response to a weekly quote. At the end of the year, they will take this home and next year starts over again with new books.)

Tuesday: Study Hall (Homework or tutor time)

(This is in class time to get personal help from the teacher or fellow students on problems they may have with a particular assignment or just time to read or work independently.)

Wednesday: CRP project with Quilts

(Each 8^th grade advisement class is expected to chose a community service activity, however we will start early with a hand sewing project where students will team to sew together squares into a twin size quilt to donate at the end of each year to the Orange County Youth Center.  We did this project three years ago and it was highly rewarding activity, which also taught basic sewing skills.  This does not mean that as 8^th graders they will not chose another activity as well.  This first year I will have hopefully enough scrap material to make into squares to make the quilts.  Parent support will be needed in purchasing the backing and filling for the quilts.  In 8^th grade, we may take a field trip to the store to purchase material for next years quilts. Wish list!)

Thursday: Current Events Scrapbook and discussion

(Students are required each month to choose one newspaper article per week that reflects a national, local or global issue in the world.  Once a month they may chose a sport or entertainment or business article.  They read it to themselves first, and then on Thursday briefly summarize it and why it relates to them.  These will be folded and glued into their scrapbooks.)

Friday: Movie and Breakfast Club

(This is a fun way to wrap up the week.  Teams will sign up to bring goodies for breakfast and they will eat and watch a movie that discusses some issues we will be building on all year.  The first movie is called “The Borrowers” which highlights teamwork and overcoming prejudices as well as size differences.)

For volunteering to help with the Quilting CRP, questions or concerns, please email me at kgee@iusd.org (for a rapid response!) or leave a voicemail message on my phone 936-6565 and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

I am also available most mornings 8-8:30 a.m. (except when I have duty) and by prior made appointment in the afternoons if you wish to schedule a conference.

Breakfast Schedule