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Who knew a simple card game we grew up planning would help high school students come out of their shells to communicate with others? Everyone laughed and cheered.

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Balancing structured bonding activities with some unstructured playtime for G6 students has been really helpful. Even if it's just on the playground, they still love playing on the playground and it gives students a chance to build some new friendships.

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I really like using advisory circles, mediation techniques, and restorative justice practices when groups are storming. In advisory circles, students are able to open up and be honest about things - as long as they communicate respectfully and others listen actively. Mediating and using restorative practices can help support forgiveness and progress, rather than a relationship that sours.

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I like to introduce SMART goal setting around the time advisory groups are norming. Once students feel comfortable with the group, they can begin to think about positive changes for themselves, as individuals, as well as for the group as a whole. I find SMART goals too difficult and abstract to do early on in the year, but once we get to the Norming stage, it can be a powerful time to introduce it.

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I haven't implemented this before, but I imagine that once an advisory has reaching the performing stage, it would be a great time to pass the mic and have students begin to step up into leadership. Using the goals from the norming stage can also help guide student-led advisory topics.

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When I left my previous school, I left my first advisory group, who I had been with for 3 years. It was an extremely difficult 'adjourning,' as I'd gotten to know the students really well and they had gotten to know each other well, too. I found open, honest conversations about our feelings (mine included) to be really helpful - things like advisory circles and affirming any and all feelings. I also opened up more time for 1:1 check ins so that each student felt like they had personal space with me to process.

We ended up making a memory book together, which I left with them, as well as our favorite class stuffed animal :D

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Talk it out, but put things in perspective

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Talk it out, but put things in perspective

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I try to give students an opportunity to speak about what their challenges are in school. While I listen and empathise with them, I also try to point out the good that also surrounds their challenges to help them see they can overcome challenges despite their frustrations over time.

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I find that prompting groups with issues that matter to them and then handing them the mic and listening to them is key. They want us to know what they feel is unfair or not right in their school environment because, if not the flex team, then who? Finding the safe space to state your opinions and struggles gives students a way to advocate for themselves and either find someone who will advocate with or for them when they need it.

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They might be 14/15, but when I taught them heads up 7 up, they were all about. It was a fun way to get to know everyone's names as well.

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One of the most important elements of the early stage of an advisory group, more important than the actual activity or task, is making advisory students feel as though they have a say in how the group dynamics begin to form and how the group begins to behave like a group. As I plan these early team building activities, I like to always either give students a choice of which activity to choose, or incorporate some element of student autonomy into the task itself. For example, developing the ritual of call-and-response, clapping, or chants to start the advisory period is much more meaningful when the students choose and propose different kinds of rituals we might adopt. One pitfall I consistently run into with this is that students (particularly freshman, with whom you're doing the initial storming in a four-year rolling adivsory model) like to derail the team building with sarcasm, silliness, or other stuff like that. It's useful to emphasize for students that this team building is important work that will help us lift each other up so that all can succeed, and set the expectation of taking the tasks seriously; however, it's also good to incorporate humor and fun, especially when developing team names, rituals, or other elements,

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Games, Dance Parties, and In-House Field Trips

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Games, Dance Parties, and In-House Field Trips

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In my previous advisory, my students really bonded over board games. Even my most resistant student, who severely struggled in developing friendships due to social issues and communication issues felt included and belonging with advisory mates while playing Monopoly (funny considering this is usually the game that ends friendships).

Every Semester we would have a potluck dance party with a playlist created by the students. It became tradition.

The last piece that helped form us as a group were our outings just us in advisory. We tried to do this at least twice a year- but definitely always did this at the end of each year. Freshman year, we did a BBQ in the park, and made homemade icecream. Sophomore year we went to an Indian restaurant to break bread, and at the end of the year we took a walk to get snow cones. Junior year we went bowling. Senior year we did a three day trip to Santa Cruz. All of these experiences created awesome memories and formed close bonds as a group.

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While we do a ton of explicit teambuilding, there is room to grow in how we encourage students to interact with students they wouldn't normally interact with. There could be more focus on forming homeroom identity.

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Appointing students to lead an activity. Start homeroom with one of the prescribed activities that the student chooses.

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Leavers are honored at a middle school wide assembly with a wooden shoe and video. They are given the chance to speak if they want. We would like to be more intentional about celebrating leavers within their homerooms.

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During Grade 10 advisory periods, our circle group activities provide students with an opportunity to express and discuss their thoughts and feelings about the current school community and challenges they experience with demands from their classes. It is also a great way to allow students to discuss their future goals and aspirations, and ways that they are best looking at their future with positivity for their final two years of high school.

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At times when groups are such that usual strategies are less effective, (currently have a very diverse group) and routines or overt methods are meet with some cynicism, I find more subtle, sideways practices coax students/groups into a healthier place in a more organic, less challenging manner. For those students who are more fearful of  sharing/ revealing themselves (6 boys at the moment) that a more covert operation is far more effective in bringing them in/ building buy in to the group.

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First day activities like making students line up in order of nearest birthday, distance travelled to school etc. Taking an all grade level picture and advisory picture.

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Asking students to write a letter to their future selves.

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Triggered by what I saw in an earlier chapter about oracy, I would want to develop those strategies more to facilitate meaningful discussions. Maybe the Harkness method or Soctatic conversation could also be part of this.

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This question seems quite irrelevant at this point - but I do think it is important to keep in mind that young people are still in the aftermath of distance learning, and have developmental needs still to consider.