MaryAnne Stargel

ED 504-06

Advocacy program – Principle 6

28 July 2003

Prime Time ~ Advisory Program

Time : 20-30 minutes

Days : Monday – Friday

Structure :

  Monday ~ Guided / Group Discussion

  Tuesday ~ Study Skills / Study Hall / Goal Setting / Academic Conferences

  Wednesday ~ Team Building Activities (encouraging – group cohesiveness)

  Thursday ~ Reading (Teacher read aloud or silent – planned)

  Friday ~ Intramural games / service project planning / Group Discussion / Study Hall

Staff : Teachers / Selected Para Professions or other staff

Staff Training : In-service training and review for all teachers several times a year to keep frustrations from adversely affecting teacher-student relationships (not overdone – keeping it simple for reviews and meetings). Teams meet and plan extended Prime Time, Interdisciplinary units of study, or Intramural activities and games. Flexibility is the Key!!!!

Size : 12-16 students

Goals / Objectives :

*Student self-respect

*Student moral development

*Students learn and exhibit positive conflict resolution skills

*Students will gain confidence in interpersonal skills

*Students will gain and exhibit positive self-esteem

*Students will develop an understanding of differences between themselves and others

*Positive student – student interactions

*Positive teacher – student mentor relationship

*Positive interactions with the community

*Students develop and show responsibility for their actions and academic learning

*Teachers and Students gain and show respect for others (both in own class and in other classes)

*Teachers and Students provide a safe environment for students to voice and discuss concerns and ideas

*Prime Time assists students in a smoother transition into and through school year

Activities :

* Teambuilding activities: from established texts and notebooks created by team/staff/other professionals (Quicksilver & Quicksilver II)

*Study Skills: organizing school work / Study survey to help establish good study habits / test-taking skills

* Discuss Themes : Relationships (peer, family, community) Conflict Resolution / Emotions & Feelings / Self Esteem / Healthy living (Drug awareness, fitness, nutrition) / Life skills (coping skills, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, etc.) / Cultural awareness / Career exploration

* Read Aloud topics : Overcoming obstacles, Coming of Age, Teen Survival stories, etc. (take suggestions from students / other staff / reading lists)

* Service Projects : Cleaning up neighborhood, Painting fire hydrants, set up a recycling program, adopt a retirement center, read to younger students, mentor younger students, and many, many more ideas

Tracey Feight

Ed 505-06 Adolescent Development

Advocacy Program

7/24/03

  This advocacy program is designed with students in grades 6-8 in mind. The school in which this program is designed does not have a current advisory or advocacy program in place. This is the school in which I will be teaching during the 2003-2004 school year. This will be my first year teaching at the middle level as well as teaching general education. I hope the administration and staff is open to my idea and considers implementing an advocacy program a worthy endeavor.

If the idea is accepted I will ask for a teacher committee to research currently functioning advocacy programs within our region. The finding as well as any other research can be shared with the rest of the staff. Due to the fact that this will be a pilot year the program may not begin until second quarter. The following are my ideas in which I would present to the staff given my current knowledge of advisory/advocacy programs.

Overview of Program:

Prime Time

Coaches: All certified staff members, administrators, support personnel (Para-educators, health service providers)

Lead Coach: Building principal

Group Size: 12-15 students randomly placed by grade level. Students have the same coach throughout the year.

Time: Groups will meet daily for 30 minutes at the beginning of each day.

Place: Individual teacher’s classrooms (there will be a need two groups to meet in some rooms), library, gymnasium, computer lab, cafeteria, counselor’s office, principal’s office, etc.

Student Program Goals:

1. Develop effective communication and interpersonal skills

2. Exercise problem solving and decision making

  3. Discover and enhance areas of personal growth and achievement

4. Develop an awareness of community and world issues

  5. Design and implement future goals

Training the Coaches:

   In-service training will be provided by a staff selected consultant. The consultant will need to meet with school staff or a small sub-group approximately 2-3 times during the initial year of implementation.

It would be my hope to have a multi- level program so that each year students build upon their skills learned in the previous grade.

* Coaches will be expected to make verbal contact with each student’s parent in their group at least one time per quarter to discuss “prime time” activities.

Coaches’ Input:

All coaches will need to meet on a monthly basis to discuss program development pro’s and con’s (possibly during a staff meeting). Grade level coaches such as all of 6 th , all of 7 th and all of 8 th will need to meet and discuss implementation issues at their grade level.

* Example of schedule. Individual buildings or teams of teachers should choose their topic areas based upon the needs of the youth in their community and school.

Reflection:

   Although I have yet to teach at the middle level, I think that an advocacy program is needed to further support adolescents through their middle school years and even high school. Many teachers that I discussed the possibility of an advocacy program with felt that the idea would not be well accepted by all staff members. Many staff members in the area that I teach feel that they are not trained in the area of advocacy or to lead advisory small groups efficiently. My thought was that they did not want to teach anything but their content area and did not want any extra prep to get ready for an advocacy group. I also feel that they do not want the added responsibilities of keeping in touch with the students’ parents on a consistent basis. I concluded that the idea must also be strongly supported by the administration in order for all teachers to Michael James and Nancy Spradling in their book From Advisory to Advocacy explain that group leaders need to be in touch with students’ individual needs and base their group time upon these needs. The level of a quality advocacy program also relies upon each individual teacher’s philosophy and dedication to students. Unfortunately it is hard to find a staff where 100% of the educators are truly in the profession because they love to work with children. It is my opinion that some are only there for June, July and August. In this case it would benefit all teachers and students to have adequate training as well as some topic ideas to follow. I know that James and Spradling emphasis that an advocacy program is not a curriculum; however many teachers will sit and not have their students do a thing if the lesson plans are not put right in front of them.

  With adequate training, administrative support and a commitment by all staff members a quality advocacy program can become a reality. Together an entire school staff along with parent support can get there and be there to support all students’ needs.

Home