The extra 30 minutes of time in fifth period, commonly used for advisory, has a new look this year. Instead of this advisory period being used for homework or socializing, it is now being used for the new Go Beyond Advisory.
“We’ve always had built-in advisory time,” Assistant Principal Courtney Peterson said. “We want the kids to be able to build relationships and community with each other and the staff. We wanted to make the advisory time teachers used for different things a purposeful time.”
Humble ISD implemented these new-look advisories to teach restorative practices to students.
“The new advisories have a schedule with built in ‘norms’ and structure that I was not using previously with my students,” Algebra III Teacher Amaryllis Shaw said. “I enjoyed doing the ‘Are you a…’ activity with my students where they differentiate themselves for different preferences. It helped me get to know interesting facts about my students that they may not have shared. I also enjoy playing card games with my students like Uno or Speed.”
There is a specific schedule attached to these advisory periods. Counselors pro
vide lessons on Mondays, teachers have the opportunity to choose how to use the advisory on Tuesdays and community circles, where teachers lead a discussion with the intent of getting to know each other, take place on Fridays.
“The community circles are designed to be flexible in that they can either be about solving conflicts or your favorite animal,” Peterson said. “We figured we might as well fill in [advisory] with beneficial activities for our students. I think the more students that buy into this, the more positive effects we can see across our campus.”
