Walking into advisory on Tuesday, and looking at the front of the classroom, I realize that we have a lesson. After letting out a sigh of disappointment, I sit down as our teacher discusses our school rules and expectations for the third time this year. I’ve always had a mixed relationship with advisory lessons. I love some of them, such as the trivia, escape rooms or team-building activities, but the lessons about rules, mental health and Xello, I’m not a fan of.
The informational slideshows can be valuable, especially for new students and teachers.
The slideshows that cover rules, expectations or procedures can be vital for people who don’t know them. But, as the year progresses and students become more knowledgeable, these lessons begin to feel repetitive.
Even though the lessons feel dull, according to administration, many of them are required by the state. Lessons including Xello, mental health and some informational lessons are all state mandated. Still, some teachers skip through or don’t even present them, and for the teachers who do present slides, many students don’t pay attention during them. This lack of interest clearly shows that the lessons aren’t sticking.
Sometimes the lessons are fun, for example, Halloween trivia. Advisory should be a fun, open space where we can create a sense of community. Though advisory time is stretched between mandatory lessons, assemblies and Husky Headlines, we should prioritize team-building activities such as trivia and escape rooms. Most of us will have the same advisory class for our entire high school career, and we should use this time to make friends and build relationships, instead of just sitting through a lesson or scrolling on our phones silently.
Advisory can be used to de-stress from the anxiety built up during the week. Phones can be a good resource to use, but overall, phones in advisory take away from advisory as a whole. According to our current district policy, phones are not allowed during class time, which includes advisory, but many teachers ignore this rule. When I walk past classes during advisory, a lot of them are filled with students looking down at their phones in a completely silent class. We aren’t using the time given to us to meet with teachers or do homework, and we aren’t building community. Advisory is a valuable tool that can be used to benefit many people, but phones just take away from that. I think phones should be used for school or group games, or not used at all. Next year, the new phone policy will prohibit possession and use of personal electronic devices (PEDs), which will help fix this issue. Even without phones, students still might not talk to each other, which is why the team-building lessons are so important.
Advisory lessons aren’t going away, and unfortunately there isn’t much that can be changed about them because of the state and district requirements. But after speaking with our advisory team, I am hopeful for the future of advisory lessons and advisory as a whole. I look forward to what advisory will be next year.
