Quarter 2 Secondary Advisory News

We’re excited about our second quarter of Advisory sessions!  As you know, our Advisory program consists of a combination of academic advisory and student-led advisory sessions.  We meet seven out of each eight-day cycle; Day 4 is for assemblies. This Leopard’s Tale post is organized by grade level to let parents know what happened in the first quarter and what’s planned for the second quarter.

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Grade 6:

• We learned about how we fit in and how we can take more responsibility for our learning.  We also defined Advisory as a space for personal growth and clarified our specific roles in the group. The Advisory groups worked on creating “Advisory names” to nurture a sense of belonging.  We focused on getting organized at school and at home (especially with homework), being ready for Explore Zambia, how to handle stress, and how to develop our spatial awareness through physical activities.
• Our focus is on learning about how we learn best.

Grade 7:

• We learned how we fit in through completing getting-to-know-you activities, created Important Events calendars to help us organize ourselves, and how to prepare for and reflect on the Explore Zambia experiences.  We also learned more about how we manage change, what it means to have a growth mindset, and how having a growth mindset makes us better learners. We applied and reflected on our organizational, communication and self-management skills.
• Our next focus is on learning to become better communicators.

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Grade 8:

• We started off focusing on getting to know each other and welcoming new advisees/classmates to our school.  We reflected on what worked well for us in previous years in Advisory, then created goals and intentions around what we want it to look like this year.  We completed an activity based on National Public Radio (NPR) Project Xpat and discussed what it means to be an expat in Zambia. We prepared for and reflected on our Explore Zambia trip to Livingstone.
• Our next focus is to consider what a community is, how we affect our communities, and how people support each other through their communities.

Grade 9:

• We focused on how we manage change, considered how self-management (one of the IB Approaches To Learning, or ATL) helps us to develop skills for coping with changes.  We set goals for the quarter and learned how to be better risk-takers (a Learner Profile attribute) through various activities and discussions. We also decided that we want to celebrate ourselves by having Food Days in Advisory and we want to work on our academic goals through academic advising and support time.  After our Explore Zambia trip, we debated in class about whether Chimpanzees should be grouped in the human genus.
• Our next focus is to learn more about self-management and being balanced and open minded, two Learner Profile attributes.

Grade 10:

• Our initial focus in Advisory was on learning how to be Caring (a Learner Profile attribute) towards each other in order to help each other fit in; we also considered how we fit into the larger group.  We prepared for and reflected on the Explore Zambia trip; this trip helped us to become more cooperative towards each other and to challenge ourselves. Nearly one-third of the entire Grade 10 decided to take the challenge further by incorporating it to the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze medal Award by planning a 2-day trip and an overnight in a bush camp.
• Our next foci are considering how we all affect our communities, how our principles and values affect us, and how to manage stress.

Grade 11:

• We focused on individual Approaches To Learning (ATL) needs; these needs fell into the categories of thinking skills, communication skills, self-management skills, research skills, and social skills.  We considered the differences between the MYP and DP program and how we manage stress. We also learned how we manage HL and SL classes, how we self-manage, and how we can research universities through BridgeU so that we can start thinking about our lives after high school.
• Our next focus is to consider the question, “How can I stay true to myself?” while learning more about self-management, perseverance, and being effective at what we do.​

Grade 12:

• Our focus was on developing meaningful relationships with our Advisors and each other.  We shared how we balance our academic, social-emotional, and life needs in and out of school.  Each Advisory (of 4) created a document to list our SL and HL blocks, then developed a student-centered list of activities that match our attendance (because of different SL and HL classes).  Examples of our weekly activities include: individual academic advisory, group discussions of student-lead issue/ideas, and movement activities out of the classroom such as bonding games and sports.  Additionally, we began preparing for college through social-emotional discussions and activities led by our college counselor, Ms. Julie Baldry.
• Our next focus is to continue with the plan of rotating activities that we developed and to continue preparing college applications and for life after we graduate.

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