The Internship Project:

Creating a school-wide advisory curriculum

Kristen Denicker
JHS 194
October 2017
Spring-Fall Semester 2017
Table of Contents
NEEDS ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
PROJECT PLANNING .............................................................................................................................................................. 3
PROJECT DESCRIPTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................................................................ 5
PROJECT EVALUATION .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
PROJECT REFLECTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 7

2
Needs Assessment

There is a lack of resources for teachers who had an advisory period(s) scheduled into

their program. Therefore, lessons will be developed for teachers to use.

The goal was to match the schools monthly themes to the advisory lessons. For

example, the month of September was health awareness.

Each grade level (6 and 7) should have its own set of lessons.

Objectives

My goal is to create advisory lessons that correlate to the schools monthly themes. There will

be lessons for grades six and seven, approximately 4 sessions each month. I want to create a

lesson plan and the corresponding PowerPoint presentation for each lesson and include the

resources needed to fulfill the lesson. I want it to be organized into folders for each month in a

Google group.

Project Planning

I will meet with the principal and we will discuss what I want to do and items that she

would like to have included.

I will meet with the guidance counselor for resources.

I will research online resources that are available.

3
Project Description

Personnel and Facilities

Sixth-grade lessons: September through May

To be taught by teachers who have advisory scheduled into their program
Seventh-grade lessons: September through May
To be taught by teachers who have advisory scheduled into their program
Videos found on YouTube were turned into MP4 files for teachers to utilize in school.
Books such as My Future My Way workbooks and Alex and the Amazing Lemonade
Stand are to be kept in my classroom. Teachers will have to write me an email or drop a
letter in my mailbox to check out the material.
There will be a master binder for grades 6 and 7 located in the assistant principals office
for each grade level.
Teachers will make their own copies of any handouts provided in the folders. Copies of
these items can be made by the school aides as long as it is done within enough time. I
can help out as necessary
Budget

Free Resources
Cyberbullying provided by NYC DOE
College Access For All For Middle School provided by the NYC DOE
Dove lessons by Dove Self-Esteem Project
Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand books provided by Alexs Lemonade
Stand Foundation
Character Playbook powered by EverFi
My Future My Way workbooks by Federal Student Aid An Office of the U.S.
Department of Education

4
Project Implementation

In order to begin the project, I met with the principal to discuss our areas of need and what we

wanted to present to the students during their advisory classes. I met with the eighth grade

guidance counselor who was able to provide resources such as the Dove lessons. I then began

researching various lessons. I used the internet as a source of information where I found lessons

from other states that I revised and adapted to fit the schools culture. I used free resources from

foundations that aim to build self-esteem and raise awareness for childhood cancer. I was able to

contact the Alexs Lemonade Stand Foundation and received free books for the teachers to

utilize during those lessons. I included a three-part lesson series for our College and Career

month to allow students to expand upon their interests for the future. I contacted the Federal

Student Aid Office to receive these workbooks for every seventh-grade student. At the beginning

of the school year, teachers were trained on how to access all of the lessons (on Google docs)

and internet resources such as Character Playbook powered by EverFi as teacher and student

registration was required.

5
Project Evaluation

At the completion of the school year, 2017-2018, after the advisory lessons have been utilized by

teachers and students, I plan to hand out (or utilize an online version) a survey. There will be

two surveys, one for the teachers and one for the students. The teacher survey will include

questions about implementation and the complexity of the Google docs folders and adjustments

they feel need to be made for the future or ideas they have. The student survey will be given to

sixth-graders asking how they liked the curriculum and which lessons they liked the best. The

seventh-grade survey will be geared toward the experience they had from the previous year

(where there was no set curriculum) to this year (specified lessons for each month).

6
Project Reflection

The overall process of creating advisory lessons for two grades of students was an overwhelming

experience but rewarding at the same time. I remember being a teacher who was scheduled with

an advisory period once a week and thinking to myself Now what do I do? The advisory

classes were slotted as a filler into the program for students and teachers. Some teachers may

even have an advisory class of students that they do not teach besides that one period a week. I

wanted to make it easy but beneficial for any teacher who had an advisory period. I wanted to

provide teachers the lesson plan and PowerPoint presentation to make it accessible for usage. I

wanted the lessons to be meaningful to the students lives and what they are currently facing in

todays world. I introduced college and career activities in order to get the middle school

students to see the big picture for their future. One of my favorite lessons is based on a

childrens book about a little girl who had cancer. She used a lemonade stand to raise money for

awareness. I hope that our teachers and students will be inspired by the story and want to create

their own stand for our school. I would love to support and help any class that takes the

initiative to continue the work of the foundation. As I planned each lesson, it was my hope that

my colleagues would like the lessons and plan to expand upon them with the students to make it

a worthwhile experience.