Help students belong

 1. Who will be at the training?

We have a fantastic group coming together! We’re expecting 8-12 participants, representing several schools. We have space open for a few more, and one remaining scholarship for a public school educator (district or charter), if you know friends or colleagues who would like to join us. We'll have two facilitators leading the training: Chris Balme, founding Head of School at Millennium School and Director at Argonaut, and Abigail Henderson, Faculty member at Millennium School and leader of faculty advisory and wellness groups nationally. See more about both of them here.

2. How will we spend our time together?

We'll begin together at 9am on Monday, August 2nd. On Monday 8/2 and Tuesday 8/3 we’ll work together from 9:00am - 4:30pm, and on Wednesday 8/4 from 9:00am - 12:00pm. There is also an optional dinner together on Monday, August 2nd evening. For those continuing into our sister training on Project-Based Learning, that will pick up after lunch on Wednesday afternoon, led by Andrew Ravin of Workshop School, at the same location.

Throughout the training, our priority is on experiential learning. We'll learn how to lead excellent advisories through continual practice, both as a member and a facilitator of advisories. During and between these practice sessions we'll learn facilitation skills, receive curriculum to guide conversations that develop social-emotional intelligence, deepen our understanding of adolescent development and neuroscience, and talk about the many details and "what-if's" involved in successfully implementing advisory programs.

An essential part of our time together will also take place in the fall, with twice-monthly Zoom calls for support, troubleshooting and ongoing coaching as we implement these advisory practices.

3. Where will this take place?

Our trainings are generously hosted by Workshop School, an innovative, independent middle school in Brooklyn. The address is 1100 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY. They are accessible to several public transit lines.

4. What do I need to prepare?

We believe in taking as much opportunity this summer to rest and recharge, knowing that we have been through a challenging and intense past school year. There's just one item we ask you to review in advance: this research review, from CASEL, on the impact of social-emotional learning. Likely you already are familiar with this research, but please take a moment to review their findings. They also present it in a slideshow if you prefer that format. We're sending this in advance so that we can all begin with a common understanding of the research on SEL, thus allowing as much of our time together as possible to be experiential.

5. What do I need to bring with me?

You'll receive a notebook, information packet, and curriculum materials as part of the training. If you prefer to use other materials or devices for note-taking, you are welcome to bring whatever you like.

You may want to bring snacks and a water bottle as well. Lunch will be provided on Monday; on subsequent days we plan to pick up food flexibly from the neighborhood for a change of air.

If you have any specific dietary needs, or physical disabilities, please let us know here, so we can support you.

Please bring a mask as well. In light of the Delta variant, we’ve decided to return to a mask requirement for everyone’s safety during this training.

6. What comes after the training?

We’ve designed this 2.5 day experience to equip you with a range of advisory tools and skills, and perhaps more importantly, the felt experience of having been both advisor and advisee while using these tools.

As described above, we'll continue to work closely together in the fall through our twice-monthly Zoom coaching sessions, to keep learning together and honing our work through the many details of implementing advisory. At the conclusion of these sessions, in January 2022, all participants who have completed the full training will receive a Certificate in SEL Advisory Facilitation.

But here's our big hope: we want to create an ongoing Community of Practice for educators who believe in the power of SEL-focused advisories. This summer we're leading training cohorts in California, New York, and Japan. Our hope is to bring this wise and soulful group of educators together as a supportive community for the long-term. We need each other to do this work deeply, and when we do, amazing things happen for our students.

7. Other Questions?

Please feel free to contact Chris Balme, Director of the SEL Advisory Facilitation Training program, here.