Help students belong

SEL Advisory Facilitation Program

 

SEL Advisory Facilitation™ is a certification program for educators serving middle or high school, enabling them to lead advisory groups which offer deep social and emotional learning. 

We see advisory as the heart of a great middle or high school. When implemented well, it generates trust and engagement, offers unconditional belonging, and becomes the ideal place to develop social-emotional intelligence.

Group facilitation skills are not commonly taught in teacher training, yet they are essential to leading both excellent advisory groups and more engaging academic experiences.

The SEL Advisory Facilitation™ program includes in-person training, implementation coaching, and an invitation to be part of an ongoing community of practice. See below for program curriculum and practical details.

 

What We’ll Learn Together

 

You’ll learn skills including:

• How to lead advisories where students speak honestly and listen deeply;

• Tools and teaching methods for essential social-emotional skills;

• The latest research on adolescent neuroscience and psychological development;

• Tools to teach mindfulness in advisory groups;

• Structures for advisory sessions;

• Practice handling sensitive conversations and resolving conflicts;

• How to bring more of ourselves alive in this work, becoming the teachers we know we’re capable of being.

 

Practical Info

  • What: A 2.5 day in-person training in Summer 2021, followed by active implementation coaching (4 hours per month, by Zoom) through December 2021. Learn with a tight-knit cohort of ~10 other teachers, working together to make advisory a place of deep social-emotional learning and connection.

  • When & Where:

    • San Francisco Bay Area: July 26th-28th, 2021. 9:00AM -4:30PM on Monday 7/26 and Tuesday 7/27, 9:00AM - 12:00PM on Wednesday 7/28. Hosted at Aurora School.

    • Brooklyn: August 2nd-4th, 2021. 9:00AM -4:00PM on Monday 8/2 and Tuesday 8/3, 9:00AM - 12:00PM on Wednesday 8/4. Hosted at the Workshop School. Timed to lead directly into our sister training on high-quality Project-Based Learning, which begins at 1:00PM on Wednesday and continues through Friday 4:00PM, as an optional second half of the week. Details on the PBL training here.

    • Implementation Coaching: After participating in the summer intensive, implementation coaching runs from September through December, with 4 hours per month of available group coaching and support calls by Zoom. We’ll tackle the ups, downs, and nitty-gritty details of bringing these practices to life in your daily work.

  • Who: For teachers of middle or high school students, across public, charter, and independent schools, as well as in non-school settings.

  • Cost: $1,500. This includes the in-person training, four months of implementation, and the Certification upon completion of these steps. It does not include travel, food, or lodging expenses. Sliding-scale tuition scholarships are available: apply by completing this brief form. Faculty members at Innovative Schools Cooperative schools receive a 25% discount: please contact us to receive a discount code.

  • What Does Certification Mean? Our vision is to define a standard of practice for excellent advisory work, to certify teachers who have completed training to this level, and then to support an ongoing community of practice. Certification means you have completed the summer in-person intensive and the implementation coaching this fall, and comes with an invitation to join our teacher community.

  • Program Leads: Led by Chris Balme, co-founder and former Head of School of Millennium School, an innovative middle school which has developed and implemented techniques for deeper social-emotional learning and greater academic engagement. See below for more.

Chris Balme: Program Lead

The SEL Advisory Facilitation program is led by Chris Balme, co-founder and former Head of School of Millennium School. Chris led Millennium’s design and launch, applying and developing powerful new techniques for social-emotional learning. Chris maintains a real-world connection to the techniques included through his student advisory program, Argonaut, where these ideas and curricula are continually tested, practiced, and further developed.

Prior to this work, Chris has been a teacher, a founder and leader of award-winning youth programs, and a writer and advisor on topics in education. He has received the Ashoka Fellowship and other national awards for the innovation and impact of his work. More about Chris here.

Questions?

 

Feel free to get in touch if you have questions about the program, or would like to talk with one of the trainers before signing up.