One of the best ways to help students get their minds off how worried they may feel is to do something to help someone in a more challenging situation. Discuss the challenges a soldier who is away from home in a foreign country might face. Ask students to compare and contrast the challenges of middle school with the challenges a soldier must overcome. Provide stationary, and ask students to write a note to a soldier currently serving overseas, thanking him for the sacrifices made to keep our country safe.
Help students experience the positive feelings of succeeding in a challenge by instructing the group to line themselves up by birthday, from January to December, without using their lips or any sounds. Students will learn the importance of developing and testing multiple strategies, working together as a team and compensating in communication when a traditional method, such as talking, is not an option. Any child can succeed in this activity and will feel a sense of accomplishment and team pride when the final line is created.
One of the greatest challenges middle school students face is that of peer pressure and the need to be accepted by their peers. Help children take pride in being individuals and defend their personal beliefs by posing a series of controversial questions. Pair students up for debate, and allow each side to present arguments to the group. Students will realize the value of sticking up for one's convictions and see that it does not set them apart from everyone else or cause peers to dislike them.
Every advisor should have the goal of establishing trust and rapport with each student in the advisory group. For children to be vulnerable with adults, they need to see the practice demonstrated first. Teachers should share something personal with the group, such as their most embarrassing moment. Encourage children to have a good laugh at their advisor's expense. When children see an adult isn't perfect, it becomes easier to approach the advisor with problems, questions and concerns.