'Even something as simple as, 'I know your favorite color is green,'' recommends Snorten.В 'Or, 'I know your favorite football team is the Washington Redskins' - anything like that. Recognize something that your students like. It's simple, but it helps your students know that they're being seen.Дў. When you use someone's name, you're recognizing their identity. Know your students' names, suggests Snorten. At the heart of advisory is building intentional relationships with your students. If you can't fit advisory into the master schedule, you can implement a lot of what Big Picture does during homeroom, in your classroom, or during lunch and break periods. How It's Done 22 Ways to Build Intentional Relationships With Your Students, Even If You're at a Big School If you want to create a culture where your students feel supported, appreciated, and safe to open up to you, here's how you can adapt Big Picture's philosophy of building intentional relationships, both inside and outside of advisory. 'They want to be here because they feel welcomed,' says Chaerea Snorten, Nashville Big Picture's principal. Nashville Big Picture has a 95 percent attendance rate and a 98 percent graduation rate. ( They're off-site at internships on Tuesday and Thursday.) During advisory, they have individualized learning time where they work on projects and assignments for their classes ten-minute one-on-one meetings with their advisor weekly (the frequency and time can change depending on their students' needs) and relationship-building activities, like family meals, problem-solving discussions, and games of Uno. Students at Nashville Big Picture attend advisory Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (their on-campus days) for 15 minutes in the morning before classes and two hours at the end of the day. 'In middle school, I would dread every day having to be with those kids again, but at Big Picture, I looked forward to seeing not only the group of people I considered friends, but the group I considered family.'

'Advisory gave me a place in school that I looked forward to,' recalls Harley. Students stay with the same peer group of about 15 students - as well as the same advisor - throughout all four years.

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