I'm thankful for...

1. The door projects are looking really good. We started the idea a few years ago. Students, working in twos or threes, interview a staff member who graduated from college. Then they research and create a door display that honors the staff member and their school. I've never seen such attention to detail and such high quality artistic presentation. All in all this one project is not what I am most thankful for but it's an example. As frustrated as I get with students and class progression within AVID sometimes, there are so many things going well.
2. The AVID Elective teachers at our school are planning well together. We don't get to talk and plan enough but when we do we're all contributing expertise and effort. We're a lot better than we've ever been because we get along. The last few years the makeup of the team was different and we didn't get along so well. What a difference!
3. Tutorials are developing - I am seeing some skill developing earlier than past first AVID years (I get 7th graders this year). I feel like I am less panicky to get everything done at once and progress slower which seems to result in better quality. We really worked on inquiry process and the progression of questions to get students to ask during tutorial. I make the kids keep the prompts on their desk throughout and we give feedback before students leave at the end of class.