Karolee Smiley's Blog – July 2009 Archive (4)

Collaboration is one of the main skills that employers are looking for that many people seem to lack. The last research I heard, the number one reason people were fired was their inability to work well with others. Collaboration skills are essential for almost all professions, but we rarely talk about teaching it. It is not always something that comes naturally and we assume that everyone know how to work together. Like reading and writing, people need to know how and practice the… Continue

Inquiry is essential to AVID, College Readiness and Science.



One of the things I find most frustrating from my kids is their inability to question. Their questions tend to be vague or low-level. One of AVID's essentials is using Costa's levels of questioning and helping students understand level 2 and 3 questions, so they can ask them as well as answer them.

I always tell my kids that they can identify the level of question depending on where the answer is found.

-Level one… Continue

Looking at the Writing component of AVID, there are many strategies to help students be successful in written communication.

First, writing, like any skill, takes practice. But more than just practice, there needs to be feedback, so that one does not practice mistakes. AVID has a variety of activities to allow students to practice writing in their content area courses (besides English) and receive feedback. I'll start with my list of activities from the week and try to remember more as I… Continue

This week I am at the AVID Summer Institute. For those who are unfamiliar, AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination and was a program developed over 25 years ago to help students become successful for the road to college. Interestingly, in times when there are huge budget cuts, the AVID conference is sold out. As expensive as this program is, it is supported because of its proven success. It is one of the only programs that has documented success in overcoming the achievement… Continue