With the entire school being completely virtual for periods of time, students are back at home alone without being able to see friends. With COVID-19 numbers rising, places are starting to shut back down with students again not be allowed to see their friends.

With students being at home, it adds a lot of stress for students, myself included. Being at home all day every day is not fun. I am constantly stressed about having internet issues, missing a class, or forgetting an assignment. From a student’s perspective, advisory has always been a time where I could just relax. Sure, having a screen break is great, but having advisors available to talk or just sit in on a meeting to see if any students want to talk would be helpful to students.
With online school, there isn’t a lot of time for teachers and students to build one-to-one relationships, meaning that there isn’t a lot of interaction between teachers and students unless they are asking a question or just teaching.
Having a time for freshmen to meet with an advisor on a more regular basis would be beneficial for them — not only to have someone to talk to but also to build a personal relationship with a teacher.
In past years, Advisory was a great time to meet with people and just talk. It would be nice for advisors to maybe have two online meetings a week now. It would make a big difference to students.
One meeting is already scheduled: on the asynchronous day for attendance, but it would be beneficial to have another day where it is not mandatory to join. Advisors could just open a meeting for people to talk or vent their frustrations.
Advisors are there to help students, but I think that some students may be embarrassed to ask for help out of the blue, and if there was just a time to speak with a teacher openly that would help them with a problem. Also, advisors give good advice, and they are there to help students.
All advisors should have an extra optional meeting every school week when school is fully virtual so students can come in and talk to their advisor.