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AVID

photo of student studying

If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.

Carol Dweck, Growth Mindset

The AVID College Readiness System

AVID Elementary is a foundational component designed to be embedded into the daily instruction of all elementary classrooms. AVID Elementary spans K–8 in three stages: Beginnings,
Foundations, and Bridges. Each stage is designed to meet the needs of students within a specific range of development. AVID’s strategies and philosophy of educational opportunities for all students are threaded and embedded throughout the instructional day, across grade levels, and ultimately across sites.

AVID Secondary helps schools develop a culture of college readiness for all students across
the campus. In the AVID Elective class, students receive daily instruction and support to prepare
them for college from a trained AVID Elective teacher. AVID impacts students school wide as academic strategies like writing to learn, inquiry, collaboration, organizational skills, and critical reading
(WICOR) are taught in all classes by teachers who have been trained to use AVID strategies in their
specific content area.

AVID for Higher Education works with postsecondary institutions to support students with
the goal of increasing academic success, persistence, and completion rates in the Student Success
Initiative. Colleges of education use the AVID Teacher Preparation Initiative to provide teacher
candidates with AVID frameworks, methodologies, and strategies so that they enter the teaching
field able to meet a broad spectrum of students’ needs. 

AVID at Plaza

Organizational Skills:

Students will be expected to keep a three ring binder with all the notes and materials
from their other classes. They will be taught how to organize the binder and it will be
checked often. Within the binder they will also be taking Cornell Style notes, which
will organize their review material and their learning.

Critical Thinking Skills:

Students will be engaged in activities designed to develop the learning process. These
activities include goal setting, writing assignments, Philosophical Chairs, group problem solving and in class projects.

WICOR

Plaza teachers will use a number of the WICOR elements in lessons throughout the year. These AVID instructional strategies include, but are not limited to: group projects, class discussions, note taking, graphic organizers, reading activities. Students will use their binders and planners to maintain organization throughout the year. In order to practice discussion skills, students may participate in Philosophical Chairs. This is an opportunity for students to debate a particular topic, improve their verbal fluency, and in the process practice the use of their academic language.

Jennifer Collins

JJ Collins

AVID Teacher
Contact JJ Collins
816-359-5911

Additional Resources

AVID Binders 

Plaza binders keep every all classes organized. Students’ success trackers, schedule, data, and folders for each class can be found inside the binder. These travel to every class.

Watch the video below to see how your binder should be set up.