The Pillars of AVID

W.I.C.O.R.

The AVID curriculum, based on rigorous standards, was developed by middle and senior high school teachers in collaboration with college professors.

It is driven by the Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading (WICOR) method.

Inquiry based questions will be taught through by Costa’s Levels of Thinking by Dr. Arthur Costa.

Focus Note Taking

For AVID, note taking is essential. The note taking process used to revolve around Cornell Notes (a style of 2 column note-taking).

Currently, AVID has brought more attention to the PROCESS of note taking which is called, Focus Note Taking (FNT). FNT is supported by 5 phases to help students demonstrate understanding of their content. The five phases of FNT are the following: 1- Take the Notes, 2- Process the Notes, 3- Connect Thinking, 4- Summarize & Reflect, and 5- Apply Learning.

AVID Elective Students will learn the different styles of note taking and how to engage with their notes in order to retain the information in their long term memory.

Organization & Binder/E-Binder

Organization is an important skill in school, career and other aspects of daily life. The AVID binder is an organizational tool to help students maintain notes and school work in one place.

Students are expected to maintain a binder, which has been provided to them along with all of the necessary items needed. They are expected to keep it organized using the AVID methods they have been taught.

• Collecting information in written word during class is important, but so is collecting multimedia, such as pictures, videos, and vocal components, to tie into your reflection later. It just so happens that the only place all of these artifacts can coexist is an e-Binder.

• Students reflect on their daily learning and make connections to the broader essential questions for a unit or chapter.

• Recollection is a product of the organization of an e-Binder. Students can easily find and remember what they did based on the learning hooks they created during collection and reflection so that they can apply and share their learning.

AVID Tutorial

Tutorials are the PRIMARY component contributing to the success of AVID students. Based on the Socratic method, tutorials are an exercise in higher level thinking and questioning. College students facilitate the tutorials so that they operate in much the same manner as cooperative college study groups.

However, in order to benefit from tutorials, AVID students MUST come prepared with their Tutorial Request Form (TRF) completed. Students failing to comply will only receive points for notes and reflection.

It is important to note that even if a student is earning a grade higher than a 75 in all his /her classes, he/she is still expected to participate in tutorials because tutorials are an exercise in higher level thinking and problem-solving.

Learn more about the AVID Tutorial Process Overview.