Middle School, with lockers, changing classes, numerous teachers, and a looser structure, brings new challenges to even the most successful elementary students. Helping the kids you work with develop the following habits will help smooth the transition and make the first year in middle school a positive experience.
Organization. Can your student find her supplies, her books, her homework? Can she keep her locker and her binders organized? If this is a tough area for her, be sure to go through her stuff with her on a regular basis to help keep her together. Show her how to organize papers in a binder, and use dividers to separate different subjects and sections. Having several different teachers usually means several different sets of expectations. Using some kind of assignment book is critical.
Time Management. In middle school, students start getting more long term assignments than they are used to. Help your student learn how to break these bigger projects down into smaller chunks and use a time map to plan how he’s going to tackle them. Kids often underestimate the size of a project and procrastinate until there’s not enough time left to do a good job. Help him learn to manage his time by making sure he does some work each day instead of leaving it all until the end.
Setting Goals. Does she want to make the honor roll? Is she striving for an A in Math? Help her identify what she wants to accomplish and make a gameplan for getting there. You can even work together to choose some tangible rewards for hitting the mark. Keeping her goal in mind will help her continue to make strides towards reaching it.
Problem Solving. Lots of kids hit obstacles and then get stuck because they don’t have good problem solving skills. Teach your student how to brainstorm solutions to roadblocks that get in his way. Does he keep forgetting to write down his homework assignments? Maybe he can copy down the numbers of several classmates he can call in a pinch. Does he keep losing pencils? He can extra package of pencils in his locker. Having trouble with that persuasive paper? He can ask the teacher for extra help.
Asking for Help. Often kids don’t ask for help because they’re afraid of looking dumb. Remind kids that it’s the smart people that ask the best questions! Help her develop the assertiveness skills to ask for help before she gets too far behind. In addition to teacher help, some schools offer peer tutors or special study sessions for students who need it.
Also check out Top Stresses for Middle Schoolers and Starting Middle School for more on this topic.
Susan Carney - I have been working as a middle school counselor with 6th and 7th grade students for the past thirteen years. I received a BA in ...
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