“Getting Middle Schoolers Prepared For Their First Year Of Middle School” with Lorie Michaels - Transcript
Watch the full YouTube Video Here on my Middle School Mommer YouTube Channel
Kim: Hey everyone. I’m Kim Caifano, A.K.A. The Middle School Mommer. I am here to help you connect with your child during this season, as well as get you equipped to parent them well.
Once you get past my puffy sleeves that won’t go down, just stick with me, because this is going to be a fantastic interview. I’m excited to welcome Lorie Michaels.
She’s first and foremost my dear friend, but she's also a seventh-grade science teacher. She knows middle schoolers super well, and on top of that she loves them super well. So, she is one of my top picks for one of my first interviews here on YouTube.
So today my topic is getting the middle schoolers prepared for their first year of middle school and what the parents need to know.
We went into the first year of middle school like a deer in headlights. We were clinging to our packet of information. We had that, we studied it, we had memorized the locker number and that was like the thing we knew.
So, now looking back I wish people would have said this, that, or the other. And I know that you have five or six tips that you would recommend for parents, even in the summer, that they can begin to practice and implement to get their child ready for middle school.
So have at it. What do you think parents need to know?
Lorie: Well, first and foremost my top recommendation is:
Have them practice using a padlock.
That's going to be the first thing that they have to have exposure to when I walk into the building. So many kids get flustered right away by not knowing how to use their lock and then that already kind of ruins the morning.
So if they can come into the building knowing how to use their lock it's kind of like making your bed in the morning. It’s like you found success in that you're going to have a great rest of the day. So if they can get into their locker and get what they need to go to their class it kind of sets them up for the rest of the day.
Kim: That is so good. I have a friend whose daughter cried for the entire first week of middle school because of the locker. 100% the locker thing. And it just broke my heart that that is how her first week was starting. And I was like, “How’s everything else going?” and everything else was going great, but it was just the locker.
So, Lorie, you would even say perhaps buy a padlock and simply practice it with them? Because it is a skill even some adults still don’t know. I mean I even had to relearn how to use a locker combination. But almost every child does not know how to do it, so teach them how to do it.
Lorie: And put that combination somewhere where they have access to it.
Kim: That’s so good. Very good. What else?
Lorie: Another one would be,
2. Teaching them how to manage their time.
So, in middle school they’re constantly changing classes. They need to really kind of hone in on, “What do I need to do right now?” “What's most important?” and “What can I save for either later in the evening or even another day or over the weekend?”
So just trying to really have them practice identifying you know when things are due, how long do they have, a timeline for projects, and then really just splitting up their time. Because again most kids have extracurricular activities as well, so just balancing all that out.
Kim: That was our biggest thing I think we noticed was it's a heavier workload and then, you know, longer days. He wouldn’t walk in the door until almost close to 4 and then if we had an activity to get to we sometimes wouldn’t get home until 8 o’clock at night. And then it’s like, okay, then there's homework. So yes it’s important to identify “What do I need to do?” But yeah, I love that. So good.
Lorie: Another good one kind of piggybacking off of that is:
3. Have them start to use a calendar system or planner system.
All middle schools will provide a paper planner. I know that doesn't work for every kid but it's definitely a good place to start. And that will also help them practice that time management. You can have them write in there, treating it like your own calendar. Have them write in, “Oh I have this activity today” or “Grandma is coming over today.” So just even practicing putting them in charge of keeping track of due dates and stuff like that.
Kim: That’s good. And even, again like what you just said, in the summertime handing them a planner, and having them be in charge - because we all do have, hopefully by now, activities going on. And if you have them write out their own little schedule.
I know my son yesterday, he did have his own little schedule. Like he had one friend that was biking to our house to get a ride to the pool and another one that was getting dropped off and all this information wasn't getting communicated to me but it was all in his brain.
And I’m kind of like, “You know what bud? If you would have written it all out that would have been helpful for him and helpful for me too. But he had a whole little schedule going on. So yeah that’s a good idea and great for them to practice and practice during the summer.
Lorie: The nice thing is there’s so many, if you do have a child who is more technology-based, there's so many even online planners that they can use now too. I will say I've witnessed more success with the paper planners just because it's something tangible and in front of them. I feel like the online planners can kind of go by the wayside because we're not always checking them, we’re kind of relying on the kid.
Kim: Okay, very good. Love it.
Lorie: Another one:
4. Get them on a sleep schedule.
So many of my students will come in and tell me, “I am so tired today I stayed up until 2 a.m.” The middle school students need the most sleep. So getting them on that routine and telling them, “You gotta go to bed.” Some kind of sleep schedule where they are getting plenty of sleep.
Kim: I mean obviously it's summer right now so later nights, but maybe the weeks leading up to school, kind of practicing like, “Okay the bedtime is going to be sneaking up a little a little earlier.”
And then I know it leads to a point and I don’t know if it’s going to be your very next point or point later but I know you mentioned technology and cutting that off at a certain point. And it ties in with that as well. You know just like what happens in the evenings affects the very next day.
Lorie: Yeah, yeah and that would be again my next suggestion would be,
5. Taking technology away.
Don't let them have it in their room. They have a hard time giving it up. Because yeah, would I rather talk to my friend than go to bed? Of course talk to my friend. So, if you can get those phones out of the room and just really be strict with that bedtime.
Kim: Yeah, yeah. And that’s hard for parents. But like you're hearing it from me, you're hearing it from Lorie - do it, do it. They will fight you on it and that doesn't mean that you give up. Like you're the parent. There's so many things that we got battled on and sometimes we kind of question ourselves and then we’re like, “Well no. Hang on. Listen. You know these are the rules of the Caifano household and this is what we’re doing.”
Lorie: And then my very last one would just be:
6. Have them practice advocating for themselves.
Again in middle school they’re going to have so many different teachers, they’re going to be with different kids all day long. So have them practice, for example, if they’re struggling in their math class, instead of you reaching out to the teacher, have them. Give them the ownership to reach out. And that will continue on into high school and college then.
Oftentimes his parents don't know, they're not in the classroom. So, they kind of know that the child might come home and say I'm having a tough time in this class. You're only getting part of the story so that way if the student can reach out to the teacher the teacher has more of a full perspective then. And they could even ask some follow-up questions then. You know, kind of question them a little bit more to hone in on what they’re struggling with.
Kim: It would probably be good if the student would also notify their parents like, “Hey, just so you know I reached out to Mrs. Michaels and you know, said “x,y and z” just so that the parent is aware as well. But yeah, it’s kind of better if the teacher knows the full scope of it. So, I totally see that.
Okay, so those are a few tips, especially for those of you who have a first time middle schooler who already have questions. I know probably the minute Dylan graduated from 5th grade I was like, “Ahh! What do I need to be doing?”
So, if you can begin to practice some of these tips and tricks with your kid during the summer you'll be set up for a little more success as they begin middle school in the fall. So, thank you for your time and thank you for joining us. And, please come back for my next interview!
Watch the full YouTube Video Here on my Middle School Mommer YouTube Channel