Other than the first day of kindergarten, the first day of middle school may be one of the most anxiety-producing days for students and parents alike. The good news is that you and your child CAN and WILL survive this transition – especially if you help.  Just ask yourself: can your child do these 4 Skills Before Starting Middle School?

1. Teach your child to pack their own lunch – and a good snack. When my kids were little, I always figured if they weren’t hungry or tired I had a chance of surviving the day. This didn’t change as they grew up; the basic needs just get a little more difficult to enforce. Middle school students expend a LOT of energy, and they are hungry all the time. I’m not kidding. If you can teach your child to pack their own lunch – or at least a healthy, energy sustaining snack, not only will your child’s teacher be happy, but you also have a good chance of having a stable child at the end of the day! Reusable water bottles, fruit, protein bars and whole grain crackers are great snacks that help keep students alert and on top of their game. And be sure they pack it themselves- teaching simple self-care techniques prepares them for taking control of their health and wellness and will reduce stress.
2. Practice self-awareness. This skill tags along with self-care, and also helps develop an awareness of their emotions and feelings. Middle school students have rapidly changing views and experiences; teaching your child to reflect on life milestones, accomplishments, and successes and challenges from the previous school year helps them to learn about themselves as a learner, as a friend and develops a growth mindset. When school gets challenging, having self-awareness skills to fall back on helps develop confidence and a calm approach.
3. Teach your child to write an email. Thanks to technology, today’s educators are much more accessible. If your school uses a management system, make sure you and your children understand how to log on and how to contact teachers. But parents – resist the urge to be the first point of contact with teachers. Have your child reach out with a simple, direct email that states their question and asks for help. I also advise middle school students to set up a professional email address that is used for college contacts; Gmail is an excellent service. Developing self-advocacy skills will ease the communication anxiety and provide valuable training for high school and college.
4. Help create an organization system with specific weekly goals. To develop strong study skills and create a peaceful after school environment, your student should create an organization system that works for them. Binders, color coded and labeled folders, digital systems, and traditional paper calendars are all ways middle school students can stay organized. Setting measurable weekly goals, and reflecting on progress, are ways to teach your child about self-monitoring and problem-solving. Not every system works for every child, so it’s important to listen to your child’s ideas and give things a try, even if it isn’t YOUR way. Setting up a reward and logical consequence system alongside to weekly goals will offer a tangible reason for your child to work hardto meet their expectations.

Helping your child develop these 4 skills your child needs before starting middle school should ease the transition for everyone. Remember, your child is likely nervous and anxious about all the ‘newness’ they are experiencing, and while it may seem as if the last thing they want is your advice, just knowing you’re there and paying attention can open the door for supporting them through this exciting time.

Can Your Child Do These 4 Skills Before Starting Middle School?

*This post first appeared on The Educator’s Room – please visit The Educator’s Room website here for more about teaching and parenting.

Related articles

• How To Avoid Being A Stressed-Out Middle School Mom
• What Do Kids Think On The First Day of Middle School?
• Middle School Madness: What Parents Can Do To Help – mamawolfe

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Starting back for a new school year opens up so many opportunities for teachers to shake things up! Teachers stuck in a classroom droning on at the board with no input from anyone else is a drag on everyone involved. Teachers are constantly looking for ways to keep their students interested and involved in lessons. No matter the age, as a teacher we want growing minds to be the best they can be. So compiled below are a few tips on how teachers can help to keep kids focused and engaged within a classically ‘boring’ setting, and includes multiple ways to vamp a lesson up! 

4 ways to make a classroom more interactive

Image From Pexels

Turn Learning Into A Game

This is a good strategy for anyone who struggles in the traditional classroom model and requires a helping hand in remembering notes or instructions. These days, we know more about the learning difficulties associated with ADHD, Dyslexia, and ADD, just to name a few, that make it difficult for some kids to concentrate on their learning alone and without help. Plenty of classroom stock brands and interesting tools can be found for a discount at DontPayFull.com, such as eye catching posters or digital software guaranteed to bring a whole new world into the classroom. With this handy tool, becoming an innovator in your school doesn’t have to be expensive either. 

Having regular games in the classroom will increase the interaction between your students, building better friendships and people skills. It also can allow them a good sense of independence if they work in teams during a game, with the need to stay on task and involve others around them if they have a flair for natural leadership. Using a game or some kind of toy is especially useful for core subjects such as math, in which you can involve challenges and have small prizes such as cool pens or pencils for whoever wins. A friendly competition will keep them interested for any future activities, and it’ll also help kids to use their mathematical ability in daily situations, so watch out for future chess champions!

Keep Activities Hands On

Learning is an activity that requires all areas of your brain, so keeping each one engaged is important for retaining new information. Use less traditional methods of teaching when it comes to subjects such as history and geography by having students create their own timelines and maps, for example. For a subject like English, using buzzword elements and creative materials like feathers or pipe cleaners around a certain word or phrase to make mind maps is a great way to keep kids involved in their learning. This way they can also direct how they learn, and as a teacher, you’ll be better able to see where they’re going wrong or the areas they need help with. Having a hands on activity in a subject such as science is perfect for learning; students can set up their own experiments and write up reports, both clear definitions of their own time well spent.

Allow Your Students To Work At Their Own Pace

Keeping students at their own pace can sound a little risky; after all, there are deadlines to meet. However, there are ways to let kids study as necessary while at the same time being more suited to them. Homework is an outdated concept and is less rigid than we thought of when we were students. By varying its use, we can make sure it’s both completed and doesn’t turn out to be a chore. With ‘flipped learning’ coming stronger and stronger into fashion, students who are slower in class can learn new things at home, and then reinforce them while in class. This has proved to be effective due to the formal setting of reinforcing the knowledge, with fewer distractions around that aren’t productive. I love the ‘must do’, ‘should do’, ‘could do’ approach – setting due dates and guiding kids with their time management teaches valuable life lessons. Blogs like InteractiveClassroom.net have plenty of tips on incorporating digital elements to better help kids work at their own pace, with software to explore their creative sides.

Keep A Track Of Each Student’s Progress For Them

Records are kept of every student that walks through a school’s doors, but these are less personalized and accessible to the kids themselves. Knowing how far we’ve come and what we’ve accomplished since learning something new is an idea kids and adults alike revel in. There are multiple ways to have a personalized file for each student while using a general record, such as keeping binders they can read when necessary. By including students in their own time keeping and progress tracking, we’ll afford them a greater feeling of responsibility and direction over their own destiny. As a teacher, it can also give you closer insights into their working troubles with assignment grades and the time taken on each one laid out before you.

So here are just a couple of ideas on ways to keep a classroom more interactive; which way do you think is best for you and your students? I’d love to hear you ideas – please leave them in the comments section or send me a message. Wishing you a great start back to school!

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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My heart is heavy as I watch the hate unfold in Charlottesville today. I try to distract and distance myself by puttering around in my garden, moving the sprinkler from one dry patch to another, hopefully coaxing a few more blooms into fall. I dodge the bees in the veggie garden and catch a glimpse of a red-throated hummingbird as it delicately feeds on my front yard red salvia. My four-legged pal naps on the shaded wicker couch as I move in circles, trying to avoid confronting the hatred and violence I know is consuming my news feeds.

I don’t usually write and publish on the spot like this. I’m more of a pensive writer, allowing thoughts to mull in my mind, forming connections and thinking deeply about how I share my voice in this vast Universe of creative people. I typically journal and notetake and combine what I read and hear and see into hopefully, some version of hope and gratitude for all that I am and all that I have to learn.

But as I watch the hate unfold in Charlottesville today I find myself heavy with sadness, climbing the stairs to my upstairs writing perch. My phone has been exploding with Twitter updates and live videos from the New York Times, and I find I can only watch and read the smallest amount without having to shut it down.

It’s part self-care, part bewilderment, part fear – combined with an enormous amount of guilty helplessness as I sit safely tucked away, in my white family in my suburban home in my liberal northern California town.

But that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? Those who stay safely tucked away in their beliefs, teetering on the edge of exploding and showing their real selves. I meant to be writing about my children today, about having seniors and about college and starting school years.

But I can’t. My heart is too heavy watching the hate unfold in Charlottesville today, and it simply feels selfish.

I know that racism exists. I know that there are those who believe in the ‘white right’ and above all else, feel victimized and as if they are somehow having their centuries-old rights and ancestry stripped away by those who are different. From those who have darker skin, or religious differences, or who love people that they love even when being told that the Bible calls them sinners.

I know all that. I see it hiding in my community, occasionally creeping out in my classroom with greater frequency since last November. I understand the responsibility of raising a white male and think deeply about how I can use my life to make the world a better, kinder, more loving place.

I use my position as a teacher leader to teach compassion, to offer evidence from history about learning from the past, and employ my voice and my words to somehow attempt to do my part.

image credit: https://todaytesting.com

But today, my heart is heavy as I watch the hate unfold.

I want to blame 45, but I know he didn’t suddenly cause people to think this way. What he has done since November is offered validation for those shallow, spiteful, fearful souls to empower themselves and speak out, lash out, and spew their hateful words into our Universe.

I know signs of hope and light will surface – the first to appear was John Pavlovitz’s “Yes, This is Racism”  for which I am holding onto while my news feed screams “Charlottesville remains on edge ahead of “Unite The Right” rally”, the governor declares a state of emergency, and a car plows down protestors. Violent clashes erupt as people supporting Black Lives Matter join in counter-protest. 45 tweets “Am in Bedminster for meetings & press conference on V.A. & all that we have done, and are doing, to make it better-but Charlottesville sad!”

All that we have done? Who are WE? It’s not me. It’s on you now, 45. All that YOU have done – and what are YOU doing to make it better? Get off your golf cart and step into reality.

Sitting in my writing room, gazing out at the green treetops and the sun-dappled grass I feel so far removed, so helpless. I do not agree, I do not believe, I do not support. This isn’t MY America. This isn’t my view of how history should be formed. This isn’t what I want to teach.

This IS racism. This IS hate. This IS fear and vulnerability and small-mindedness.

This is NOT what I choose as the future for my son, my daughter, and the hundreds of children I’m about to share my heart with this school year.

I stand in unity with those using their bodies and voices and hearts against hate. I stand with the women and men and children to whom this is nothing new – just more visible.

I walked with women and men and children in January in hopes that my heart wouldn’t feel so heavy today; I write with hope for tomorrow.

THIS is how I fight back.

‘No hate’ image credit: https://todaytesting.com

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Have the teacher dreams started? Does your heart pound when you see the school supply section at Target? While you’re relaxing on the beach, have you defaulted to lesson planning over reading novels? To help calm your nerves, I’ve compiled notes about five things teachers should do before the first day of school – and I guarantee you’ll have a great start!

Things teachers should do before the first day of school:

1. Organize your classroom

Kids (and administrators) love to walk into a classroom and feel the structure you’ve created.

• Think about how you (and the kids) will move around your room. Create clear traffic patterns to get in and out, as well as to the trash can, pencil sharpener, and your desk/computer!. Make sure the ‘big’ furniture is in place before school starts.
• Make supplies visible – labels and signs help everyone know where to find – and put back – their stuff.
• Figure out your seating chart and how kids will find their seats. I use numbered groups, and each seat has the group number (ex, 5) and a letter (ex, A). I project the seating chart on the screen, and kids find their way.
• Make bulletin board space for students to put up their work/projects. I have an “A” wall for my kids to hang up work they’re proud of.
• 

 2.  Sketch Out Your Year

I’m a HUGE believer in balancing planning with flexibility. At the start of the year, I like to have a road map for what strategies I want to teach, and what content I’ll use to teach them. I’ve found using sticky notes really helps – as I set up my plan book for the year, I create sticky notes for novels/units/strategies, and place them on the monthly page where I think I’ll teach them. Moving the ideas around is much easier when I don’t have to erase – and I like the physical part of placing the notes. Then, talk to your colleagues – can you collaborate on projects, share materials, or build curriculum together? Collaboration is much easier when you do it with a friend! Finally, think ahead about what facilities or tech you’ll need, and sign up! Try not to be last minute and you’ll find that your teaching goes much smoother, and you’re able to conquer so much more than you ever thought you could!

Paper planner or digital?

3. Plan Activities Get To Know Your Students – And To Share About You

One of the most important things teachers should do before the first day of school is to think about how you can infuse a ‘get to know you’ activity for part of every day during the first week. And make sure you create a lesson to help kids get to know you, too! I’ve got some neat ideas on my Pinterest board, Beginning Of The School Year Ideas. Take something and adapt it for your grade level/subject and have fun!

I surprise my students with Play Doh the first day – they make something that represents them!

4. Get Kids Moving On The First Day

There’s nothing more boring than kids listening to their teachers drone on about the syllabus on the first day of school. For middle schoolers (who I teach) that can really set the tone that your class is going to be B-O-R-I-N-G! Be that teacher who switches things up – I love to use stations for the first days of school. It lets kids get up and moving with hands-on activities, and I can observe and interact with kids as they work. Use this time to learn their names, to teach your classroom signals “1-2-3 eyes on me”, and to establish a student-centered classroom. You can read about my back to school stations here.

Back to school stations can adapt to any curriculum or grade level!

5. Plan On Incorporating Technology

Teaching in the 21st century means meeting kids where they are, and technology is front and center in their lives. If you’re a veteran teacher, plan on how you can make some simple adjustments to use technology in your lessons. Have you tried Google Apps? Can you stream YouTube or Shmoop videos instead of direct instruction? What about trying lessons with kids using their personal devices? Whatever you do, think about your comfort level with technology, and find someone on your site who can mentor you. Join a twitter chat (#2ndaryELA is one of my favorites) and meet educators online who can give you ideas – and confidence.

For more tips about things teachers should do before the first day of school, check out two of my favorite websites – Education World and Scholastic – they’re full of great ideas! And if you have any teacher friends, please share this post and add your ideas in the comments!

What other ideas do you have for a great start to the school year?

Best of luck for an inspiring school year!

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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As a teacher, I’m always looking for ways to make the most out of the time my students spend with me. As a parent, I look for ways to keep track of my kids’ progress inside and outside the classroom. Both of these roles require a little creativity, as well as some tight budgeting, especially when it comes to school supplies. I’m excited to share 7 money saving, creative uses for binders in the classroom with you!

Do you want 7 Money Saving, Creative Uses For Binders In The Classroom?

That’s why I love the ideas in this article and handy infographic. No matter what ages your kids are, picking up a few extra binders so you can utilize them in these ways could be a real time, money, or space saver. Or perhaps they will inspire you to repurpose some of last year’s binders?

If you try out these projects or come up other clever uses for these inexpensive back-to-school supplies, please share. Get creative with your binder projects and let me know how it goes!

7 Money Saving, Creative Uses For Binders In The Classroom

1. Student Portfolios

Do your students take the time to evaluate, organize, or reflect on the work they do in your classroom? If not, they could be missing out on a powerful and authentic learning opportunity, not to mention a handy way to hang on to their best work and share it with parents, future teachers, and scholarship or college admissions committees. Research suggests student portfolios are beneficial because they involve students in research, writing, problem-solving, and assessment.

Here’s how to help students make meaningful student portfolios.

• Determine the primary goal for the project. It could be to:
  • Display a student’s best work
  • Display a student’s learning progress
  • Display evidence that learning standards were met
  • Help students reflect on their work
  • Provide students with keepsakes from the year
• Decide on the primary audience for the project. It could be:
  • The student
  • The teacher (either the current teacher or the student’s next teacher)
  • Parents
  • An administrator
  • A scholarship or college admissions committee
• Let students help plan and make their portfolio.
• Supply students with two binders, one for the portfolio and one as a working binder, where students keep materials to be evaluated for inclusion in the portfolio.
• Collect, date, and store work samples for a specified period, either a term, semester, or year.
• Choose regular intervals to evaluate work for inclusion in the portfolio.
• Encourage students to routinely evaluate and improve their portfolios by asking questions such as:
  • Have I shown a variety of work?
  • Does the work I’ve chosen show how I’ve improved?
  • Does the work I’ve chosen reflect my interests?
  • Does the work show where I’ve come from and where I’m going?

2. Student Profile Binder

Effective classroom management relies on forming positive relationships with individual students. But it’s challenging to get to know each student personally in a crowded classroom. A student profile binder can help. Designate a binder for each class, and make a tab for each student. File information there such as:

• A completed information sheet about a student’s family, pets, and interests
• An “all-about-me” essay
• A completed learning styles inventory
• Individual Education Program (IEP) goals and notes

Review a student’s information whenever needed and before a parent conference or IEP meeting to help you understand the student’s background, needs, and concerns. This practice helps teachers build individual relationships based on trust and respect, which makes managing the classroom easier.

3. Substitute Teacher Binder

Preparing for a sub is no easy task, and it too often needs to be done at the beginning or end of an already long day. Get a head start by making a substitute teacher binder to store up-to-date information your subs may need. As an added bonus, subs will love you. It’s challenging to stand in for a teacher. With a fully loaded binder, substitutes won’t need to search for information about your school, students, or procedures.

Consider including the following:

• A welcome page introducing yourself and your classroom
• Phone numbers for the office, nurse, and special education room
• Names of teachers and students who can answer questions when needed
• Explanation of your daily procedures
• Class rosters
• Seating charts
• Directions for using technology, such as a projector, smart board, or document reader
• Explanation of your classroom management practices
• Forms or hall passes
• List of students who need to leave the classroom for support classes or who have health issues that may need to be addressed
• Emergency lesson plans in case you’re unable to prepare customized plans
• Filler activities in case the class completes assignments early
• Map of the school with important rooms highlighted
• The school’s emergency evacuation procedures
• A feedback form for the sub to leave notes for you

4. Phonics Flip Books

Primary teachers or reading specialists can transform a binder into a fun tool to help beginning readers learn to sound out words.

5. Puzzle Organizers

Primary school teachers are often inundated with stacks of puzzles in tattered cardboard boxes. Downsize the clutter by transforming binders into handy puzzle organizers.

Supplies:

• 3-ring binder
• Gallon–size slide–lock freezer bags
• Duct tape
• 3–hole punch
• Labels
• Marker

Instructions:

1. Line the bottom two inches of the bags with duct tape on the front and the back.
2. Make sure the hole punch is set to the North American 3–hole standard, with the center of the holes 4.25 inches apart. Then use it to punch holes in the tape at the bottom of the bag.
3. Label the bag with a description of the puzzle or game it contains.
4. Insert the puzzle pieces into the bag.
5. File the plastic bag in the binder.
6. Repeat with the rest of your puzzles
7. Use the same method to contain and organize games, magnets, and other props

6. Mobile Art Stations

Tired of storing and moving around buckets of crayons, colored pencils, and other art supplies? Transform binders into mobile art stations. Use the same method as above to make pockets out of plastic bags. Place a bag of crayons, colored pencils, and markers in each binder, as well as a bag containing a pair of scissors, a glue stick, two pencils, and an eraser. At the end of the binder, include coloring sheets, word searches, crosswords, and blank paper. Mobile art stations fit neatly on shelves, and students can grab one during choice time or after they’ve completed all of their other tasks.

7. DIY Clipboards

Physical activity shouldn’t be confined to P.E. and recess. Getting kids up and moving around during regular lessons is also important and beneficial. In one study, 13.5 percent more students reached their goal on the state standardized test after physical activity was incorporated into regular lessons. But how do kids work when they’re on their feet? Transform binders into clipboards that can be used as mobile workstations. Students can make and personalize clipboards, and bring them along on nature studies and hands–on learning activities. Bonus: The project can double as a lesson about recycling materials.

So, which of these 7 money saving, creative uses for binders in the classroom inspire you? I’d love to hear what you come up with – just leave a comment and/or a photo below!

Related articles

• Maybe It’s Just Part of Being A Mom
• Middle School Madness: What Parents Can Do To Help – mamawolfe
• Excuses Are Useless In Middle School – mamawolfe

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

More Posts - Website

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