The middle-school transition

I teach eighth-graders this year. They are all turning 14 sometime while we are in school, or they are 14 already. The girls look like women and the boys look like, well, boys.

How do I describe what it's like? I have done this for 11 years, and every day has been different. I have watched batches of kids go through, starting with us in seventh grade and then maturing into eighth grade.

The most difficult transition for students, after the transition into first grade, is the transition to middle school. In the Elk Grove Unified School District, that means sixth to seventh grade. Seventh-graders start out small, scared and immature. They all want to be grown, but some work very hard to avoid the inevitable.

They dress differently in seventh grade then they did in sixth, a little racier; girls wear make-up and boys sag their pants. The average seventh-grader really wants to make his or her mark, either by being a good student or by being a popular person at school. Very few want to do both.

Seventh-graders still care what you think, as a significant adult in their life. They may be still listening to their parents and a phone call home is still worth the effort.
This is the time when the law says they can be left at home alone legally. It is also the time most parents indulge their kids with cell phones and other pseudo-adult activities. And it is the time when they need your supervision the most.

I have seen many students stumble into drugs, alcohol or other bad habits just because no one was checking in on them at home. I could tell you stories...

But I don't want you to get the wrong idea. My students are hard-working, with parents who follow up on them and want me to call home when something is wrong. The pressure to succeed is full on them. We are approaching the end of the first term and final grades come out in about 2 1/2 days. This means my students' lives will be shaped by the grades on those reports. I know these kids will have rewards or punishments based on their grades.

I was in a parent-teacher conference the other day with a student in my Algebra Readiness class who had a D in my class and Science and an F in History. As the Dad talked about what his son enjoyed (games), he said, "Well, I guess I need to put the X-Box away until I get a better report card." I quietly said to this Dad, "I love you right now."

Was I kidding? Not really. Here is a Dad who cares enough to withhold from his son until his son does the right thing. That is parenting as a partnership with the school.

Next week, I'll give my classes copies of their term one grades. I'll have them calculate and chart their GPA on a bar graph. They will have to set goals for term two and for the remainder of the year. I won't talk to them about standardized testing, although I am "supposed" to; we'll talk about tenacity, follow through and self-control. I will attempt to shape their thinking enough to have them believe that they can make it in high school and that college or career training is an option. After all, that is what teaching middle school students is all about.