Alex's Transition to Middle School

Sixth-graders: On your mark, get set ... and, go! Alex is off and running at his middle school.

The first month of middle school has been a roller coaster for him. I'll share the good news first: He enjoys moving around between classes. He's excited about having a locker. For the first time in his school career, he has male teachers — all five of them are male, in fact. He seems to like this.

But the transition to middle school can be tough, especially for kids moving from a small school to a big feeder middle school such as Alex's. There are 1300 kids from all over the city at this school.

Last year, at his elementary school, he looked like a confident big kid. Now he looks small and vulnerable, like a little boy. I think he feels pretty much the way he looks.

Now for the bad news. One of his teachers is the very same teacher who nearly gave my daughter a nervous breakdown the first month of her sixth-grade year. After she told me that he was destroying her self-confidence and humiliating her classmates, I removed her from his class  (Thankfully, she went on to have a fine year.)

Now the fates have decreed that Alex should also face the fearsome Mr. R.! And once again, I'm being told by the counseling office: "This man is a great teacher. All the parents and the kids love him once they get to know him. Just stick with him."

So far, Alex is not traumatized by Mr. R. However, Alex and I are wary. Mr R. has been out for medical reasons for several weeks and will return next week. My surveillance of the situation will resume at that time. For now, the jury is out: is Mr. R. truly as bad as my daughter says, and therefore bad for Alex, or will Mr. R. turn out to be the academic savior he's reputed to be? To be continued...

[GreatSchools has lots of expert advice on topics like this one.]

Finally, on top of everything else, Alex's best friend, the one that was going to accompany him to this school, unexpectedly moved away over the summer, leaving Alex with no close friends at the school. Although Alex makes friends easily, and I think he'll do fine socially, I do feel for him.

Comments

[Tika Crisp]

Hi Parents,
We have all had to deal with hard teachers, but those teachers became my allies in the end. I believe the worst thing you could have done was to take your daughter out of his class. One reason being is that when you begin to work in the real world or go on to high school she might react to each difficult situation or teacher with avoidance. I know this is because I watched my sister who is 10 years younger than me deal with teachers in the same way. Today she a college graduate who can’t really deal with people. Now about your son this teacher might give him the confidence that he may need to help him get through the sixth grade.
Thank you,
Tika Crisp