HOW TO SURVIVE
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Middle school is a big step in any teen’s life. You will be facing challenging classes and getting extra homework. Middle school, however, is not all work!
AVOIDING TROUBLE
1. Know and obey your school’s rules! A good attitude is important for your and everybody else’s learning benefit. You don’t want to get in trouble with the teachers or principals in your first year for breaking all sorts of rules you didn’t even know about.
Find the Lincoln Middle School Student Handbook on the school district website.
Make sure you learn the school’s dress code, as well as, the other rules and then follow them! Even if your friends are breaking the rules, don’t follow their example. Make an effort to stay in the good behavior column.
2. Avoid drama and gossip. There will be lots of gossip and some really malicious (mean) rumors floating around. Never start rumors; they only break friendships, create enemies, hurt feelings, and make things worse for everyone. Gossip may seem juicy at first, but it causes unnecessary pain in the end. Do your best to stay away from it!
● Help to stop rumors by not spreading them.
● Protect other people’s privacy and mistakes. You wouldn’t want someone spreading your personal secrets around, would you?
● Drama is unnecessary. Some people think that a life has to be filled with melodrama to be important and appreciated by others. It does not. Focus on the things, people, and ideas that are important.
3. Choose your friends wisely. This is very important. Be friends with people who don’t start or participate in drama, and you’ll avoid the worst things that happen in middle school. Establish a small group of good friends. Every group will face a few problems. If necessary, you might consider a more sensible group of friends.
● Understand that in middle school you may find that some people may just not like you. Be nice and friendly to everyone, but don’t worry about making everyone love you.
4. Don’t let your friends get you in trouble. If someone asks you to lie about something, do something illegal, or do something to hurt someone else, don’t do it. Don’t do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, or what you think is wrong. This is called peer pressure and can lead to all sorts of problems.
● Don’t be afraid to tell an adult if someone asks, or tells you to do something really bad. If you make a bad decision, talk to an adult you can trust.
5. Don’t do anything that will harm your body. Just like you don’t want to do something to hurt other people, you shouldn’t do anything to hurt yourself.
6. Don’t worry about gym. You might feel like everyone is watching you while you change, but they are really focusing on getting themselves changed. Everyone wants to just keep to themselves and change as quickly as possible.
7. Learn how to solve problems. This is a really important skill, not just for getting through middle school, but for getting through your whole life. If you learn good ways to solve problems, you’ll be able to handle anything that comes your way.
● For example, you should learn to ask for help when you need it. Sometimes you’ll feel silly asking for help or you don’t want to admit that you’re having problems, but you don’t have to. Everyone has problems, and whoever you ask for help will understand. They’ve had to ask for help at some point too.
● Apologize and accept consequences when you’ve done something wrong. After making a mistake, refusing to acknowledge that you did something bad (even if you didn’t mean to) will just make things harder for you. You’ll feel guilty or you’ll have to deal with people being angry with you, and you don’t want that. If you spread a rumor, apologize. If you lie to a teacher, confess.
● Communicate clearly. By doing this, you are avoiding most of the problems people face. A lot of the time, rumors get started because someone misunderstands what you say or you misunderstand what they say. You might also accidentally offend someone if you say something you don’t mean. Be careful, clear and always make sure you know what you’re saying.
8. Always know that it gets better. Middle school can be really hard. Just believe that there will be happy times, and there will be sad times, but no matter how bad it gets, things will always get better.
MAKING FRIENDS
1. Find people you know. A few elementary school friends can make plans by phone.
2. Find people that live near you. Once you start school, you can also try to make friends with people you see getting on and off at the same bus stop. Friends that live in your neighborhood can be handy, since you’ll have an easier time hanging out or you’ll have someone nearby that you can call for homework or advice.
3. Be open to new friends. Even if you have a whole bunch of your elementary friends coming with you to middle school, you should still try to make some new friends. If you don’t try to meet new people, you’ll never know what you’re missing. Maybe someone you meet will be your best friend for a while.
4. Join clubs. A great way to meet new friends is to join clubs at your new school.
● Don’t forget about sports! There are sports teams if you want to join a team, but there might also be clubs that are just about watching or playing friendly matches.
● Volunteering is also a sort of club that will help you meet new people to befriend. Watch for and ask about fund raising events, making cards for military personnel, cleaning up local parks, or other great activities.
5. Show your interests. You should show what you’re interested in, in subtle ways so that people that like the same thing will know they can come up and talk to you about it. This is a great way to make friends, because you’ll know you already have something in common.
● For example, if you like superheros, you can wear a superhero pin on your backpack. If you like video games, get a class binder with a picture from your favorite game on it. If you like a sports team, wear a bracelet for that team.
6. Act self-confident. If you show people that you think you’re a great person to be friends with, and that you think you have a lot to offer to people, then they’ll be much more likely to want to be friends with you. Don’t constantly apologize and don’t back down if people don’t immediately like you. Speak up for yourself, stand up straight, and celebrate the things that make you unique.
7. Talk to people. This is the most important part of making new friends! You’ll never make friends if you don’t talk to people. Join conversations that sound interesting, and introduce yourself to people you think you’d like to have as friends.
● Don’t forget to speak up so that people can hear you! Talk like you mean it.
8. Do fun things. If other people see you enjoying yourself, they want to join in and be friends with you so that they can have fun too. You can do fun things by joining clubs, drawing in between classes, or putting together parties or other activities for after school.
9. Be nice. If you want friends, it’s important to be a nice person. Be nice to everyone you meet, even if they aren’t nice back. People will notice that you are a great person, and they will be much more likely to be nice to you.
● It is important to be actively nice, not just polite. Help people that have trouble in class, stand up for others when they’re getting bullied, and do nice things for people when you can. Also, give people honest compliments when they seem like they need it.
● You never know when someone is going through some really tough times. They could feel hurt, and they might not show it. Your kind words or deeds could make a world of difference to them.
● Remember that sometimes when people are really acting awful, they do that because they feel bad about themselves or something that’s happening in their life. They’re mean because they may not know what kindness looks like. Try to be nice to them even if they’re mean to you. It might help make them a better person.
ACING ACADEMICS
1. Pay attention in class. If you want to do well in class, the best place to start is to pay attention! It’s amazing how much your grades will go up if you just pay attention, and try to absorb as much information from the lesson as possible. Don’t mess with your phone, try not to daydream, and don’t pass notes with friends.
2. Take notes. Take notes in class. You don’t have to write down everything that the teacher says; just write down the really important or hard to remember information. Write the sort of stuff you’d say if you were explaining the lesson to someone who wasn’t there. This will help you study for tests later and also do your homework.
3. Do your homework. This is really important for getting decent grades. If you don’t do your homework, you’re almost guaranteed to get bad grades. Find some quiet time each evening and just work to get your homework done. Get help if you need it! Your homework shouldn’t take so much time that you don’t have time to relax too.
4. Stay organized. Don’t just shove everything in your backpack. This will make you forget about assignments or lose important papers. Instead, have a binder for homework assignments and organize them by when they are due. Have another binder for class notes, organized by subject.
● Use your planner. You also want to keep your life organized! Get a planner and carefully organize your day. Set aside time for homework, time for hanging out, time for getting ready and eating breakfast in the morning, and everything else you need to do during your day.
5. Don’t procrastinate. Lots of people develop the very bad habit of procrastinating. This means that they don’t do things when they should. Instead, they wait until the last minute! This is bad, because it means that when you do things, you’ll not do your best work because you’ll be rushed. It will also make you really stressed. Develop a good habit of doing things at the appropriate time, and you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble.
6. Ask questions. This is a great way to make sure you improve your grades. When you don’t understand something, ask! This way you know you’re doing something right. Even if you do understand something, it’s good to ask questions if you’re curious about something else. Always ask questions, and you’ll find yourself getting smarter and smarter.
7. Study as much as you can. If you really want good grades, you’ll need to study. Read all the books you are assigned and set aside plenty of time to study. Middle school is an important time to develop good school habits, so getting use to studying now will really help you later.
8. Don’t stress over your grades. Focus on learning as much as you can, developing good school habits, and get the best grades you can.
IMPROVING YOURSELF
1. Explore yourself. Middle school is a great time to explore the things you enjoy, and figure out what is important to you. You should take exploratory classes that you think you might like, learn to do things you have always wanted to learn how to do, and read about things you’d like to do in the future.
● Read books about people who inspire you. Figure out what they did to get to where they got, and figure out if you want to do the same.
● Activities/Clubs are a great way to explore things that make you happy! Try joining one at Lincoln Middle School.
2. Maintain good hygiene habits. Make sure you’re washing your body, keeping your face clean, wearing clean clothes and other things to keep yourself looking nice. This will help you develop confidence and make you feel comfortable.
3. Learn to balance responsibilities with fun. While it’s important to devote time to learning while you’re in middle school, it’s also important for you to learn how to balance responsibility with fun and relaxation.
4. Get involved. You may not realize it now, because many people don’t, but helping others can be the most rewarding thing you ever do. Make a positive difference in your community, and the world can make you feel like a superhero because you’ll be one!
5. Exercise and eat healthy. School is all about getting you mind fit and healthy, but you need to make sure your body stays healthy too. Make sure you eat right, and get plenty of good exercise to keep your body in good condition.
6. Work on your talents. If you’re good at something, you should find ways to do those things! Get better and better at things you enjoy and that you’re good at. Your talents can often be turned into a great job or hobby when you’re older (or even now). Talk to your parents about what you can do, and if they can’t help, talk to a teacher.
● For example, if you’re good at drawing, take an art class. If you have a talent for learning songs, join the band. If you’re good at math, offer to tutor other students. The possibilities are endless!
7. Don’t sweat the little things. You’ll be a much happier person, and it will be much easier to deal with problems and the stress of middle school if you learn to only work on the problems that really matter. This can be hard to do, and will probably take a long time to learn, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
8. Believe that you are normal. There will be many times where you will feel different and alone. The important thing to understand is that families come in all shapes and sizes. You are just like everyone else. No matter how your family looks.
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