Grade 6 teachers at Eugene Reimer Middle School in Abbotsford have produced a video to help students who have moved from elementary to middle school to feel less anxious.
Teacher Nerlap Sidhu said the idea for the video began over the summer, when the teachers started thinking about ways to increase the home/school connection during the pandemic.
She said school principal Ian Levings thought that students going from Grade 5 to Grade 6 could benefit from teachers sharing “Tips for Middle School” to ease that transition.
“During a ‘normal’ school year, students that are entering middle school are nervous and anxious about making friends, meeting their teachers, remembering their locker combos and more … We decided to send a special message to students via this video to ease their nervousness and anxiety,” Sidhu said.
She said the teachers also wanted to build students’ confidence and give them courage.
“After students watch the video it leaves them feeling like, ‘I can do this!’ and that ‘my teachers care.’ “
Sidhu said making the video had the teachers thinking back to when they were that age and what advice they would have wanted their teacher to share with them.
“This video is intentionally simple, raw, authentic and it helps reduce (students’) anxiety during the first weeks of school,” she said.
The teachers Involved in the video, in addition to Sidhu, were: Robb Rutley, Karen Moffat, Ashlyen Singh, Shelly Sangha, Laura Yee, Heidi Buhler and vice-principal Nick Cochrane.
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