1. Transitioning Peer Program
Tabitha Rue
Liberty University

2. Elementary to Middle School
Imagine your own experience and worries about transitioning from elementary to middle school. How did you feel?
Changes:
Finding the lunch room
Making new friends
Having more than one teacher and class
Crowded hallways
lockers
For young people, this is one of the most difficult transitioning times (Niesen &Wise, 2004).
There are many changes and challenges when moving from elementary to middle school. Remembering back to my own experience, I remember being anxious about finding my classrooms, being on time, making new friends, no recess, stricter grading, more homework, and even someone putting me in my locker.
Because there are so many changes happening in just one year, this year can be very difficult for some students.
Student concerns: These concerns are worries that students have about the school environment. Examples: getting on the right bus and remembering what class to go to next.
References:
Niesen, V. & Wise, P. (2004) Transitions from elementary to middle school: strategies for educators. National
Association of School Psychologists. Retrieved from
transition_elem2mid.pdf

3. Why do we need this transitional program?
Developmental period of rapid emotional and physical changes (Williford &jenson,2014).
Students may be moving from supportive elementary setting to a larger less supportive middle school (Williford &jenson,2014).
Difficult to adjust to all the changes
Depressive symptoms
Bullying
Behavior risks
Antisocial attitudes
Not only is there changes happening at school, but there are also changes happening physically and emotional with students. With these changes, there are personal insecurities and social uncertainty (Williford &jenson,2014).
Students may begin to feel that they do not have anyone that they can connect with or talk to. Sometimes, students may lose friends if they are required to go to a middle middle school. This can leave them feeling alone.
Some student may find it difficult to adjust to all the changes happening around them. This program is important to help student understand what is about to happen or is happening. It is also important for student to find something they can relate to and know that they are not the only ones who are experiencing this transition.
Students may begin to feel depressed, be bullied, act out, and have antisocial attitudes if they do not handle the transition well. With this transitional peer program, the purpose is to help students overcome struggles with transition and become familiar with middle school. Also, it is important to understand the culture of a family in order to assist the student with depressive symptoms (Vernon, 2009).
I would use data from students to understand their anxiety about going to middle school. This plan should be implemented not only in their last year of elementary school, but their first year of middle school.
References
Williford, A., Boulton, A. J., & Jenson, J. M. (2014). Transitions between subclasses of bullying and victimization
when entering middle school. Aggressive Behavior, 40(1), doi: /ab.21503
Vernon, A. (2009). Counseling children and adolescents: 4th edition. Denver: Love Publishing Company.

4. ASCA National model Foundation Management Delivery Accountability
The transition from elementary to middle school fits in with the ASCA National Model because:
This plan is designed to promote student achievement
Is driven by student data and based on their development (American School Counselor Association, 2014)
Foundation
Management
Delivery
Accountability
Foundation- This plan is set to help students learn about the transition to middle school and to help them while they are transitioning to middle school.
Management- data will be collected to understand the students needs related to the transition. Do they understand the changes, are they aware that there will be a big change, what are they most worried about?
Delivery- There will be activities, classroom guidance and sessions related to academic, social/personal and other aspects to help them transition.
Accountability- There will be assessments for these student to analysis the effectiveness of the program.
Reference
American School Counselor Association (2004). ASCA National Standards for Students. Alexandria, VA:
Author.

5. ASCA Standards and Student competencies
A:A1.5 Identify attitudes and behaviors that lead to successful learning
A:A2.2 Demonstrate how effort and persistence positively affect learning
A:A2.3 Use communications skills to know when and how to ask for help when needed
A:A2.4 Apply knowledge and learning styles to positively influence school performance
A:C1.5 Understand that school success is the preparation to make the transition from student to community member
A:B1.7 Become a self-directed and independent learner
These are a few ASCA standards and student competencies the transitioning program addresses.
Reference
American School Counselor Association (2004). ASCA National Standards for Students. Alexandria, VA:
Author.

6. Transitioning program implementation
Everyone can help student prepare for middle school:
Teachers
Encourage extra-curricular activities participation
Gradually prepare students for academic challenges of middle school
Parents
Parents as guest speakers
Sharing personal experiences
School counselors
Coping skills
Professional development
Teachers- Teachers can help students be prepared for more rigorous workload. They can also teach coping skills and think of this transition as a challenge and an opportunity for growth (Niesen &Wise, 2004).
Parents- Parents can help their children by communicating with them about the differences between elementary and middle school. They can talk about their own personal experiences with transitioning.
School Counselors- Counselors can help students by helping teachers and parents know different strategies to teach students about changes.

7. Classroom guidance and small groups
General information
Middle school terms
Who is in middle school?
Teachers
Day-to- Day
Academic
Testing
Letter grades
Homework and core classes
Social
Making good choices
Making friends
Peer pressure
Bulling
There will be classroom guidance lessons to introduce the coming transition to middle school. Once students are able to comprehend the changes over a course of a few weeks, teachers will be asked to identify students who may need more assistance with the changes. There will be classroom guidance lessons on general information, academic, and social aspects of middle school. There there will small groups broken up within these topics.
General information- This is where students learn what middle school will be like. All of this information will answer their questions about middle school. They will learn terms (ISS, ASD, etc) They will also become familiar with staff. They will understand that everyone in the school is there to help them success and who can help them with different situations. Also, they will learn about having a tram of teachers they will rotate to each day and what their day to day may look like.
Academic- Because middle school is more strict with grades, it is important to understand the important of assignments and testing. In this lesson, students will learn the differences in middle school.
Social- This lesson will discuss the anxiety about making new friends, peer pressure, and bullying.

8. School-Wide Presentations and Peer Interventions
Tips for Parents
How can parents help
Homework and grades (Power of Zero)
Activities
Small groups
Middle school website scavenger hunt
Program Evaluation
This is presentation to help parents understand that this transition is important. Parents can help in many ways. They can talk to their child about the changes, they help them understand the importance of homework and grades. Even though a student may have an A in the class, a 0 can drop the grade. This is the power of zero.
Also, there are small group interventions to help students cope with anxiety. The more they learn about their middle school, the less stressed they will be. There are online scavenger hunts to learn about schools.
Program Evaluation- At the end of the program or year, there will a survey to understand the effectiveness of the program. Also, at the beginning of the first year of middle school, there will be survey to collect data on the effectiveness of the program after they have entered middle school.