Welcome to Intermediate School!
Changing schools is rarely a fun thing, and if you are shy like I am, it can be terrifying. But fear not, while it may be scary for the first few days (hopefully not longer than that) you are going to have an amazing time at Donna Shepard. If nothing else, you get to hang out with me!
So here are a few tips to help with the transition:
1. For every one time that you don't do something out of fear, do at least two things that you are scared of or nervous about. Even something small like raising your hand or talking to someone you don't know can be terrifying, but once you do it, you always feel relieved and proud.
2. Talk. Every time it is ok to talk, either in class, recess, lunch, PE, electives, whenever, talk. Talk to friends, talk to people you don't know, talk to teachers, talk to anyone you can. You can talk to yourself a little, but keep it to a minimum, people will look at you funny if you talk to yourself too much. Talking helps people relax and often forget how nervous they are.
3. Have fun, ON PURPOSE! Doing something fun and trying on purpose to have fun may sound silly, but trust me on this one. Think about things you do that are fun. Do you sit on your couch and wait for those things to happen, or do you have to do something to make them happen? Even if it is grabbing the remote to watch your favorite show, you are still making it happen. School (and work when you get older) are no different, you have to try and do stuff in order to have fun at places that are not really designed for that. School is about learning. And your teachers will try to make things fun for you when possible, but the reality is that fun isn't the main goal. The main goal is for you to learn. I happen to believe that it is easier to learn when having fun, so fun is an important part of it. But whether or not you have a good time is often less about what the teacher is doing, and more about your attitude.
So that is way more than I intended to write for this post, if you read this far, let me know and I'll give your class an extra 5 minutes of talk time at the end of class the day you tell me.
