Middle School Matters: Parent Discussion Guide
Take 5 for Teens/PreTeens — Understanding Friendships with Phyllis Fagell 1-18-21 (YouTube)
Middle School Matters with Phyllis Fagell GPS event on Jan. 12, 2021 (YouTube)
Workshop for Professionals How to Bring out the Best in Students 9-15 GPS event on Jan 13 (YouTube)
Your sweet kid suddenly turns into an unpredictable, moody tween or teen. And that’s just Monday. By the end of the week, you’re shell-shocked and wondering what happened. You’re not alone! Though the transition from childhood to adolescence can be tough for kids, this time of rapid physical, intellectual, moral, social, and emotional change is a unique opportunity to proactively build character and confidence.
Middle school years can be low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they’ll need to thrive now and in the future, including making good friend choices, negotiating conflict, regulating their own emotions, acting as their own advocates, and more. To answer parents’ most common questions and struggles with middle school-aged children, Phyllis combines her professional and personal expertise with stories and advice from prominent psychologists, doctors, parents, educators, school professionals, and middle schoolers themselves.
On Wednesday. Jan. 13 at noon Fagell will present a Workshop for Professionals titled How to Bring Out The Best in Students ages 9-15 in a Pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the challenges of guiding students through new academic hurdles, preparing them for an uncertain future while facilitating good mental health. School support staff and other professionals are key allies, mentors and confidantes who help students navigate thoughts, feelings and dilemmas that they may not understand. How can we approach the new virtual reality of this work to create a positive difference and motivate students to excellence.
Phyllis Fagell is a licensed clinical professional counselor, certified professional school counselor, author and journalist. She has worked in both public and private schools with students in grades K-12. She currently works full time as the school counselor for Sheridan School in Washington, D.C. and provides therapy to children, teens and adults in private practice at the Chrysalis Group, Inc.
Fagell is the author of “Middle School Matters” and a journalist. She’s a frequent contributor to the Washington Post, focusing on counseling, parenting and education, writes the Career Confidential weekly advice column for PDK, Intl. for educators, and “The Meaningful Middle” column for AMLE (Association of Middle Level Educators). She also has written for Psychology Today, Working Mother, Time, U.S. News & World Report, and Your Teen, and her ideas have been shared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, and The Chicago Tribune, among many other outlets.
