Mentoring My Elementary-And Middle-School Students to Become Powerful Navigators of Success

Book excerpt: Elementary and middle school can be confusing times for children. Adjusting to the challenges of growing up and navigating new social pressures and expectations can prove overwhelming. It isn't as if they get a handbook to help them through the maze. Educator, teacher, and current assistant principal Todd Jason Feltman, PhD, asked, "Why not?" If students could be given clear instructions and steps for academic success, it might raise their confidence and their optimism about the future. In his previous book, The Elementary and Middle School Student-Friendly Handbook to Navigating Success: You Need to Take Charge of Your Education, Feltman spoke directly to students. Now, he has created a new guide for teachers looking to mentor and nurture students in second through eighth grades. His advice includes advising students to complete their homework as soon as they come home from school, take small walks, exercise, and/or water breaks while completing homework, create a calendar of everything they need to do, form a consistent, healthy sleep routine, and stay free of distractions while in class. Those are just five of the 110 tried and true techniques Feltman gives you to help you encourage and inspire your students!