Advice to NEW... 6th Graders
Advice from Previous Sixth Graders
Always…
1. Do your homework!
2. Turn in your homework on time!
3. Be organized!
4. Be prepared…have what you need…you cannot go back to your locker
5. Be focused…pay attention
6. Be positive
7. Work hard
8. Listen to the teachers
9. Do your Reading Counts early
10. Be ready to do homework almost daily
11. Get your absent work the day you return
12. Turn in absent work ASAP…teachers will not come asking for it…you’ll get a zero if you don’t
13. Help someone
14. Be kind to others
15. Respect other students
16. Listen to the teacher
17. Try not to be absent
18. Keep track of your work
19. Respect your teachers and do what they say
20. Take your journals to class
21. Write neatly and color neatly
22. Take notes
23. Glue all of your papers in your journals
24. Be respectful and helpful toward your teachers…they will trust you more and you will have more privileges
25. Play at recess…it’s your last year to have it
26. Always do the extra credit if it is offered
27. Get your MOOSE signed if you have a late work or behavior mark from the teacher
28. Redo daily assignments that receive a grade below 70
29. Store your homework in a designated safe place
30. Keep up with your supplies
31. Try to have fun, but don’t get yourself or others in trouble
32. Stay out of trouble
33. Study for tests
34. Raise your hand and wait to be called on
35. Pick friends that will build you up
36. Talk only when you are supposed to
37. Be on time for class
38. Check the teachers' websites
39. Ask questions
40. Have a restroom pass
41. Use the restroom between classes
42. Be mature
43. Get on the good side of the teachers
44. Write your name on all of your papers
45. Do your best
46. Be friendly toward everyone, including the less popular people
47. Be yourself
48. Ask questions if you don’t understand something
49. Bring extra pencils
50. Believe in yourself
51. Join clubs…choir…art…STEAM…running…etc.
52. Greet your teachers
53. Say please and thank you
54. Choose your friends wisely
55. Keep up with your grades online
56. Always have a novel with you
57. Listen to instructions
58. Have a good attitude
59. Act like a nerd
60. Stay on topic
61. Write your homework in your MOOSE
62. Have a good heart
63. Always remember due dates
Never…
1. Hurt someone’s feelings
2. Argue with the teacher…they always win…“I wish someone had told me that.”
3. Do something you know you are not supposed to do
4. Be bad to try to look cool
5. Make noises
6. Goof off
7. Hang out with people you can’t trust
8. Talk when the teacher is talking
9. Forget your supplies…MOOSE…homework
10. Draw on or mess with something that does not belong to you
11. Be disrespectful to anyone
12. Be lazy
13. Bring distracting things to school
14. Waste your restroom passes
15. Chew gum or eat candy in Mrs. Toepfer’s room…she always catches you
16. Horseplay anywhere in the building
17. Make excuses for why you don’t have your homework
18. Procrastinate
19. Cheat…give your answers to others or take answers from others…either will get you a zero
20. Try to be the class clown
21. Eat in class
22. Ask why when your teacher tells you to do something
23. Speak inappropriate words to anyone
24. Get dress-coded
25. Bring your phone to class
26. Be unsocial
27. Start drama
28. Be a troublemaker
29. Throw stuff
30. Punch anyone
31. Have late work
32. Have a bad attitude
33. Be mean to other students
34. Yawn loudly because it is disrespectful
35. Zone out
36. Ask unrelated questions
37. Not turn an assignment in because it is late…a low grade is always better than a zero
38. Do dumb things
39. Stay in the restroom to avoid work…you’ll still have to do it after others have finished
40. Do your assignments at the last minute
41. Get up without permission
42. Pick on other kids
43. Sleep in class
44. Yell in class
45. Be mean
46. Slack off…Sit and do nothing
47. Forget to get your absent work as soon as you return…the teachers will not bring it to you
48. Throw away papers that should be glued in your journals
49. Skip breakfast
50. Try to be popular at the expense of your grades
51. Complain
52. Get pushed into drama
53. Do things just to be popular
54. Forget to make new friends
55. Forget things in your locker
56. Be absent unless you have to…making up your work is hard
57. Call the teacher Mrs. Teacher…they don’t like that very much
58. Have your binder so messy that you lose homework
59. Give up
60. Make smart remarks out loud
61. Hit someone
62. Touch someone’s property
63. Wait until the morning to do your homework
64. Rely on mental notes…write it down
65. Leave class without permission
66. Bring a toy to school
67. Stand on your chair
68. Horseplay in the restroom
69. Play with your food
70. Lie to your teacher
71. Make the teacher mad
72. Say you can’t do something because even if it is hard, you need to try
73. Disrupt the class
74. Hang out with the wrong crowd
75. Never start something about someone because you don’t know what they have been through
76. Be disrespectful to the teacher…that’s a one-way ticket to the office
I was surprised to discover that…
1. There would be so many field trips
2. Doing your homework and turning it in on time is very, very important
3. You actually have to do your best…it is not like the other grades…you have to actually try
4. Even the strictest teachers can have a fun side at events
5. You have to have your own pencil sharpener
6. You have to spell perfectly
7. It is easy to fit in if you’re kind of socially awkward
8. There is always that one person who is going to understand you
9. Sixth grade is really hard
10. How different it is from 5th grade
11. School is not bad, but I was definitely not prepared for this
12. Teachers at Hurst Hills are nice
13. You have a little more freedom
14. There are a lot of fun projects
15. It is easy to make friends
16. Teachers are always very kind
17. 6th grade is really fun if you can easily respect others
18. If you pay attention in Mrs. Toepfer’s class, you can earn a 100
19. It is not as hard as I thought it would be
20. Reading Counts affects your grade big time
21. Every second is counted, so be organized and quick
22. If we didn’t turn work in, it was a zero, and sometimes they don’t remind you
23. It was a fun year
24. Doing bad actions can go to bad things
25. The teachers expect a lot of responsibility from you…you are responsible for your own grades
26. My journals got so big, I need a rubber band to keep it closed
27. 6th grade is very hard
28. The teachers are silly and goofy
29. All the field trips are fun
30. I got my MOOSE signed a lot
31. You don’t get much recess
32. A lot of people change into bad kids in those three months, so don’t get sad if you lose them
33. 6th graders still act like 3rd graders
34. You have to go very fast when you take notes
35. You will feel more responsible in 6th grade
36. The year goes by so fast because you have lots of fun, yet you still learn
37. How much homework we get each day
38. How strict some of the teachers are
39. 6th grade is entertaining
40. Whenever you’re taking a district quiz, you don’t need to ask to use the restroom for Mrs. Toepfer
41. 6th grade teachers have zero tolerance
42. It is easy to finish homework at school
43. We get kindergarten reading buddies
44. We still have celebrations
45. If you fail (don’t fail), you and your legal guardian have to meet with your teacher about your grades and why you failed
46. The teachers are not as mean as they seem, and I think I am actually going to miss them
47. The teachers are very helpful when you don’t get something
48. Instead of using your MOOSE for what you did in that subject, you only use it to document what homework you have
49. You can’t go to the restroom in the middle of the class without a pass…you only get 2 each six weeks
50. We have detention
51. I was able to put my picture in the end-of-the-year slideshow
52. There are only 2 STAAR tests…reading and math
53. There are a lot of after-school fun things to do
54. There are a lot of friendly and cool people
55. If you do what you are supposed to do, you will be rewarded
56. We have a lot of things to present to the class…you will be nervous, but you will feel amazing afterward
57. Sometimes you can earn extra recess
58. You can go to the library by yourself
Remember…
1. You will have more responsibility than ever before
2. You are more independent
3. Don’t procrastinate
4. Keep your binder organized
5. Always ask questions when you need it
6. Have fun…6th grade is a big deal
7. You can use those tickets every so often
8. Always do your homework even if it is due a while from the day you get it, you should still do it right away
9. Turn in everything on time
10. Grades are more important in 6th grade
11. Make sure to stick with your friends because you will need them
12. Be yourself
13. Always know when tests are coming up
14. Don’t stress…6th grade is easy if you pay attention and don’t forget to do your work
15. Find friends that will encourage you to do the right thing…that alone will take you far
16. Always be kind
17. Enjoy your year before you leave this school
18. 6th grade goes by fast
19. Be organized and prepared
20. Mrs. Toepfer will roast anyone who stands in her way
21. Respect everybody
22. How much you study is what you get in your grades
23. Whatever you are doing, you must always do your best
24. School is first…friends, drama, & hobbies should go next
25. Follow the rules
26. Always listen to your teacher
27. Check the teachers’ websites
28. Always do your Reading Counts…I was way too lazy to do it, but it wasn’t worth it
29. Listen to all your teachers because they know what’s best
30. Eat a big breakfast, or you will be very hungry because lunch is at 12:30
31. Do all of your redo’s and extra credit to bring up your grades
32. Always be respectful
33. Do good things
34. If you don’t do your work in class, it will be homework
35. There are lots of teachers you can speak to if you’re in a bad situation…go to your teachers with your problems
36. Respect yourself
37. You are beautiful and smart
38. Always have a back-up pencil
39. Put effort into your work
40. If you ever forget your homework, all you have to do is go to that teacher and explain…they should be able to get you a new one
41. Be the kind of person the new 5th graders want to look up to
42. The more you do, the more you succeed
43. Never give up on anything you want
44. You’re only in the 6th grade once…make it count
45. Paying attention is the key to passing 6th grade
46. Cherish these elementary moments together
47. Always do what is right even when the teacher is not around to look after you
48. Forget about all the drama because school is more important
49. Keep your locker clean
50. The impossible is always possible
51. You are at school to learn
52. Have a good attitude