7th and 8th Graders? They're Just Like Us (Mostly)

In Development

At an online secondary school serving grades 7 through 12, I am leading a team of staff who support 7th and 8th graders in developing an interactive HTML training module for colleagues who will be working with 7th and 8th graders for the first time at back to school. The core message of the training is captured in its title: 7th and 8th graders are just like us. They struggle with many of the same things high schoolers do, and, honestly, the same things adults do. That shared humanity is what equips our staff to work with them well, and a big goal of the training is to replace nervousness about a new population with confidence in what they already know. The training is built around three detailed student profiles and uses Claude-powered practice conversations to give learners a space to rehearse 7th and 8th grade scenarios before encountering them live. Each scenario ends with a personalized debrief evaluated through the lens of our school's core values. The training also includes an intro video, a structured reflection section, and a Google Form that sends learners a copy of their responses for future reference.