SANDPOINT — Staff at Sandpoint Middle School had an enlightening experience recently as, over the course of two weeks, 10 brave souls each spent a full day as a student.

The most devastating thing they learned — students, even staff posing as students, cannot have coffee during first period.

Also, two of the "staffudents" were tardy, and one had his cell phone taken away — after his classmates told on him. And SMS counselor Jessica Lippi was mistaken as an actual seventh-grader when one student asked her if she was new to the school.

The staff who volunteered got a student schedule they had to follow and learned valuable lessons regarding the students they instruct each day that they will be able to incorporate into their own classes and interaction with the students.

In regards to tardiness, for example, math teacher Adam Noble said he realized that mere seconds count when trying to get from one class to the next, especially if a student needs to use the restroom or go to their locker. From his experience, he said, he gained an appreciation for ending his own class on time.

"I find that as I'm teaching my lesson ... sometimes it might take five or ten seconds over, maybe 30 seconds over, and I realized now the impact that has on the students," Noble said.

Each of the participants filled out a reflection sheet, which Kari Granier, the teacher who organized the experience, went through and concocted a list of words the staff used to describe their experiences.

"It was really enlightening to see how comfortable they were, how excited they were for lessons, they have lots of great ideas ... the teachers and the students were caring and calming and there was a lot of active engagement," Granier said.

The purpose of the experience, Granier said, was for staff to gain a perspective on "a million different things," including schedules, homework, core classes, tardies, lunch, recess, lockers — the list went on and on.

Each gave a short presentation to all SMS staff last week on their experience and some of the topics included trying to get to their lockers between classes, how helpful the students were, how much the students use foul language between classes, having to stay on task to get stuff done, and some struggled in certain classes while others, like counselor Todd Riley, "rocked" the neuron diagram. It was also difficult for some of the staff to keep up and by the end of the day, they were exhausted — and hungry.

"It was a great experience, just seeing from the perspective of the student life they deal with ... trying to stay focused and trying to not get distracted by someone else in the room who is maybe off task," said Sean Lyon, seventh-grade life science, forestry and astronomy teacher.

Alyssa Remsen, seventh-grade social studies and dance teacher, said one thing she realized that will help her relate to her students in the future is how uncomfortable it is to sit in the student chairs throughout entire class periods.

"There is certain kids who never stop moving and now I get why," she said. "From this experience I've realized it's OK for a kid to get up and stand if they need to; if we are watching a video and they need to get up and stand in the back, that's fine."

Along with Lippi, Noble, Riley, Lyon and Remsen, participants included Jacki Crossingham, English, social studies and creative writing; Chantel Casey, English; TJ Clary, direct instruction language and study skills; Kathleen Olson, English and social studies; and math teacher Colleen Watson.

After finding it difficult to manage their time as students, staff agreed incoming seventh graders would benefit from learning how to better manage their time and classes, as well as learn to use their planner. One idea was to add an organizational class for incoming seventh-graders. Another suggestion was staff take that initiative for the first couple weeks of school to help the students better transition into middle school from elementary.

"I loved hearing the discussion," Granier said. "... I wanted everybody to be involved in the conversation, that's sort of the name of the game."

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.