Second Semester Club Day Selection

Information about Club Day was sent home and e-mailed to parents on Monday, December 7, 2015. If your child misplaced his or her form, you can print another one from my website by clicking here.

Instructions for Entering Club Choices Online
Click on your child's grade level below to enter their Club Day choices online. Remember, students need to turn their Club Day Selection Forms in to their homeroom teachers signed by a parent by Tuesday, December 16th.

Students will know what Club they are in on or before Tuesday, January 26th. If you have any questions, please let your child's teacher or Mrs. Blake know by e-mailing lauren.blake@trussvillecityschools.com.

November/December Lessons

Due to the holidays and numerous days out of school during the months of November and December, students will participate in one counseling lesson for these months.  Fourth grade students will be engaged in the second lesson in our bullying unit entitled "5 Ways to Stop a Bully".  Fifth grade students will participate in a lesson entitled "It Hurts".  This lesson focuses on rumors, gossip, teasing, taunting, and bullying.

Please check back next week for a blog post about these two lessons.

4th Grade - Red Ribbon Week Lesson 2015

Please read my previous post about the purpose of our Red Ribbon Week lessons before reading this post.

The lesson began with the students completing a pretest to assess what they know about drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.

Next, students viewed a video entitled Your Body, Your Health, and Drugs published by Cerebellum Corporations.  While watching the video, students learned the difference between healthy and unhealthy choices as well as some of the dangers of using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.  When the video was over, the students took the posttest and we discussed the answers to the questions above.

After we discussed each statement, I posed the question "What is peer pressure?"  Students discussed this question in their groups,  In order to illustrate the concept of peer pressure, the students watched a clip from an episode of Full House in which Stephanie is offered a cigarette while in the 6th grade.  Students were asked to take note of the tactics the girls used to try to get Stephanie to smoke as well as the steps Stephanie took to get herself out of the situation.

We discussed the reasons why peer pressure works.  We discussed the fact that peer pressure does not only pertain to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.  Negative peer pressure occurs any time a peer tries to get you to do something that you do not want to do or that you know is not right such as calling someone a name, watching a movie you know you are not supposed to watch, playing a video game you know you are not supposed to play, etc.  We discussed effective strategies for dealing with peer pressure and students were given an opportunity to think about how they would deal with peer pressure in various situation.

Our lesson ended by discussing three of The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.  Students were encouraged to discuss today's lesson with their parents and ask them any questions they may have on the topic.  Students were also reminded that I am available to discuss any concerns they  have on the topic and were reminded how to make an appointment to meet with me.

Thank you for your support of the school counseling program.  I know this is a sensitive topic, but it is one we must teach our students about so they have the knowledge and the skills to make safe, healthy choices.

5th Grade - Red Ribbon Week Lesson 2015

Please read my previous post about the purpose of our Red Ribbon Week lessons before reading this post.

The lesson began by asking the students to discuss the following questions with their small groups of 3-4 students:

• What does it mean to be healthy?
• What are some things we should not do, things that would hurt the way we think and act?
• What might happen to someone who smokes?
• What might happen to someone who drinks beer or other alcoholic drinks?
• Do you know of any other drugs that might keep us from being healthy and taking care of ourselves?

After around 5 minutes, we discussed the students' thoughts on each of these questions as a large group.  Students viewed a picture of a smoker's lungs compared to the lungs of a non-smoker and we discussed the health risks associated with smoking.  Students also viewed a picture of a 15-year-old male brain who does not drink alcohol compared to a 15-year-old male brain who drinks alcohol.  We discussed the dangers of drinking alcohol, especially as it pertains to underage drinking.

Next, the students viewed a video entitled The Boy Who Was Swallowed by the Drug Monster.  The story was written by the mother of a man who started using drugs at the age of 8 to cope with issues going on in his life.  The video is in the format of a picture book being read to the students and they are able to see the dangerous effects the drugs had on the boy and how the drugs changed his life.  The video is a very powerful video marketed for students in grades 3-5 and it shows students how a person can become addicted to drugs even after trying it one time.

After the video, we discussed the reason why Vince began using drugs in the first place - his mom and dad had gotten a divorce and Vince did not know what to do to make himself feel better about the divorce.  We talked about the fact that there will be times in life where we just don't feel happy and we need to know what to do during these times to get through them without getting ourselves into trouble.

Our lesson ended by discussing three of The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.  Students were encouraged to discuss today's lesson with their parents and ask them any questions they may have on the topic.  Students were also reminded that I am available to discuss any concerns they  have on the topic and were reminded how to make an appointment to meet with me.

Thank you for your support of the school counseling program.  I know this is a sensitive topic, but it is one we must teach our students about so they have the knowledge and the skills to make safe, healthy choices.

Red Ribbon Week 2015

Dear Parents,

We hope that your child’s school year is off to a great start! We have already had some great lessons during counselor time that we hope will help prepare your child for certain social situations he/she may face. One of our upcoming lessons that we are required to teach by our state standards falls during the national Red Ribbon Week campaign.  This lesson occurs during the month of October and will focus on both healthy/unhealthy choices for our bodies and the dangers of drugs & alcohol.  These age-appropriate lessons will cover healthy versus unhealthy foods and other things, as well as drugs, medicines, and the difference between them.  We also will discuss that safe medicines should be given only by a trusted adult. They will also learn that alcohol is a danger for young bodies, so if they don’t know what it is, they should ask! As always, we look forward to working together to keep our children safe and informed so that they can continue making good choices throughout life!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Rachel Cox Osburn (K & 1^st Grade Counselor)

Rachel.cox@trussvillecityschools.com 205-228-3219

Mrs. Christy Naylor (2^nd & 3^rd Grade Counselor)

Christy.naylor@trussvillecityschools.com 205-228-3221

Mrs. Lauren Blake (4^th & 5^th Grade Counselor)

Lauren.blake@trussvillecityschools.com 205-228-3387

·         Alabama Counseling Standard: (K-12) Personal/Social Competency:

PS:C1.8- Learn about the emotional & physical dangers of substance use & abuse.

·         National Red Ribbon Week Information: http://redribbon.org/about/

4th Grade Bullying Unit, Lesson 1

This school year fourth grade students will participate in a unit of study on bullying when they come to counseling class each  month.  I am using lessons and videos from The Bully Proof Kit put out by Human Relations Media.  During the month of September, students participated in the first lesson of the unit called "Are You A Bully?"  The objectives for this lesson are listed below.

• Identify common bullying behaviors
• Better understand why some people resort to bullying
• Distinguish between teasing and bullying
• Determine the types of bullying we have occurring at our school and when/where this bullying is taking place
• Identify one thing we can start doing NOW to treat others better

The lesson began with the students completing a pre-test on bullying to assess how much they know about what makes a bully a bully.  Next, students watched a video from The Bully Proof Kit entitled "Are You A Bully?"  During the video, students witnessed kids their age going through situations including being teased, being left out, having a rumor spread about them, and being intimidated or threatened by other children.  After each video segment, we discussed what was taking place in each situation, why the bully was acting that way, and how the child being treated unkindly felt.  The students realized that many of us are guilty of displaying bullying behaviors and we do not even realize it!

After the video concluded, students worked in groups to write a definition of bullying.  They also worked with other students to identify what kinds of bullying we have going on at Paine Intermediate and when/where the bullying at our school usually takes place.  They recorded their thoughts on their handout and turned the handout in to me at the end of class.  I will use these handouts to identify bullying situations in our school and will share the results with school administrators so we can work together to combat any issues going on at Paine Intermediate.

 At the end of the lesson, all students were asked to answer the following question:  What is one thing you can start or stop doing today to treat others better?  I stressed the fact that all of us are not bullies, but we can all do something small each day to brighten someone's day and to make others feel valued.

The next lesson in our unit on bullying will be entitled "5 Ways to Stop A Bully".  This lesson will take place during the month of November.  In the meantime, if students feel that they are dealing with a bully, they should tell an adult immediately so we can help address the situation. I look forward to continue working with your children.  If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

5th Grade Lesson - Conflict Resolution

During the month of September, fifth graders participated in a lesson on conflict resolution.  Through class discussion and watching a video entitled Solving Conflicts with Teachers, Parents, and Peers (Human Relations Media, Inc.), we determined that conflict is normal and is not always a bad thing as long as we handle it appropriately. We discussed how poor communication leads to conflict and misunderstanding.  This includes the words we say but also our actions and body language as well.  We discussed guidelines for talking it out effectively and how to apply the "Rules of Fair Play" to conflict situations.  We also discussed the fact that we are responsible for our own actions and reactions.  This is Habit 1 from The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, Be Proactive!

Selected slides from the PowerPoint presentation I used for this lesson are pictured below.  It is my hope that students remember the conflict resolution skills we discussed in this lesson and begin to apply them in their daily interactions at school and at home.

What do you see in the picture above?  Some students saw two faces looking at each other whereas others saw a table, candlestick, and birdbath. 

What do you see in the second picture?  Some students saw a lady's face whereas others saw a man playing a saxophone.  In life, we see things differently, just as we saw different things in the pictures above.

The lesson reinforced the fact that we cannot solve conflicts when we are angry.  We discussed taking time to calm down and think before we try to solve a conflict.  We also talked a lot about the use of "I" statements.  Instead of telling someone everything they did wrong in the situation, rephrase what  you want to say and tell them how you feel or how it appeared to you.  For example, instead of saying "You are mean because you left me sitting all by myself in the courtyard", say "I felt left out when you went to play with her in the courtyard.  I felt alone and upset because I didn't have anyone to talk to."  By rephrasing our statements, we are not accusing the other person of anything and we allow the other person to really see how we feel.

Thank you in advance for reinforcing these conflict resolution skills with your children.  We will continue to work on conflict resolution here at school and help the students learn to apply these skills in their everyday lives.

August Counseling Lessons - 4th & 5th Grade Classes

Fourth and fifth grade students participated in their first counseling lesson of the school year this week. Swap classes came together to meet with me in the amphitheater for around 50 minutes to learn about me and my role as their school counselor. Fourth grade students listened to song clips to determine some times they might want to visit the school counselor.  Some of the song clips students listened to include Help! by the Beatles, Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, Mean by Taylor Swift, Bad Day by Daniel Powter, and Happy by Pharrell.

Fifth grade students completed a poster rotation activity to review my role as a school counselor as well as to review the bullying unit they completed last year.

   

 

After completing the rotations, we reviewed what they wrote on the posters and all students should have left with a clear understanding of my role as their school counselor, procedures for making an appointment with me, strategies to use to stop a bully, and procedures for reporting bullying at Paine Intermediate.

If you have any concerns about your child or feel like your child needs to meet with me, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime at lauren.blake@trussvillecityschools.com or (205) 228-3387.  I am looking forward to a wonderful year with your children!

Club Day Information

Our students at Paine Intermediate are excited about Club Day but parents might be asking themselves what in the world Club Day is!  Take a look at the pictures below from our PowerPoint presentation to learn more about this exciting opportunity for all of our students.

Information about Club Day was sent home and e-mailed to parents on Monday, August 24th. If your child misplaced his or her form, you can print another one from my website by clicking here.

Instructions for Entering Club Choices Online
Click on your child's grade level below to enter their Club Day choices online. Remember, students need to turn their Club Day Selection Forms in to their homeroom teachers signed by a parent by Thursday, August 27th.

Students will know what Club they are in by Tuesday, September 15th. If you have any questions, please let your child's teacher or Mrs. Blake know.

Explanation of Counseling Program 2015-2016

We are off to a great start here at Paine Intermediate!  My name is Lauren Blake and I am the 4^th and 5^th grade school guidance counselor.  I am excited to be your child’s counselor and look forward to working with the students in various settings this year.  Below you will find a summary of my role at Paine Intermediate and how I will be working with your child.

Whole Group Guidance Lessons – Fourth and fifth grade classes will join me in the amphitheater monthly where they will participate in lessons on such topics as character traits, feelings and emotions, peer relationships, friendships, study habits, career awareness, communication skills, and decision making.  The lessons are engaging, interactive, and informative and are meant to help students become more successful in all areas of their daily life.

Small Peer Groups – Throughout the school year, I will be conducting small groups on a variety of topics such as dealing with anger, school success, behavior/self-control, divorce, grief, and self-esteem.  With parent permission, these groups meet weekly for 6-8 sessions.  During this time, students have discussions and participate in a variety of activities to develop the skills and strategies needed to help them become more successful personally, socially, and academically.  Groups offered vary as it depends on the needs of the students at Paine Intermediate.  Teachers and parents may recommend students for these small groups.  In addition, students can choose to participate in a Lunch Bunch when available.  During a Lunch Bunch, groups of students eat lunch with the counselor and talk about things relevant to their lives including broad topics such as friendship, homework, conflict resolution, concerns they have about school, etc. These groups are more informal and do not require parent permission.  

One-on-One Counseling Appointments – I am available throughout the school day to meet with students on a one-on-one basis and discuss any concerns they may have.  Students may schedule an appointment with me by completing an Appointment Request Form.  These forms can be obtained from their classroom teacher or from the basket outside my office.  Parents may also contact me and request that I meet with their student using the contact information provided below.

A peek into my office space!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your 4^th or 5^th grader, please feel free to call me at 228-3387 or e-mail me at lauren.blake@trussvillecityschools.com.  I look forward to a great year!

Round Table Discussion on Social Media

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a round table discussion on social media hosted by the Junior League of Birmingham. We heard from five different people from the Birmingham area on this topic and gained some beneficial insight into social media and our children.

• 22% of adolescents and pre-adolescents log in to social media more than 25 times per day
• 50% of teenagers report sending a photo they regret via text or social media
• Social Media Disorders are diagnosed more and more each year due to the amount of time our children and society as a whole spend on social media.
• Facebook Depression/Instagram Depression are real. Our children are determining their self-worth through their interactions on social media.

Those are just a few tidbits of information I learned. Our intermediate-aged children are spending an increasing amount of time on electronic devices. We, as parents, must protect them from the dangers of the internet and social media just as much as we protect them from the dangers in the world around them. We will be putting together a series of parent seminars for next school year. One seminar will center around keeping your child safe online. In the meantime, you can check out these resources below to find out more on this topic.

• NetSmartz Workshop
• Common Sense Media
• Be Web Smart

5th Grade Visits HTMS

Today our current 5th graders took a field trip to HTMS as they prepare for their transition from elementary school to middle school. We started out together in the gym and listened to the amazing 6th grade band and show choir perform. Next, we broke into groups and toured the school. We saw the 6th grade hallway, lunchroom, gyms, band room, and several other areas of importance around the school. We saw the lockers and even got to practice putting in a combination on a few. We ended our trip with a Q and A session with Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Edwards, and Mr. Posey where these three administrators answered our questions from our lesson in March. Thank you HTMS for hosting us! Our students can't wait to become a part of your HTMS family!

Testing Tips

Our students will be engaged in the ACT Aspire over the next two weeks.  Our testing schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, 4/16 - ACT Aspire Math
• Friday, 4/17 - ACT Aspire Reading
• Monday, 4/20 - ACT Aspire Writing
• Tuesday, 4/21 - ACT Aspire Science (5th grade only)

Below is a list of testing tips we have reviewed with our students.

Thank you for your continued support of Paine Intermediate!

5th Grade - Middle School Transition Lesson

Middle school is just around the corner for our 5th graders!  We know our students are prepared academically for the next level, but we want to make sure they are prepared in every other area of their life as well. This lesson focuses on giving students a chance to express feelings they have about going to middle school, ask questions they have about middle school, identify strategies for being successful in middle school, and determine organizational strategies they can begin implementing NOW so they will be better prepared for middle school

We accomplish these goals in two ways. First, students watched a short video entitled Making the Most of Middle School.  In the video, students hear from high school students who talk to them about the do's and don'ts of middle school. The importance of balancing academics and social activities is addressed as well as the importance of being organized.

Second, students rotated around the room and worked with small groups of students to answer these four questions:

• What are you most excited about?
• What are you nervous or scared about?
• What questions do you have about middle school?
• How can you keep yourself organized in middle school?

 

At the end of the rotation, we discussed some of the things students were nervous or scared about as well as the things they were most excited about. We discussed organizational skills and the students completed an organizational self-assessment to see just how organized they currently are.  At the end of the lesson, students identified one thing they can start doing today to be better prepared for middle school. I challenged the students to really work on their organizational goal for the remainder of the school year so they will be ready for middle school in the fall.

At the end of the lesson, I collected the posters and will type up the students' responses. I will send the student-generated list of questions to the principal at HTMS for her to use as a guide when talking to the students on our middle school field trip on May 5th.

I know most of our students are excited about middle school but some are hesitant about the whole transition. If your student is worried or overly-anxious about going to the middle school, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to discuss their concerns and share some strategies with them for dealing with worry and anxiety.

4th Grade Lesson - Careers

What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question our children have been asked since they were toddlers, but it is time for our students to begin thinking seriously about this question. In just a few short years, our students will have the opportunity to choose classes directly related to their chosen college and career path. We want our students to be ready when that time comes!

The purpose of our 4th grade career lesson is to expose students to a variety of different careers and help students match various careers to their interests and abilities. We achieve these goals in two ways.  First, students complete an interest inventory in which they respond to 42 statements with either "yes" or "no". They tally their yeses in each category of the inventory and then receive a list of jobs that they might be interested in based on their totals in each category. Second, we play a Career Jeopardy game in which students learn about the educational requirements for a variety of jobs and learn more about the types of jobs out there. We are only able to explore a sampling of jobs so we encourage our students to explore further on their own.  We stress the fact that people are often happier with their career choice when they are interested in their job and can do their job well. We want our students to become happy, successful adults!

There are many resources out there to help your children explore careers. Below are just a few I have found that may be of interest to intermediate age students.

• Kids.Gov: A Safe Place to Learn and Play
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Kids Work

Ask your child about our lesson and about the career they are thinking of pursuing. Many of our students want to be professional athletes, singers, actors, and actresses. We encourage them to continue pursuing their dreams but to also have another plan just in case those careers don't pan out. It's never too early to prepare for the future!

Love Your Neighbor Food Drive

5th Grade Lesson - Self-Concept

Self-concept is our mental image of ourselves. In order to be a mentally healthy individual, we must have a healthy self-concept. Often people associate self-concept with girls, but it is just as important for boys to have positive thoughts and feelings about themselves.  This lesson focuses on examining our own self-concept and learning ways we can improve our self-esteem.

During this lesson, students used a Likert scale to anonymously respond to statements regarding self-concept using the app Socrative on the iPad.  For each statement below, students were asked to rank their feelings about the question as (A) agree (B) kind of agree (C) kind of disagree (D) disagree.

• If someone doesn’t agree with you, that means he or she doesn’t like you.
• If you don’t do something well, there is not point in doing it at all.
• To be happy, my friends must be happy with me.
• Without friends, I am nobody.
• Being liked is more important than being respected.
• If I get a failing grade, that means I’m a failure.
• If someone gets a better grade than I do, that means he or she is a better person.
• If my friends want me to do something then I should do it if I want them to be my friends.
• People who are good looking are happier than people who aren’t.
• If someone I care about is angry with me, it destroys my day.
• If I do something nice for someone, they will do something nice for me.
• The more popular someone is, the happier he or she is.

After all students in the class responded, we examined the overall responses and students were able to share their viewpoints on each statement. We discussed things we can control versus things we cannot control and how focusing on things we cannot control can damage our self-concept.  We also examined how the media affects the way we feel about ourselves.  We watched a video clip entitled "Dove Evolution" so students could see how Photoshop makes an ordinary person look extraordinary. We discussed the dangers of comparing ourselves to famous singers, actors, actresses, and athletes, because the images we often see of these people are not reality. We ended the lesson by sharing tips for improving self-esteem and having each student write down three things they like about themselves. By focusing on the positives about ourselves and on the things we can control in life, we can have a more positive self-concept and, in turn, achieve greater happiness.

To find our more about developing your child's self-esteem, visit KidsHealth.org.

4th Grade Bullying Unit, Lesson 3

During the month of January, 4th grade classes participated in the final lesson in our bullying unit called "Don't Stand By, Stand Up to a Bully!" This lesson focuses on what to do if you see bullying taking place.  The objectives for this lesson are as follows:

• Review what makes a bully a bully.
• Identify ways you can help stand up to a bully.
• Complete a pretest/posttest on standing up to a bully
• Watch “Don’t Stand By: Stand Up to a Bully” video and discuss
• Complete handout:  “Choose Your Words”  and “Being a Pal”
• Recognize times when friends may be bullies.
• Identify strategies for making new friends.

Through this lesson, students are encouraged not to stand by when another student is being mistreated. They are encouraged to stand up together and "fight back" with appropriate, research-proven strategies that are assertive but not aggressive. In addition, students have a chance to examine their friends in order to determine if they have a friendship that should be discontinued.

When students stand up together and do the right thing, even when no one is looking, they are leaders and can make a difference in the school community.