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!