14 September 2007  - scroll down for Parent Meeting Notice

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Ms. Blakeslee's school notes. My goal is to update them quarterly, although I know more often would be appreciated by you.  I try to facilitate inquiry learning in my classes and so many times, the direction that each class takes is a response to the students' interests and energy. 

An introductory letter, my weekly teaching schedule and a blank progress report has been sent home via your student. I will post them on here as well. (You do not need to return any of these forms.) If you have any questions, please contact me.

Here is an outline of how we spend our time together. There is some overlap between the fourth and fifth grades, so please pardon the repetition.

outline of class schedule

warm-up with logic grids (4th) and visual puzzles (5th)

housekeeping - checking homework, reviewing jobs, collecting signed sheets

math - factors, number sense (4th) and graphing data (5th)

humanities - The Odyssey & Greek mythology (4th) and Huckleberry Finn & Mark Twain (5th)

conclude - reflections, homework assignment

INFORMATION MEETING FOR PARENTS - prior to Open House

 The parents meetings are prior to your child's Open House:

4th grade - Tuesday September 18 at 5:30 in Ms. Blakeslee's classroom C112

5th grade - Thursday September 20 at 5:30 in Ms. Blakeslee's classroom C112.

Hope to meet you soon at the meeting,

Ms. Blakeslee

 Introductory parent letter:

28 August 2007

Dear Parents,

Greetings! I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and is excited about starting a new year in Mark Twain’s Vanguard Gifted & Talented Program.

Mark Twain offers a weekly pull-out program. This year, the schedule is for 5^th grade to attend on Monday/Tuesdays and 4^th grade on Thursday/Fridays. Please check the attached schedule for your child’s classroom teacher to find the specific day and time. As always, we will start the second week of school and will miss Monday, Sept 3^rd due to the Labor Day holiday.

In the two and half hours that your child and I spend together, we work in the four core areas, integrating math, social studies, science, and language arts. My classes and lessons are organized around a Central Idea or focused area of study. After the first month or so, the individual classes begin to go in different directions, within the parameters of the Central Idea. I set up a structure within which they can play – that’s why we call it Serious Play.

My goal is for students to get to know their own questions, and then be able to frame them so that they can be pursued, know how to verify information and explore more questions. I feel it is my responsibility to challenge the students in a risk-free, caring and respectful environment.  

Communicating with parents is a priority at Mark Twain. A G/T parent meeting will be scheduled early this semester for more in-depth explanation of the program and student expectations. A student progress report, which is attached, will be sent home with the student quarterly. Also, my school notes will be updated quarterly as well. You can access them at www.schoolnotes.com/77025/blakeslee.html. If you would like a conference, it is best to contact me beforehand to make sure I’m available. My school email is kblakesl@houstonisd.org.    

This is my 14^th year teaching and my 11^th at Mark Twain. Since 2002, I have been the GT teacher for the 4^th & 5^th grade students. I received my B.A. from State University of New York and my M.A. from Columbia University.  I was awarded a Fulbright-Hayes teaching scholarship in 2004 visiting Turkey and Cypress. This summer I taught teachers in Sri Lanka through IB Projects in coordination with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Child Development.  

The other hat I wear here is the IB Primary Years Program coordinator. As an IB trainer and authorization team member, I am sometimes away from campus visiting or training other IB schools. We try to limit these visits to one or two a semester.

I’m looking forward to learning a lot this year from my students!

Regards,

Kathleen Blakeslee

 weekly teaching schedule:

Vanguard GT Schedule 2007-08

4^th & 5^th grades / Ms. Blakeslee - room C112

5^th grade

Monday: 11:35–12:30 & 1:00–3:00   

Mrs. Mitchell

Tuesday morning: 8:15 – 10:50

Ms. Zamarippa-Hicks and Ms. Webster

Tuesday: 11:35 – 12:15 & 1:00 – 3:00

Ms. Gilboa and Ms. Johnson

4^th grade

Thursday: 8:15 – 9:55 & 10:40 – 12 noon

Ms. Nieto and Ms. Marroquin

Thursday: 12:35 – 3:00      Ms. Rawson

Friday: 8:15 – 9:55 & 10:40 – 12 noon

Ms. Carter and Ms. Clark

Only supplies needed are:

·      packet of lined paper

·      sense of humor

·        plenty of compassion