Weekly Teacher Download for August 27

NEW TEACHERS

New Teacher Tech Pathways:  New Teacher Technology Pathways training (NTTP) is available to new teachers in the district, and includes essential educational technology skills needed for a digital classroom.  Training sessions will be held at Hattie Mae White in room 2C07 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Register for the next class on September 5 in OneSource, course #1184006.

ALL TEACHERS

Teacher Appraisal and Development System: On Thursday, June 7, the Leadership and Teacher Development department hosted a Teacher Think-Tank at Waltrip High School. This was an opportunity for teachers to provide initial feedback on potential enhancements to the Teacher Appraisal and Development System. This survey was developed based on teacher input at this session. We value your feedback and ask you to complete the survey by Sept. 7, 2018.

Welcome Back Technology Checklist: Before you get to work in your classrooms, please take a few moments to review these technology tips.

Houston STEM College and Career Fair: Students and educators are invited to the STEM College and Career Fair on Sunday, Sept. 30 at Bayou City Event Center (9401 Knight Rd., Houston, 77045). The fair is a forum for colleges and universities to share STEM-related educational opportunities with prospective students and their parents. Representatives from industry, professional associations/societies and non-profit organizations will also be in attendance to educate students and parents on STEM-related career opportunities. For more information, email collegefairs@nacacnet.org or call (703) 299-6824.

Pop-Up PD: ​The HISD EdTech team is offering two sessions of PopUp PowerUp on September 26 and October 24 to any PowerUp teachers who would like to brush up on their skills.  Choice topics will include advanced tips in Microsoft Office 365, Google Basics, and other fun tools and apps to use with students in the classroom.  Interested teachers can register in OneSource, course #1134001.

Socioeconomic Form: The district will provide free breakfast and lunch to students at no charge for the 2018-2019 school year, but parents will need to fill out a new form to ensure Title I funding for HISD schools. While parents will not need to complete and return a free and reduced-price meal application, they will need to complete the socioeconomic form, known as the blue form. Please encourage parents to complete and return the blue form by Friday, October 26, which is the district’s PEIMS snapshot date.

SECONDARY

Take your students to Mars: Are you interested in bringing Mars to your campus? The Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab is coming to HISD middle schools this school year. In order to schedule an explorer lab visit to your school, teachers must participate in one, six-hour professional development session (a $175 stipend will be provided, plus lunch). The three-part explorer lab program includes an immersive learning experience onboard the explorer lab and classroom engagement and extension in engineering design. The explorer lab program is designed to connect to the sixth-grade Science TEKS curriculum. For more information and to register, click here.

Secondary Literacy Updates: Secondary Curriculum and Development is offering several online resources to teachers of all content areas. Teachers can click here for the full list of OneSource course numbers and access to online platforms such as Achieve 3000, Vocabulary.com, Scholastic Magazines, comprehension toolkits, and Read to Achieve.