Weekly Teacher Download for December 3

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ALL TEACHERS

District Advisory Committee Voting: Cast your vote in the District Advisory Committee Elections until December 14. Following submission of all the nominees, a district ballot will be opened for electronic voting, via a secured HISD portal application. At the end of the voting window, nominees with the most votes will be notified of their election to the DAC. Campus-based professional employees have two votes: One vote is for a “Classroom Teacher” and one vote is for an “Other Campus-Level Professional”. School employees are eligible to vote only for a nominee from their particular grade level group. Cast your vote here.

National History Day: The Office of Advanced Academics is excited to support and coordinate the district’s 2019 National History Day (NHD) competition for grades K -12 on February 23, 2019 at Hattie Mae White.  The office is asking teachers to please consider providing teacher and/or peer feedback on NHD projects before the winter break, followed by class and school competitions being held at the end of January. As a reminder, registration for the district’s event will close on February 10. For additional details, please click here.

Tough Kid Training: Are you interested in learning new techniques to help your students exhibit appropriate student behavior? Social & Emotional Learning Department will be offering Tough Kid Training on December 11 at the East Field Office (1102 Telephone Rd., 77023). The Tough Kid training is focused on providing practical and proven strategies to help students manage their behavioral excesses and deficits, and learn appropriate behaviors. It is also a training that can empower staff members with simple and practical evidence-based practices that will help your school’s Tough Kids succeed. Register in OneSource, course #1004001.

ELEMENTARY

Writing Composition Party: The Elementary Reading Curriculum and Development will host a DLA Writing Composition Scoring Session for all fourth-grade ELA and SLA teachers on Tuesday, Dec. 18 and Wednesday, Dec. 19 at Kingdom Builders Center (6011 W. Orem Dr., 77085). We encourage our campuses to have teachers score each other’s compositions for unbiased feedback and a change in perspective. These scoring sessions will provide all our campuses with an organized way to get their compositions scored by someone outside of their campus. Register in One Source, course #1367001.

MetaPlay Coaching and Training: PALS Teachers are encouraged to attend a special coaching and training on the Meta-Play method on December 3-6. The Meta-Play method offers a play-based, systematic approach to fostering the development of imagination and related social and cognitive skills in young children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, and social and emotional disabilities. Register in OneSource, course #1337001.

SECONDARY

STAAR Prep: Are you interested in learning new strategies to help your students raise STAAR scores? You are invited to attend a STAAR Prep with Apex Learning course on January 18 at Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18^th St., 77092) from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Come learn strategies on how to raise STAAR scores, promotion rates, course pass rates and post-secondary readiness for students in grades ninth through twelfth. Participants will also learn how to use Apex Learning Tutorials to raise EOC STAAR scores by 21 percentile points. Register in OneSource, course #1348002

DREAM Summit: HISD is welcoming all Dreamers, DACA recipients, visa holders, permanent residents, refugees and asylum grantees and their parents to attend this year’s DREAM Summit on Saturday, Dec. 15 at Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18^th St., 77092) from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Those attending will learn how to successfully complete their college applications, apply for financial aid, and how to make the most of their college experience. The event is free and transportation is available from some high schools. For more information on the event, click here.