Weekly Teacher Download for December 17

ALL TEACHERS

December Teacher of the Month: This month, the program recognizes English teacher Margaret Licea at Sam Houston Science, Math and Technology Center as December’s Teacher of the Month. Through a sponsorship with Group 1 Automotive VIP Services, HISD launched a new Teacher of the Month recognition program last year to honor the district’s hard-working teachers. Every month, an HISD teacher will be surprised and presented with a luxury loaner vehicle from a different Group 1 Automotive dealer.

Nominate a Science Teacher: In an effort to support the district’s goal to increase student achievement, the Elementary Curriculum & Development department has partnered with Alliantgroup to recognize the district’s most outstanding elementary science teachers. Five kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers will be selected to win a $1,250 cash prize each, as well as $500 for classroom material and supplies. An overall winner, will receive a $3,500 cash prize coupled with $500 for classroom materials and supplies. To nominate yourself or a teacher, click here.

Winter Reading for Students: HISD is encouraging students to join the Houston Public Library’s winter reading program for kids and teens. From December 15 through January 15, students are encouraged to read or be read to 20 minutes a day for 10 days. Students can read anything they like—books, comics, newspapers, magazine articles, blogs, web pages, and listen to an audiobook or have someone read to aloud. The Houston Public Library’s Readers’ Advisory staff can also create a personalized reading list. Registration and program attendance badges will be available for pickup beginning Sat., Dec. 15. For more information on the program, click here.

ELEMENTARY

Rodeo Activity/Coloring Contest: HISD has granted the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo permission to distribute activity coloring booklets to third grade students. The activity booklets will be delivered to schools the week of January 7 and reinforce the pillars of the 2019 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which are education, agriculture, western heritage and entertainment. Click here to view the guidelines. Entries must be mailed by February 1. If you have any questions, contact Lauren Faulkner at hlsractivitybooks@gmail.com.

SECONDARY

Achieve 3000 Access Program: Thanks to the Multilingual department, teachers can use the HUB to build their classroom ESL skills. The department has purchased the Access program option of the Achieve 3000 program for the 2018-2019 school year. The extra support will provide English learners differentiated instruction: one-on-one that features grade-appropriate content to each student’s individual reading level, with 12 levels in English and eight in Spanish. The software lowers the readability of expository text so that ELs can build fluency and comprehension reading skills with text that they can access at their independent reading level. As a student’s reading level progresses, the program increases the complexity to continue expanding each learners’ language development.

DLA Calibration and Scoring Support: Secondary ELA Curriculum and Development is offering a variety of supports and resources to assist teachers in effectively scoring Grade 7 and English I DLA writing compositions, and utilizing data to impact instruction. Several sessions will be held on December 18 and December 20 at HISD Education Learning Center (10725 Mesa Dr., 77078) and Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18^th St., 77092). For more information on the sessions, click here. For OneSource course numbers, click here. Writing toolkits are also available here.

Public Education Matters Audition: Do you know a charismatic high school senior? The HISD Foundation is requesting all high school seniors interested in emceeing the annual Public Education Matters Benefit Dinner on March 5, to submit an audition via the HUB. Deadline for all submissions is January 11, the submission video cannot exceed 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and meet all of the components listed here.  The selected student will be awarded a $2,500 scholarship. Prospective emcees will be judged on speaking ability, creativity, and personality.