Weekly Teacher Download for September 21

ALL TEACHERS

2019-2020 TADS Summative Rating Acknowledgement: Returning HISD teachers who were appraised using TADS during the 2019-2020 school year must acknowledge their Summative Ratings in the former Feedback & Development Tool. The Student Performance component was waived for all teachers for the 2019-2020 school year, so there is no Student Performance closeout process. You can visit the TADS Toolbox SharePoint site to access a step-by-step guide on how to acknowledge your Summative Rating for last school year via the former Feedback & Development Tool. Click here to access the step-by-step guide directly. The Summative Ratings will be released on Sept. 21, and eligible teachers will have until Oct. 2 to opt into M-TADS.

Office of Special Populations: The Interventions Office will offer training on Sept. 24: “Goalbook: The One-Stop Shop for Educators.” The training will include research-based strategies, lesson planning ideas, academic and behavior interventions support, and progress monitoring tools all in one place. General and special educators, instructional specialists, department and grade-level chairs, this is the training that you need! Our Goalbook partner will provide information about how to use the tools and support in this resource to inform data-driven instruction that will positively impact student achievement. We will offer two sessions, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Register using OneSource (VIRT 1443652). Registered participants will receive the link to join Session 1 or Session 2. Should you have any questions, please contact the Director of Behavior Interventions and Support, Joan Anderson, at Jander13@HoustonISD.org or Behavior Interventions and Support IAT Manager Novelyn Watson-Robinson at nwatsonr@HoustonISD.org.

SEL Resources: The Let’s Stay Connected Mental Health Hotline provides emotional, social, and psychological supports to students and parents who feel the need for assistance and is available at 713-556-1340 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All callers may remain anonymous. Trained staff from the HISD Social and Emotional Learning department are available to offer counseling, mental health education, and make referrals in English and Spanish. Please also find downloadable resources at the Social Emotional department website for webinars and companion handouts. Visit the SEL Google Site for more information on training sessions.

Academic Instructional Technology: The Academic Instructional Technology department is here to provide support for you to be effective in the instructional use of technology in all types of classrooms. Our Educational Technology specialists give you strategies to integrate technology into your classrooms, share the latest information on effective opportunities for development, and troubleshoot integrating technology into classrooms. Our self-service section offers training on the HUB and Teams here, YouTube playlists of HUB Videos are here and Microsoft Teams Videos are here. Public training sessions by Microsoft are offered here and OnTrack Task Cards are offered here. We look forward to serving you! 

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Support: New teachers, are you interested in more support on developing your Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) in TADS? Join us for one of two webinars covering how to write an effective IPDP. An effective IPDP incorporates the language within the TADS Instructional Practice Rubric (IPR) and ensures you have a well-crafted, well-thought-out plan to effectively develop within specific focus criteria in TADS. If you are interested in joining one of our live webinar sessions via Microsoft Teams, please click on the Writing an Effective IPDP Live Webinar link to register for a session. There will be two sessions: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 4-5 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 24, 4-5 p.m.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

Career and Technical Education Q&A Open Lab: CTE middle school and CTE high school instructors can join Dr. Stacey Whitmore and Ms. Felicia Lara on Oct. 21 for a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Q&A Open Lab for Instructional Support. This is an opportunity for instructors to ask any questions they may have in areas of effective CTE instructional practices, and strategies to support student engagement and achievement. Questions on instructional support for CTE teachers might include asking about differentiated instruction, the use of technology, and the selection of learning and teaching resources.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department is offering several professional development training opportunities for middle and high school CTE teachers next month. On Oct. 7, the department will offer “Exploring Livestock Production-Human Nutrition & Health with Texas 4-H.” On Oct. 21, the training sessions offered include the following: “Promoting STEM with Drones,” “The HON-Code: Principles for CTE Website Evaluation,” “Basic Microsoft Office Skills,” and “Amplified Linguistic Supports (Special Populations).” These sessions are relevant for the technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare students for careers in current or emerging professions. Please register through OneSource Learning.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department is also offering professional development training to high school CTE teachers only on Sept. 28: “Expanding Learning Opportunities Through DiscoverU.” During this session, participants will receive an overview of DiscoverU and college-focused and career-focused educational experiences available to all HISD high school students. Upon completion of the course, educators will understand the process and have access to the resources necessary to connect students with high-quality, highly engaging Fantastic Learning Opportunities that align with academic goals and personal interests. CTE instructors, please register through OneSource Learning.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department will also offer another session on Sept. 28: “A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience (ASPIRE),” hosted by the MD Anderson Department of Behavioral Science. You do not want to miss this session! This is a virtual bilingual autonomous curriculum program that teaches students about the dangers of traditional nicotine products and others, such as e-cigs, hookah, and marijuana. Discussions will center around the dangers of vaping and nicotine products, introduce ASPIRE, and outline the benefits of implementing the program for CTE teachers and their students. CTE instructors, please register through OneSource Learning.