Weekly Teacher Download for December 7, 2020

ALL TEACHERS

SEL Thursday Trainings: Please check out the Thursday Trainings series on the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Department Google site. Sessions will cover topics such as Behavior Intervention Strategies, Classroom Management, De-Escalation, and Trauma Informed Practices, providing SEL strategies to support you and student learning. No pre-registration is required, and participants may click the session and time of their choice in real time. Please remember to check with your campus administrator regarding these trainings. While you are checking out this site, please also visit our SEL Relaxation Corner for helpful self-care exercises and the SEL Blog.

New Teachers: Each month, we will spotlight one of the Instructional Practice (IPR) criteria within TADS. This month’s IPR focus criterion is I-2 Checking for Student Understanding and Responds to Misunderstanding. Join us for a live webinar session where we will dive into effective practice strategies that will support your ability to:

• Check for understanding and accurately diagnose student misunderstanding at key moments during a lesson using a variety of methods.
• Adjust lesson to ensure student understanding in response to assessments during the lesson and without interrupting the flow of the lesson.
• Provide feedback throughout the lesson that affirms correctly understood content, clarifies misunderstood content, and extends student thinking.
• Provide students with opportunities to apply knowledge after misunderstood content has been clarified.
• Use clear systems and routines for assessing student understanding during the lesson.

A session will be offered via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. To register, please click here.

Group 1 Automotive: HISD has partnered with the Sterling McCall family of dealerships to offer HISD employees an exclusive Vehicle Buying Program with services designed to save you time and money at all Group 1 Automotive dealerships. Click here to learn more.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

Houston Gulf Coast Building and Construction Trades Council: The Apprenticeship Readiness Program (ARP) Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) offers the opportunity to transition into a Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship program and participate in an “EARN WHILE YOU LEARN” program (work 40+ hours a week and attend apprenticeship class one to two nights a week, earning college credits), including health care and pension benefits, at no cost to you. First-year apprentices will start earning $15 to $25 an hour, plus benefits, with scheduled pay raises every year.

iCEV Virtual CTE Professional Development Seminar: This event will be held Jan. 4-5, 2021. iCEV will host two days of complimentary professional development, and all CTE educators are invited to attend. Whether you are new to iCEV or already an iCEV super-user, this seminar will provide valuable implementation strategies, tools, and resources focused on preparing teachers to adjust to a changing educational landscape. iCEV is an approved HISD vendor. Repeat workshop sessions will be offered in multiple time slots to accommodate a variety of schedules.

National Geographic Educator Certification: This free professional development program recognizes formal and informal educators committed to inspiring the next generation of explorers, conservationists, and changemakers. Challenge yourself to teach about the world in innovative and interdisciplinary ways. You will collaborate with inspiring educators as you generate activities centered around real-world issues and implement them with your students. You will apply the National Geographic Learning Framework, a standards-aligned tool designed to foster an explorer’s mindset. During the course, you will contribute to discussions, write reflections, and develop a multimedia capstone project.

FIVE Network: The FIVE Network connects talented high school students to a team of five influential and caring mentors digitally through the FIVE mobile app. FIVE mentors help students to develop critical life skills, expand their professional networks, and serve as a positive and consistent presence in their lives for five years starting in the ninth grade. Our predictive technologies inform our powerful networks of mentors to teach, inspire, and recruit talent (future and current). We are only accepting students until the end of this calendar year. The deadline is Dec. 31. To learn more about the FIVE Network, contact Isabel Bolivar directly at 571-279-3532 or email isabel@thefivenetwork.com.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: Our December 2020 virtual training sessions for CTE instructors include Family Consumer Sciences, Understanding Dyslexia in CTE, and GRASPS in CTE. Please register through OneSource Learning to receive credit for self-paced courses. Additionally, view the CTE professional development calendar and the CTE December bulletin for a repository of upcoming self-paced courses, free webinars, free live events, discussion panels, conferences, and supplemental resources for teachers. Please also visit the HISD Career Readiness page on the HUB to find important CTE resources. For HISD OneSource courses, please reference the CTE audience on the calendar. For any OneSource course questions, please email Dr. Stacey Whitmore at SWHITMO1@HoustonISD.org.

Career Tip Tuesday: Teachers, please encourage your students to join our CTE career advisors every second and fourth Tuesday of the month for a mini lesson watch party to help prepare them for a career by learning from expert professionals and educators how to stand out from the crowd. Let them know so they can become competitive job applicants!