Weekly Teacher Download for March 30, 2021

ALL TEACHERS

Social and Emotional Learning
Testing Tip: With STAAR testing in the near future, learners may be exhibiting signs of test anxiety. Efforts to help students build self-confidence must counteract daily academic struggles. Safe and Civil Schools states that one way to offset this effect is to reinforce with positive praise to capitalize on the student’s strengths. When working through difficult tasks, ask the student easy questions that they are certain to get correct. Reinforce by asking easier questions to build momentum and then ask the more challenging question to lend to a more positive learning environment, decrease frustration levels, and allow the learner to build confidence. See the HISD STAAR page for more information.

S.A.V.E. Promise Clubs

SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) Promise Clubs are a place for young people across the country to show their leadership, creativity, and passion for protecting their friends, schools, and communities from violence BEFORE it happens. A SAVE Promise Club can be a stand‐alone club or embedded into an existing club. SAVE Promise Clubs meet one to two times per month under the sponsorship of an adult advisor to plan activities and events that reinforce looking out for one another and preventing violence and self-harm. Click here to register your club or to learn more information. Please contact Kevin Jackson at  Kevin.Jackson@houstonisd.org with questions.

Career Readiness

When I Grow Up, the ninth annual career expo for HISD students in grades K-12, is going to be virtual this year. Set for 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 17, it features hands-on career exploration, summer job opportunities, raffles, prizes, and entertainment. See this flyer for more information.

Multilingual

Save the date! The third annual multilingual symposium, “The Blueprint: Engineering Foundations that Build Academic Language,” via Teams is set for June 25-26, 2021. The deadline to register is June 24, 2021. See this story for more information.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

Community Partnerships

HISD Community Partnerships and Target present Representation Matters, a career panel from 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. on April 1, 2021. Click Career Panel to join the event, which is an opportunity for high school students to learn about careers in the retail industry and specifically how a career with the Target Corporation can help them achieve their financial goals, make a difference in their communities, and plan their own professional journey. Students who attend will have opportunities to win prizes. During the panel, students will hear from Target team members (professionals from diverse backgrounds) who will share their personal stories. See this flyer for more information on Target team members who will participate. Students will also learn how these staff members are running multi-million-dollar stores, serving hundreds of thousands of people, and managing thousands of team members every day. The panel will include a live Q& A session.

Social and Emotional Learning

March 30-April 1, 2021, is Say Something Week at HISD. Please see this flyer for suggested activities to complete in the classroom or virtually via TEAMS. Resources include social media posts, a parent letter template, morning announcements, and posters for campus promotion. Sample week activities include a point of view PSA, how to identify trusted adults on campus, researching historical upstanders, and classroom lessons. Download the Say Something Educator’s Guide at this link. Empower students to “know the signs” and learn how to prevent violence in schools. Please email Kevin.Jackson@HoustonISD.org with questions.

Career and Technical Education
Attention all middle and high school CTE teachers, as well as CTE administrators: Please view the Weekly CTE Bulletin for the latest CTE updates, opportunity to submit CTE student highlights, CTE curriculum support, CTE certification and instructional support, professional learning opportunities, summer virtual professional development requests, teacher-led professional development requests, virtual programs, workshops, conferences, job opportunities for youth, youth resources, scholarship opportunities for high school seniors, career tips, and other CTE teacher resources. Sign in here using your credentials to visit the Career Readiness Course on the HUB for weekly announcements.

ELEMENTARY AND PRE-K TEACHERS

Elementary Curriculum and Development

Prekindergarten Evaluation/Survey: The department is working with the Department of Research and Accountability to evaluate the Prekindergarten Program. A PK teacher survey was developed to gather opinions concerning the current teaching model, the impact of blended learning on PK students, and the professional development provided by the department. All information will remain confidential. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete and can be found by clicking this survey link. Please complete the survey by March 31, 2021. The results will be used to inform decision-makers and identify ways to improve supports PK teachers and students. Contact Senior Research Specialist Georgia Graham at 713-556-7548 or georgia.graham@houstonisd.org with questions.

Houston Dynamo/Dash Soccer Starts at Home Program

Please see this story for information on free virtual early childhood classes through the Soccer Starts at Home Program. Parents can register at this link. These virtual classes support parents with the implementation of the program at home.