Weekly Teacher Download for Jan. 3, 2022

ALL TEACHERS

Academic Instructional Technology

Free access to Adobe Software

HISD is providing high school teachers and their students access to the most popular applications of Adobe Creative Cloud and the premium version of Adobe Spark, both at school and at home. HISD is providing elementary and middle school teachers access to the entire collection of Adobe Creative Cloud applications and their students with access to the premium version of Adobe Spark, both at school and at home. 

For Creative Cloud, once you’ve logged in, you can choose the apps you’d like to download. Please visit our website at: www.HoustonISD.org/Page/192234 for guides and tutorials. You can use Creative Suite in any browser. To access Spark, you can sign in through Clever or from your web browser. Go to www.spark.adobe.com. On the top right corner of the browser select “sign in.” This will bring up a new page. Select “log in with school account” on the right side of the page and enter your school email and password. For Adobe Spark, please visit our website at www.HoustonISD.org/Page/192202 for guides and tutorials. You can use Adobe Spark in any browser, including Chromebooks.

Social and Emotional Learning

Welcome back! We hope your break was restful. Please remember that two weeks away from school may not have been a joyous experience for our students, and some of our scholars may need a little extra grace and love. Please continue to work on your relationships, community circles, daily check-ins, and reteaching classroom expectations. Some students may need these reminders. Check-in with colleagues and share the SEL Teacher Resources here. Take care of yourself and each other. “Alone, we can do so little: together, we can do so much.”– Helen Keller

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

Elementary Math

See this flyer for 2022 January Math sessions and One Source course numbers. Share your experiences via twitter and tag @HISD_ElemMath #MathMatters.

Face-to-Face Math New Teacher Cohort (K-5): Join us from4-6 p.m. on Jan. 10 to meet, collaborate, and grow in a professional learning community that supports growth and development relating to classroom management and organization, mathematics best practices, and content strategies. Participants will engage in activities designed to provide ongoing, engaging, and reflective learning to help build capacity of new math teachers (1st – 3rd year).

Virtual HB3 Math Academies Grade 2 Building Content Capacity: Problem Solving Part 2: Join us from3:30-5:00 p.m., on Jan. 11 to delve deeper into grade-level specific concepts by exploring strategies that build conceptual thinking and teaching of mathematics.  Strengthen content knowledge and instructional delivery by exploring TEKS-specific strategies for upcoming mathematics concepts. 

Virtual HB3 Math Academies Grade 3 Building Math Content Capacity: Join us 3:30-5:00 p.m. on Jan 11 to delve deeper into grade-level specific concepts by exploring strategies that build conceptual thinking and teaching of mathematics.  Strengthen content knowledge and instructional delivery by exploring TEKS-specific strategies for upcoming mathematics concepts. 

Virtual Supporting RtI Math Students: Join us 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Jan 13 to explore intervention strategies and best practices to answer the question, “How do we respond when our RtI students don’t learn math?” Walk away with explicit routines and tools to integrate in the core classroom, as well as strategies for small-group instruction.

Kindergarten TX-KEA Assessment MOY Window: Jan. 10– Feb. 11 

Elementary Science

Grade 4 Houston Museum of Natural Science Field Experience: In partnership with the Houston Museum of Natural Science we will resume free field trips for Grade 4 students during the Spring 2022 semester. In person visits will begin Jan. 19, 2022. For campuses interested in opting in to the in-person experience, please click this link to confirm.

Spring 2022 Elementary Science Sessions: Sessions will be offered synchronously (facilitator-led) after school. To view spring science sessions, see this link. Share your experiences via twitter and tag @HISD_ElemSci.

Lead Teacher Collaborative: Join us 4-6 p.m. Jan. 25 or 26 at Alliant Group for a face-to-face Lead Teacher Collaborative session. Participants will learn trends outlined to district and state data, collaborate on best practices for increasing science outcomes, and plan for delivering learning to build campus capacity.  Session will be styled within a ToT model. Register for OneSource #1464090. 

Grade 5 Science Instructional Planning: Join us from 3:30-5:00 p.m. on Jan. 13, for Unit 11, the Sun, Earth, and Moon System & Cycle 4 Cumulative Project. Participants will leverage teacher-facing and student-facing resources to plan for the upcoming units of instruction and practice difficult concepts that are noted within data. Register in OneSource #1461118 (Teams meeting).

Grade 5 Elementary Science STAAR 2.0 Item Types: Join us 3:30-5:00 p.m. on Jan. 20, to learn about the new item types, implications for checking for understanding, and practice creating using Google slides. Register in OneSource #1464078 (Team meeting).

Virtual Learning Opportunities for Students and Families: Students and their families are encouraged to engage in hands-on, minds-on science investigations at home. The Houston Museum of Natural Science, in partnership with HISD Elementary Science Curriculum & Instruction, presents a series of videos and activities aligned to tough-to-teach standards in kindergarten through 5th grade. Click here to access these engaging resources. Additionally, Elementary Science Curriculum & Instruction has compiled a list of science activities and resources for students and families to explore at home. Click here for the Science at Home Symbaloo web mix.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Visit the HISD Career Readiness page here for all CTE bulletins. The next Teacher Service Day for CTE is Monday, Feb. 21, 2022.

Spotlight on CTE: To bring awareness to the district’s CTE programs of study and post-graduation opportunities, campus personnel are invited to showcase campus events, student work, and more. Please submit using the CTE Spotlight Form. Submissions will be highlighted on the Career Readiness website and social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube). Contact your campus’s designated senior CTE program specialist with any questions.