Weekly Teacher Download for March 5

ALL TEACHERS

Important Staff Survey: It is extremely important that ALL HISD staff members click here to take a short survey by 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 6. Superintendent Carranza has been asked to provide the TEA with data on how the storm has impacted both students and staff homelessness over the past six months. The data will be used by the TEA in determining if HISD and our schools will be given a reprieve from the state accountability standards for the 2017-2018 school year.

Mental Health Awareness: The Department of Social and Emotional Learning will host mental health awareness, crisis intervention (course #422010), and youth mental health first-aid training (course #423001) for campus-based administrators, teachers, and staff. These trainings support HISD’s continued commitment to ensuring that the safety of our students and staff is our top priority. Click here for training dates and register in OneSource. For weekly tips and upcoming training schedules, click here.

Attendance Tip of the Week: With testing season quickly approaching, making contact with parents and guardians for missing students prior to testing day is crucial to student success. It’s important that campuses have a team that can quickly identify absent students for testing day. A few strategies your team could use include the following: checking parent/guardian contact information before test administration begins, confirming contact information in Chancery, or making contact with parent/guardian of absent students to inform them of testing day. You can also contact the Student Assistance Department (Attendance Office) at 713 556-7017 or click here for questions.

ELEMENTARY

Professional Development: The Elementary Curriculum and Development Office is pleased to offer a variety of professional learning opportunities for teachers during the month of March, including literacy training to support Literacy By 3. For more info, click the course list here.

National Read Aloud Month: Did you know March is Read Aloud Month? In celebration, the Elementary Curriculum and Development Office is encouraging teachers to utilize 15 minutes each day to engage with students using read aloud activities. Reading aloud for 15 minutes a day is critically important during a child’s earliest years of life, and the benefits of reading aloud through the elementary years has been shown to instill a love of reading. Teachers are encouraged to use this English and Spanish flyer as a resource to get parents and students engaged.

SECONDARY

Guided Reading Training: Want to learn how to teach reading to struggling middle school or high school students to read and not sure where to start? Uncover the mystery of the reading process and guided reading as a method for growing your secondary students as readers. The two-part series will be offered on select Tuesdays in the month of March at Hattie Mae White ESC. To find dates and OneSource course numbers, click here. If you have any questions, contact Kerry McArthur at kmcarthu@houstonisd.org.

History Day: Registration for HISD’s History Day is now open. As a reminder, the competition will take place on March 24 at Hattie Mae from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. If interested in participating, essays, websites, and documentaries will need to be submitted by March 9 here. Exhibits and performances will be judged the day of the event (March 24) at Hattie Mae White.

Project Prom: Do you know a high school student needing help this prom season? Project Prom is an initiative created to meet the needs of at-risk students during prom season. Students who are eligible to attend their proms but unable to afford a gown, shoes, and accessories, or a tuxedo, shirt, and bowtie will be provided these items completely FREE of charge. For more information on how to get your high school students to participate, click here. Click here to donate to Project Prom.