Weekly Teacher Download for March 19

ALL TEACHERS

Volunteer Opportunity: Would you like to help students build their very own personal library? Join the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation at the My Home Library’s Big Awesome Book Sort on March 23-24 at Region 4 Education Service Center (7200 Northwest 100 Dr., Houston, 77092). My Home Library allows students to choose six free, brand-new books to build their very own home libraries. Teachers can volunteer one to three hours to help organize and package books for more than 4,000 children. Click here to sign-up and for shift information.

 Digital Literacy Moments Challenge: The Education Technology team invites students K-12 to work as teams to produce a 60-90 second digital animation and/or video, highlighting important tips about how to be safe online. “Digital Safety Moments” can be produced in any format, including live video, animation or a sequence of narrated images. Click here to view previous submissions and review possible topics.              Deadline for submissions is March 29 and should be sent to http://tinyurl.com/DigLitMoment.

Attendance Tip of the Week: It’s important to review the “Three Tiered System of Intervention,” which helps students with poor to chronic attendance. To familiarize or learn more about these strategies, click here.  Don’t hesitate to partner with other HISD departments such as Family and Community Empowerment, Social Emotional Learning, and Wraparound Services to help address the needs of students and families. Teachers may also contact the Student Assistance Department (Attendance Office) at 713-556-7017 or click here for more information.

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.

STAAR Writing Training: Are you a fourth-grade writing teacher getting your students ready for the STAAR Writing assessment? The Elementary Curriculum and Development Office invites you to attend a series of Wednesday afternoon sessions for a STAAR writing training at Ryan Professional Development Center on March 21 and March 28 from 4-6 p.m. Teachers may register in OneSource course number 976001. For more information on the training, click here.

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.

Dressing the Dream Extravaganza: Do you know a high school student needing help this prom season? Courtesy of Smahrt Girl Foundation, girls seeking a dress for a junior or senior prom have the opportunity to receive one at the fifth annual “Dressing the Dream Extravaganza” on Saturday, March 24 at Magpies and Peacocks (908 Live Oak St., Houston, 77004) from noon-4 p.m. Dresses will be distributed on a first come, first-served bases. In addition to the prom dress shopping, girls will also be able to receive free etiquette training, fashion and make-up tips, and learn about dating safety and responsibly. Students can register here. For more information on the event, click here.

AP World Languages Exam: Advanced Academics and World Languages encourages campuses to recruit actively for AP World Languages exams among heritage speakers of languages other than English, even if they are not currently enrolled in an AP course.  Advanced Academics will pay all fees for heritage speakers challenging AP World Languages exams in May 2018. Campus officials may reach out to World Languages at 713-556-6856 should they seek assistance with identifying appropriate students for recruitment. Questions about exam ordering should be directed to Advanced Academics at 713-556-6954.

STAAR PD Offerings: To further support the work of schools and increase student achievement, the Office of Secondary Curriculum and Development will continue to offer teacher training opportunities to review STAAR-Release test data and plan for lessons that target student needs. The department has also compiled an updated list of instructional materials, strategies, and high-yield standards to support STAAR end-of-course (EOC) preparation. The document linked here lists both district-developed EOC course materials and other freely available online instructional materials for EOC-tested courses. For dates and OneSource course numbers, click here.