Weekly Teacher Download for September 30
Nominate an Associate Teacher: Do you know an amazing Associate Teacher or Achieve 180 Dedicated Associate Teacher?The Office of Associate Teachers is pleased to announce the return of the Associate Teacher of the Month and Achieve 180 Dedicated Associate Teacher of the Month programs. Nominate an associate teacher who performs at an outstanding level, have a positive attitude and go above and beyond at our campuses. To nominate, click here.
ALL TEACHERS
Holiday Greeting Card Contest: HISD’s official holiday greeting card will again feature student artwork on its cover and the district is encouraging participation from all art teachers and/or faculty. All student finalists, including the winning designs chosen by Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan will receive recognition on the HISD website, a set of special HISD holiday cards, and are invited to a special reception hosted by Lathan on Friday, November 8. Each participating school should submit only ONE piece of artwork, along with a completed media release form no later than Friday, October 11 to Imelda Cedillo, Fine Arts Dept. located at Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18th St., 77092), Room 2NW08d. All art submissions will then be given to the schools’ respective Area Superintendents’ offices, which will go on to compete as finalists for the selection of the three winning designs no later than Friday, October 17. For more information on the contest and grading rubric, click here.
Pre-Kindergarten Progress Reports: Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 progress reports are now available on the Early Childhood (ECH) Prekindergarten 2019-2020 HUB course under the Progress Reports folder. Teachers with only 3-year-old students in their classrooms can use the PK3 Progress Reports. Teachers with a combination of 3-year-old and 4-year-old students can use the PK4 Progress Reports. Parents should be notified of the prekindergarten students’ progress using the Progress Report and it should be sent at the principal’s discretion.
Student Performance Guidebook: The 2019-2020 Student Performance Guidebook is now available on the TADS Toolbox. As you set student performance goals, the appendices in this document provide suggested starting points and goals for Student Progress Measures.
College and Career Readiness Month: The Office of Strategy & Innovation is excited to announce the return of HISD’s College & Career Readiness Month (CCR) starting October 1 to November 1. CCR Month is a fun, creative way to engage your students, introducing them to a variety of college and career options. This year’s theme is “Take Control: Explore. Design. Launch Your Future!” Each campus will receive a poster (both English and Spanish) to display in the front office. To generate student and staff excitement, elementary, middle, and high school campuses will have the opportunity to compete for prizes such as scholarships, college swag, and college tours. For more information about CCR Month, click here.
Half-Day Teacher Observation: Are you a new teacher looking to improve your teaching skills? With most people being visual learners, beginning teachers that need support developing instructional skills are invited to observe a highly effective teacher and participate in a facilitated group feedback discussion throughout the month of October. regarding the teaching strategies observed, unpacking the observable teacher actions that lead to student learning and/or behaviors. The Teacher Career Development Department will cover the cost of a substitute teacher for new teachers to participate. Elementary and Secondary options will be provided. For dates, location details and OneSource course numbers, click here.
Project Lead the Way School Grant (PLTW): PLTW partners with organizations across the U.S. to make school grant opportunities available for the implementation of new, or expansion of existing, PLTW programs. Campuses are asked to submit one application, which will be considered for multiple grant opportunities throughout the year. If interested, complete the online PLTW grant application through Grants in myPLTW. You should submit one application for each program at each school. For more information, click here. To maximize your chances of PLTW awarding a grant to your school, we strongly encourage interested schools to submit their applications by November 2019. If you have any questions, reach out to Rene Flores at rflore19@houstonisd.org.
ELEMENTARY
Education Rainbow Challenge: The Elementary Curriculum and Development Office will be hosting a Grades 3-5 Education Rainbow Challenge (ERC) Mathematics Competition on Saturday, November 16 at Northside High School (1101 Quitman St., 77009). During the rainbow challenge, teams of five students each participate in various events, including an individual math test, a team problem-solving task, and hands-on science experiments. Parents who attend participate in engagement sessions with lunch provided for students, teachers, and parents. The event concludes with an awards ceremony where both students and teachers win prizes and awards for obtaining high scores on the math test and problem-solving task. If your campus is interested, please submit interest form by October 11. For more information, click here.
Rider 78 Requirements: For compliance purposes, pre-k and PALS teachers should make sure to select one of the teacher qualification options before October 11. This information was discussed at our first lead teacher meeting and communication was sent on September 9. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your campus lead teacher.
SECONDARY
Districtwide Eighth-Grade Parent Night: Between October 28-November 8, all middle school campuses are expected to host an event to provide eighth-grade parents with information about college and career readiness resources, opportunities to receive college credit in high school, graduation requirements, and other related topics. Principals should designate a staff member to coordinate the event and provide that information here. The Office of Innovation and Postsecondary Programming will provide the principal’s designee with materials and training on the content to be covered at the event. They will also need to complete a training that will be held on October 10 at Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18th St., 77092), Room 1E01.
Upcoming CTE Trainings: The CTE department is hosting a variety of learning workshops including Jasper Active, Building a Positive Learning Environment, Bulb Digital Portfolios for Education, Gulf States Toyota, and Solid Works. Click here to see a full description of location, dates, and times. If interested, register today as space is limited.
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