Weekly Teacher Download for March 9

ALL TEACHERS

Special Education Parent Summit: The Office of Special Education Services in collaboration with Dyslexia Services will host the OSES Spring Parent Summit on Saturday, April 25, 2020, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 West 18^th St., 77092). The theme of the summit is “Passport to Success: Supporting the Whole Child,” and will address topics such as dyslexia, behavior, transition, and social skills.  In addition, Autism will be highlighted as April is Autism Awareness month. A light breakfast will be provided as well as childcare services for parents to attend the session (Parents may identify needs during registration).  For more information and to register, click here.

Open Transfer Period: ​HISD’s annual Open Transfer Period will begin on Monday, April 20 and end at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 22.  Transfer requests will not be considered after May 22.During this period, eligible teachers and nurses are free to transfer between HISD campuses to fill open positions for the 2020-2021 school year.  Application guidelines and eligibility are forthcoming and will be posted on myHISD. If a contract employee decides to resign from the district, please remind them that the penalty-free deadline is July 10. If you have additional questions, please contact your Human Resources Business Partner.

Digital Literacy Moments Challenge: 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. For more information on the challenge, click here.

ELEMENTARY

Literacy X3 Reboot Day 2: In partnership with Scholastic, the Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Office will provide and facilitate Day 2 of a full-day training for the district’s Literacy X3 Reboot from March 10-May 7 at HISD Educational Learning Center (10725 Mesa Dr., 77078). All kindergarten through third-grade teachers will attend a day of professional learning centered around building a culture of independent reading and holding students accountable for grade level comprehension and vocabulary standards. Teachers will attend the professional learning sessions with their grade level band.  Schools may choose to stagger the teachers in attendance or send them on the same day in grade level teams for both rounds of professional learning. For more information, click here.

SECONDARY

HISD Summer Internship Now Open: HISD is currently accepting applications for its 2020 Summer Student Leadership Program, a six-week paid summer internship and leadership development program for HISD high school students and alumni currently enrolled in college. The program, which runs from June8-July 16 will select 65 students to complete an internship in various departments under the mentorship of district leaders. Applications must be submitted by Friday, May 8, 2020. The application process requires students to complete two steps, outlined at www.HoustonISD.org/Intern.

Civil Knowledge and Action project: Through a collaboration with DoSomething.org, The Council of Great City Schools and College Board are excited to announce the Civic Knowledge and Action Project for schools that offer AP U.S. Government and Politics and AP with WE Service. The project aims to help students participate in the real-world application of their course content by leading voter registration drives in their schools and promoting census participation in their communities. For more information, click here.

CTE Professional development: The CTE Department is offering the following training, “Soar High with Drones” on March 26. For more information on the trainings and OneSource course numbers, click here.

Call for CTE presenters: Do you have a best practice you would like to share with your peers?  Are you interested in leading a professional development? We’d love for CTE teachers to consider sharing what you are teaching and show how you’re preparing students for certifications, employment and beyond. Also, this helps empower peer collaboration by creating space and time for authentic planning and collaboration. To submit your request, click here.  

College and Career Readiness Survey: As part of the efforts to better assist students as they transition into life after high school, a districtwide survey will be administered to seniors through a course on the HUB entitled “College and Career Readiness Survey”. The information gathered in the survey will assist the College Readiness Department and will be used in an evaluation of the program by the Department of Research and Accountability. Each senior in the district will be placed in this course and assigned the survey as a task, which should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. All surveys should be completed by March 27.