HISD’s Curriculum and Professional Support and Development departments will be conducting their first joint Adolescent Literacy Conference on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The conference will bring ELA, Reading, AP, Special Education, and ESL teachers together to experience engaging, practical reading and writing strategies.
Carol Jago, author of With Rigor for All, is the scheduled keynote speaker, and break-out sessions on topics such as technology, expository writing, and vocabulary will be led by HISD teachers, teacher development specialists, and members of the Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment team.
Breakfast will be provided. Teachers will also have the opportunity to browse instructional materials from several different vendors at a small vendor fair.
Registration must be completed via eTRAIN. Please use course code number: TT2726.
Joshua Martinez
Friday, Nov. 22 is the final day to enroll in HISD’s Supplemental Sick Leave Bank (SSLB) this year, but if you’re still on the fence as to whether or not to participate, just ask someone who has directly benefitted from the program.
Joshua Martinez, an instructional specialist at Janowski Elementary School, has used the leave bank on three different occasions over the past two years, and all three times it has enabled him to keep his family’s finances afloat.
“I’m very thankful for both the surgeries and the sick leave bank,” said Martinez. “There was no interruption of income, which gave my wife and me peace of mind. And since I’m sole bread winner of the family, it definitely would have hurt us (to be without it).”
The SSLB offers participants up to 30 additional paid leave days in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury, resulting in an extended absence from work. Eligible employees must agree to contribute one day of their earned Local Leave to the SSLB to participate.
“It’s a no brainer now,” said Martinez. “Sharing sick days with others is a very valuable concept, something very worthwhile to do.”
For details on the SSLB, please visit the Benefits website.
Leave comments below if you’d like to respond to this story. And if you’d like to share your experience with the SSLB, please send an email to info@houstonisd.org with the subject line “SSLB.”
Last year, HISD’s Office of Professional Support and Development (PSD) created a series of 20 videos for educators that explore best practices related to specific criteria in the district’s instructional rubric.
Now, that department has put the finishing touches on a new series of 15 videos that deal with the planning side of teaching. Each one identifies seven best practices in three areas: PL-1 (Develop Student Learning and Goals), PL-2 (Collect, Track, and Use Student Data), and PL-3 (Develop Effective Plans).
“First, we laid them out step-by-step in the Effective Practice documents associated with each area,” explained PSD Senior Manager Denise Martinez. “Then we developed the videos to actually show teachers how to do them.”
To see all of the videos in the series, please visit the Professional Support and Development website.
Dahirou Ndiaye asks students to tell him one "good thing" on the way into class to set a positive tone
Before his Pre-Calculus and AP Statistics students at Lee High School get down to the business of learning each day, math teacher Dahirou Ndiaye sets a positive tone in his classroom with an exercise he calls “good thing” that fosters a sense of connection among his pupils.
Students are asked to share something positive going on in their lives, whether it’s a recent birthday celebration, a relative’s new job, or a college acceptance letter they just received.
“The first time I asked students to raise their hands, I only had one person per class,” said Ndiaye. “But after a few weeks, I started to see more. It totally changes the atmosphere of the class right from the beginning to a very positive climate. And students who are shy or don’t usually speak out start to share as well. Now, if I try to start the lesson without ‘good thing,’ the kids remind me.”
Ndiaye has noticed other benefits to starting class with “good thing,” such as a marked improvement in students’ listening skills.
“Many students at Lee face several challenges in their lives,” said Ndiaye. “So I use ‘good thing’ to change the atmosphere of the classroom. Students are exposed to each other’s positive stories, and hopefully, they start to believe that they can also find good things in their lives.”
Students learn about papayas
HISD’s Food Services Department has received a grant and an Award for Excellence in Texas School Health from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
This annual, statewide recognition program is sponsored by the DSHS School Health Program and funded by the Texas Health Institute and the Texas Pediatric Society Foundation.
The department was recognized for its International Fruit & Veggie Festival, which took place in May 2013 at Golfcrest Elementary School. The festival was developed by Nutrition Education Dietitian Jennifer Griffin Lengyel to inspire life-long healthy habits in students.
The program gave students from pre-kindergarten through grade 4 the opportunity to learn about and sample fruits and vegetables grown across the globe. Over the course of two days, more than 600 students traveled “around the world” by visiting 11 booths representing 11 different countries. Each station highlighted a fruit or vegetable and also provided a physical activity for students. Lengyel is working to expand the festival to additional schools next spring.
Next Tuesday at 10 a.m., HISD’s Longfellow Elementary School (3617 Norris, 77025) will be announcing the results of its annual Hot Toy Survey, so be sure to check out the HISD website afterwards if you have young ones to shop for this year. The survey is conducted by fifth-graders each year, and is designed to prevent parents from making poor decisions when trying to figure out this season’s “must-have” toy or game. Here are some other dates you may want to mark on your calendar:
Here are some other dates you might want to mark on your calendar:
- Nov. 23: Asian American College & Career Day
- Nov. 23 & 24: Via Colori Street Festival
- Nov. 27-29: Thanksgiving holiday (.pdf)
- Dec. 3: New employee orientation
- Dec. 4 (.pdf): Payday
- Dec. 12: Regular Board meeting
- Dec. 18 (.pdf): Payday
- Dec. 20: Deadline for guaranteed first-round consideration of Magnet applications for 2014-15 school year
- Jan. 1 & 15 (.pdf): Payday
- Jan. 14-Feb. 2: Souper Bowl of Caring food drive
- Jan. 16: Regular Board meeting
- Jan. 17: MLK Oratory competition
- Jan. 20: Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
- Jan. 29 (.pdf): Payday
- Jan. 30: Fund for Teachers application deadline
Each year, H-E-B recognizes teachers, principals, schools, and districts for their efforts to teach the nation’s children through its Excellence in Education awards.
Now, the grocery chain has added another category to its roster of honorees: school boards.
If you would like a person or organization to be considered in any of these categories, please visit this page for details on the award categories available, and this page to nominate someone. A downloadable flyer (.pdf) is also available.
All public school districts and state-certified, full-time public school teachers and principals currently within the H-E-B service area are eligible for nomination.
Nominations are due by midnight on Dec. 8, 2013.
2012-2013 ASPIRE Award program estimates available Nov. 20
ASPIRE Award estimates were available as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Log on to the ASPIRE portal at http://bfk.me/Aspire to view your status.
All inquiries regarding award calculation must be formally submitted through the ASPIRE portal no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, and will not be considered after that time. Please note that formal inquiries will not be accepted by phone or email.
For complete details, including a list of FAQ, please see this related article.
Need $2,500 for College? Apply for Ruby Sue Clifton Scholarship by Feb. 28
A local credit union is offering students a chance to win one of five $2,500 scholarships for college.
The Ruby Sue Clifton Scholarship was created to honor an HISD administrator who retired after more than 30 years of service to the district. A middle school named after her opened in 1979.
To be eligible, students must be graduating seniors during the 2013–2014 school year and have at least one parent who has been a member of SMART Financial Credit Union (formerly First Educators) for more than six months.
The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. For details, including a downloadable application, visit the SMART Financial Credit Union website.
Traditionalists, Boomers, Generation X-ers and Millenials—your birth year helps to define the generation you represent, but what exactly distinguishes one from the other—and why does it matter?
The Onboarding and Organizational Development Department is offering a new professional development session to help employees understand the values that motivate and inspire each of the different generational groups so that they can better serve their customers, both internal and external.
“If Only They Were More Like Us” will take place from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St., 77092), and participants will learn more about:
- Distinguishing traits among the four generations
- Generationally defined differences in workplace values
- Exceptions to the “rules”
- How to bridge the gap in workplace interactions, with colleagues and supervisors
This session is designed to build interpersonal effectiveness skills.
Interested employees should register on eTRAIN using course code #OB0012 (oh, bee, zero, zero, one, two). A downloadable flyer (.pdf) is available.
HSPVA student joins chalk artists in transforming Houston’s streets into a gallery of art
In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, High School for the Performing and Visual Arts ninth-grader Michael Cortez talks about how he was selected to participate in Via Colori: The Street Painting Festival this weekend, what inspired the painting he plans to execute in chalk on a street near Houston’s City Hall, and why he thinks he might need knee pads. Fourteen area high school students will join some 200 artists in bringing asphalt to life at the eighth annual festival.
How were you selected to participate?
Michael Cortez
All of the ninth-graders in art class at my school were asked to turn in some small sketches. From those, they chose one and gave us some pastels so that we could do it in color. The color painting was submitted to The Center for Hearing and Speech, and mine was selected.
How is the Center for Hearing and Speech involved?
All the proceeds from the festival are donated to them. They teach deaf children to listen, speak, and read.
So you will execute your painting in chalk on the street. Have you ever done that before?
No, this is my first time to work with chalk, but pastels are similar. I am excited because this is my first professional art experience. Up to now, I mostly drew with pencil or ink on paper. We went to the Center for Hearing and Speech, and they gave us some chalk so that we could experiment in their parking lot. Then I took the leftover chalk home and used it up practicing on asphalt at my house.
What is the subject of your painting?
It’s a portrait of John Lennon with a peace sign, and in the background are all the colors of the rainbow.
Why did you pick John Lennon for your subject?
I have always liked the Beatles, because when I was little, my dad would play their albums and show me their album covers. The idea just popped into my head.
Do you still listen to the Beatles?
I did when I was little, but now I am more into contemporary music.
Have you ever been to the Via Colori street festival or even heard of it?
Detail of the design Michael plans to draw at Via Colori
No, but I am really excited about it. There will be music, food, and other activities besides watching the artists work on their art.
How large is the area you have to work on?
It’s six by six feet. I plan to transfer my pastel drawing to asphalt using a grid system. I will outline everything lightly with the chalk before I start filling it in.
Do you think it is going to be physically taxing?
Yes, because we are there for two days either sitting or kneeling on the ground. I think I should get some knee pads.
I know there is a contest for a few winners. How is that determined?
There’s going to be a tip bucket next to each artist, and people vote by donating money, which is given to the Center for Speech and Hearing. The artists who get the most money win prizes, which include two round-trip plane tickets, an iPad, and some other things.
What made you decide to attend HSPVA?
I have been drawing for a long time, and I really enjoy it, but I was surprised when I got accepted into the high school.
After the festival ends, all the artwork will be washed away. How do you feel about that?
For me, this experience is exciting and has helped me with my art, so I wouldn’t say that the washing away of my drawing makes me sad, but opens up new opportunities.
| If you know a graduate, student, employee, or other member of Team HISD who should be featured here, please email us at info@houstonisd.org. |
