In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Manager Angela Miller talks about why she put off retirement, the joy of working with teachers, and the prestigious award she received last year.
So what exactly does a secondary social studies curriculum manager do?
Angela Miller
I go out to the schools and work directly with teachers. I also write grants. I have written four Teaching American History Grants for a total of $6.5 million. Thanks to a grant, we were able to take a group of teachers to Boston for training this past summer. My grant-writing keeps me connected to teachers. There are two things that are critical for a curriculum manager: 1) never stop writing and 2) stay connected to teachers.
I hear you received an award for your work earlier this year. What was it?
I was named Supervisor of the Year by the Texas Social Studies Supervisors Association. It is a great honor.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
My connection with teachers brings me joy. They bring me ideas; they tell me what they need and what their students need. I work with social studies teachers across the district, improving their access to content and instructional strategies. Teachers are the content intellectuals in the classroom.
You planned to retire last year. Why did you change your mind?
I had just turned 65, and I had planned to retire in December of 2012. In the fall of 2012, however, I was asked to serve on the PowerUp Committee. The opportunity to be part of this exciting new initiative (which gives every HISD high school student a laptop) was just too exciting to pass up. When The Rice School opened in 1994, I was there teaching Texas history, and Hewlett Packard donated all these computers to the school. Suddenly, I had 30 computers in my classroom. Facing those machines, I felt so lost – I had no idea how to use them to teach. Now I feel called upon to make sure the PowerUp teachers don’t feel that way.
What is it about PowerUp that appeals to you?
The concept intrigues me. I want to help integrate this great tool into the classroom, so that students have access to quality information – it’s a whole new mindset. They are no longer limited by the four walls of the classroom; they will have access to global resources and can take control of their own learning. I want to help show teachers and students what is possible.
How is PowerUp going to help students be more successful?
First of all, I don’t ever want the computer to replace the teacher. We are working with instructional technology specialists to rewrite the curriculum in a way that uses the laptops to make lesson plans more interesting and productive. Now students can continue their work at home more easily.
How will PowerUp help history teachers specifically?
You can’t just teach dates and dead people – you have to put the “story” in “history.” The only finite thing in teaching is the actual time you have in the classroom. With laptops, you can expand the learning time outside of school. They say that school is a place where students come to watch teachers work, but I believe that school should be a place where teachers watch students work.
Do you think you will continue to work for the district?
I am going to wait and see how it goes. As long as I look forward to coming to work every day, I might as well stay.
| 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. |
The people have spoken and the choice is clear: chocolate candies still reign supreme among employees who took our Halloween-based survey on Oct. 18.
More than half of all respondents said that as children, their favorite “treat” to receive in a Halloween goodie bag involved some form of chocolate, whether it was nut-based (35%), plain (21%) or caramel-based (7%).
Other popular candies included tart/sour candy, gummy treats, bubble gum, and one seasonal staple we forgot entirely: candy corn.
A number of survey-takers also remembered receiving undesirable “treats” in their goodie bags—such as potato chips, dental floss, or fruit—but the hands-down winner for the lamest thing anyone ever received was a half-eaten chicken bone (really?!).
Also, if you’re one of the 42% of respondents from last week’s survey who said they’d be handing out candy this year, please make a note for next year if you distributed any of the following items on Thursday night. The top votes in the “what never to give” category went to: dental floss (43%), followed closely by loose change (33%) and sugar-free candy (21%).
If you are right-handed, would you practice writing with your left hand to improve your handwriting? Of course not!
Over time, we develop innate talents—we perform them naturally, without thinking about it. And now, the Onboarding and Organizational Development Department is offering a new professional development session to help employees play up those abilities to become stronger members of Team HISD.
“MVP: Capitalizing on Strengths to Become a More Valuable (Team) Player” will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St., 77092), and during this course, participants will learn how to:
- Focus on their strengths, rather than their short-comings, to make meaningful strides toward being a stronger contributor and interacting more effectively on their team.
- Tap into the talents that define their natural strengths and use them to complement their teammates’ strengths.
- Become a more valuable team player by doing what they already do best.
This session is designed to build professional competency in the area of interpersonal effectiveness and people and team development.
To register, please visit: http://hisd-mvp.eventbrite.com. A downloadable flyer (.pdf) is here.
Revere MS Principal Hafedh Azaiez (right) plays the part of a disinterested student at a recent training exercise to let teachers practice techniques they have learned through Practice Perfect.
Most people have engaged in practice at some point in their lives. Maybe they were learning how to play the violin or how to throw a curve ball. But then, at some point, the practice disappeared.
Dan Heath, coauthor of Made to Stick and Switch, argues that the need to practice never disappears; instead, pride, fear, and complacency—all enemies of practice—whisper to us that we are good enough.
In his new book, Practice Perfect, author and educator Doug Lemov explores the principles of practice and details “42 rules for getting better at getting better.” For HISD schools in the Teach Like a Champion (TLAC) pilot program, these rules have improved how they approach professional development and the implementation of TLAC techniques campuswide.
Professional development for teachers used to consist of reading, learning, and sometimes reflecting about a new idea or concept. But Lemov found that for teachers to get over the “get it/do it” gap, professional development had to involve more.
The TLAC schools use a model that includes technique review, video analysis, planning, practice, and feedback components. Teachers at these schools have the opportunity to practice new techniques in a safe, fun environment before “going live” in front of their students.
At first, teachers thought that if they were asked to practice something, it was because they were doing something wrong. Lemov said this “reveals our collective prejudice that practice is only for the novice or the struggling practitioner.” But by using rules from Practice Perfect, teacher leaders were able to overcome this initial resistance and get teachers practicing.
The schools in the TLAC Pilot Program, in partnership with HISD’s Professional Support and Development Department and Doug Lemov, are working to spread the message, “To practice isn’t to declare I’m bad. To practice is to declare, I can be better.”
| Had a breakthrough in your classroom? Tell us about it! Just send an email to info@houstonisd.org briefly describing your situation, and we could feature it here. |
HISD’s Alternative Certification Program will be offering teachers an opportunity to obtain their school counseling certification through a two-year, State-approved, cohort-based program.
“In light of recent legislation, there is a demand for highly effective school counselors, and the HISD Counselor ACP aims to recruit, train, and certify individuals who are ready to work as school counselors in a large urban setting,” said Natalie Rubio, director of HISD’s Alternative Certification Program.
Teachers with a completed master’s degree who earned at least a 2.75 GPA and have a valid teaching certificate and two or three years of successful teaching experience are eligible to participate in the program.
Interested candidates can find out more information about the HISD ACP Counseling Certification Program by viewing the webinar posted here and/or by attending the next information session on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 2C05 of the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St., 77092).
Info session about online degree programs Nov. 5
A number of universities now offer fully online degree and certification programs through Academic Partnerships, including five within the State of Texas.
To learn more about each one’s offerings, as well as which programs may qualify for up to $8,000 in TEACH grant funds, please visit the websites noted above.
Lamar University will also be hosting an information session at the Chimney Rock Service Center (5827 Chimney Rock, Suite 2200, Conf. Room A, 77081) on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013.
Masters programs available include: Educational Administration, Educational Technology Leadership, School Counseling, Teacher Leadership (four concentration areas), and Special Ed (two concentration areas). Certificate programs focus on LPC Counseling, GT, Autism and Special Ed. The bachelors program is for Applied Arts and Sciences and General Studies.
An info session on the masters programs and certifications will start at 4 p.m., while the session on bachelor degrees will begin at 4:30.
To RSVP to this session, please send an email to Rhonda.Jordan@apdegrees.com
Visit this site for additional information or to apply online.
First HISD Night Out at the Rockets Nov. 1
Employees can get tickets to all three of these games at a discount, and everyone who purchases tickets through this special offer will get to shoot a free throw on the Rockets’ home court immediately after the game.
For details, please see this flyer (pdf).
Nominate Someone for an H-E-B Excellence in Education Award
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. Check out this page for details on award categories available, and this page to nominate someone.
Deadline is midnight on Dec. 8, 2013.
HISD’s Green Schools Initiative was honored on Oct. 28 at the 29th Annual Mayor’s Proud Partners Luncheon for its commitment to building healthy and sustainable schools.
The school district as a whole received the J. Howard Rambin III Founder’s Award for its efforts to improve the city through projects that help beautify and transform Houston, and Wilson Montessori received a Proud Partner Award in recognition of the school’s new SPARK Park, which features a new playing field, a rubberized track and a dry creek bed to provide space for hands-on learning.
Read the full story here.
Congratulations also go out this week to:
- HISD’s supplier diversity team, which was honored by The Greater Houston Business Procurement Forum with a merit and outstanding community service award during a breakfast event Oct. 22 in celebration of Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week. You can read that full story here.
| If you know someone who should be featured in Accolades, please email us at info@houstonisd.org and tell us why. |
Karen Adams
When Karen Adams first began teaching art back in 1978, the New York Yankees had just won the World Series, the summer hit musical Grease was still playing in movie theaters, and musician Billy Joel was filling the airwaves with a series of hits from his award-winning album, 52nd Street.
Adams, a distinguished artist in her own right whose work was most recently featured in an exhibit at the Art Institute of Houston, taught students at all levels before finding her niche at Booker T. Washington High School in 2001.
“I always knew that I would be an art teacher,” said Adams. “My mom was an art major at Texas Southern University who taught in HISD for 40 or 50 years, and my paternal grandmother taught math at Wheatley.”
Adams says she enjoys teaching older students most, because “some of them already have that talent and they know it, so they can take a lot of criticism. I can push them a little more and get more out of them in high school.”
Many of Adams’ students have gone on to become successful artists themselves, including Donald G. Terry, a talented illustrator who later became one of the country’s top five financial advisors (as rated by Texas Monthly).
Adams officially marked her 35th anniversary with the district on Nov. 1, but several other employees are also marking theirs this week (Oct. 27–Nov. 2). See if you know anyone on this list:
25 years
- Opal Walker, attendant, Food Services
- Leticia Moreno, teacher, Braeburn ES
20 years
- Lekeitha Moody, student information representative, Bellaire HS
- Alfonso Barbosa, sergeant, Police Department
15 years
- Vickie Park, plant operator, Construction & Facility Services
- Samuel Braziel, student information representative, Gregg ES
- Mark Miertschin, plumber, Construction & Facility Services
- Carolyn Booker, bus driver, Transportation Services
- Darline Alexander, plant operator, Construction & Facility Services
10 years
- Debra Thompson, teaching assistant, Bellaire HS
- Andres Flores, senior plant operator, Construction & Facility Services
- Doris Elaine Davis, attendant, Food Services
- April Marie Marks, attendant, Food Services
- Diann Wrather, associate teacher
- Roxana Cormier, crossing guard, Braeburn ES
- Lois Jean Thomas, crossing guard, Peck ES
- Dramichael Henson, maintenance repairer, Construction & Facility Services
- Rosa Sosa, attendant, Food Services
- Zoila Vargas, teaching assistant, J. R. Harris ES
- Miguel Perez, warehouser, Food Services
- Blanca Gonzalez, teacher, Park Place ES
- Emilio Gomez, teacher, Anderson ES
5 years
- William Jenkins Jr, Apollo 20 tutor, Fondren MS
- Don Hilber, analyst, Human Resource Operations
- Uzma Butt, attendant, Food Services
- Marquita Brooks, associate teacher
- James Williams, crossing guard, Montgomery ES
- Shantray Demerson, secretary, Attucks MS
- Ceisly Delco, assistant, HR Business Partners
- Timesa Perry, teacher, HSLECJ
- Manuel Obregon, teacher, Valley West ES
- Celina Alvayeros, teacher, Kelso ES
- Rhonda Freedman, counselor, Sam Houston MSTC
- Maria Reyes, attendant, Food Services
- Arethia Winters, attendant, Food Services
- Whitney Wright, associate teacher
- Basilia Balderas, custodian, Construction & Facility Services
- Evelin Granados, custodian, Construction & Facility Services
- Austin Rogers, teacher, Long Academy
- LaTonya Bryant, teacher, Hartman MS
- Don Hernandez, manager, UIL Co-Curricular Activities
| Check back next Friday for more November Milestones. Leave a comment below if you’d like to congratulate any of the above employees. |
Q: Can a teacher be appraised the day before the STAAR test?
A: According to the 2013-2014 board-approved teacher appraisal calendar, the district restricts formal observations or walkthroughs on any day outside the appraisal period, on the instructional day prior to or during the administration of standardized test (e.g. TAKS or STAAR), and on the last instructional day before or immediately after the Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, or Spring Break.
However, the restriction only applies to those teachers directly involved in the specific testing, and teachers are expected to resume classroom instruction once testing has ended for the day.
Still have questions on this topic? Please contact Human Capital Accountability at 713-556-6903.
| If you have a question for Ask HISD, please send an email to AskHISD@houstonisd.org. |
