HISD | Employee News: HISD’s news for district employees

ALL TEACHERS

Teacher Service Day: The next Teacher Service Day (no students) is on Tuesday, Nov. 3. There will be no virtual or in-person classes for students on Tuesday, Nov. 3, which is Election Day. Nov. 3 is now a student holiday and virtual staff professional development day. The student holiday and staff professional development day scheduled on Wednesday, February 24 has been changed to Nov. 3. All students and staff should report to school as normal on Feb. 24.

The professional development catalog is posted on the HISD eLearning website. For any questions on courses, email the department course contact or PSD@HoustonISD.org.

Campus administrators and teachers may choose from the following three options for staff professional development:

• District pre-approved staff development
• Campus or other staff development approved by their area superintendent
• Comp day for teachers or campus administrators who have accumulated the required number of staff development hours as approved by their manager. Refer to HoustonISD.org/eLearning for an optional form that teachers can use to submit staff development hours for COMP requests.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): “Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.” Research shows that SEL competencies are important for success in school and life. Please refer to the updated CASEL Framework. Visit the Rethink Ed HISD page, the SEL Google site, and the SEL Blog for more resources.

Career and Technical Education (CTE): MS-ISAC has launched the 2020-2021 Kids Safe Online Poster Contest! Each year, K-12 students from across the country submit pieces of artwork that cover topics such as being safe online, online security practices, cyberbullying, and how to be a good digital citizen. Public, private, and home-schooled students in grades K-12 are all invited to participate! The contest will run from September 25, 2020 – January 22, 2021. The winners of the contest will be recognized nationally for National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). The contest entry form is available here, under Bring Security Home.

ALL TEACHERS

Teacher Service Days:The next Teacher Service Day (no students) is on Wednesday, Oct. 21. This is a virtual professional development day. The Oct. 21 professional development catalog is posted on the HISD eLearning website and will be updated with any new courses offered. The final catalog will be posted on Monday, Oct. 19. Pre-registration is required. Register for courses in OneSourceMe Learning through Tuesday, Oct. 20. Courses are available for administrators and teachers throughout the day as full-day, half-day, or quarter-day sessions. For any questions, contact your campus administrator or PSD@HoustonISD.org.

Additionally, there will be no virtual or in-person classes for students on Tuesday, Nov. 3, which is Election Day. Nov. 3 is now a student holiday and virtual staff professional development day. The student holiday and staff professional development day scheduled on Wednesday, February 24 has been changed to Nov. 3. All students and staff should report to school as normal on Feb. 24.

Campus administrators and teachers may choose from the following three options for staff professional development:

• District pre-approved staff development
• Campus or other staff development approved by their area superintendent
• Comp day for teachers or campus administrators who have accumulated the required number of staff development hours as approved by their manager (Only applicable to the Nov. 3 staff development day).

Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS): Teachers, it’s time to reflect on your individual students and set realistic and ambitious goals for them within TADS. By now your appraiser has set your measures in the new AIM Portal. Now it’s your turn to set goals for your students within the AIM Portal. While this process is done in collaboration with your appraiser, please take a moment to check out the TADS Toolbox under Student Performance to access a number of resources to guide you through the student performance goal-setting process. Within the TADS Toolbox, you will find navigational guides on how to log into the AIM Portal and acknowledge your measures, as well as set goals for your students. You will also find the 2020-21 Student Performance Guidebook.

TADS Calendar Update: Due to adjustments made in the 2020-21 academic calendar, the annual TADS calendar has also been modified. Dates have been adjusted to provide additional time to complete TADS appraisal activities. Please access a copy of the revised 2020-21 board-approved TADS calendar in the TADS Toolbox. Additionally, to support teacher transitions from virtual to in-person learning, a 10- working-day grace period has been applied when a teacher transitions from virtual to in-person learning. During this grace period, no formal observations or formal walk-throughs are permitted.

Aspiring Program Specialist and Aspiring Department Chair Cohorts: The Office of Special Education Services (OSES) is currently seeking special education (SPED) teachers and other instructional professionals with a SPED certification to apply for the Aspiring Program Specialist and Aspiring Department Chair Cohorts. The purpose of the aspiring cohorts is to develop a pool of potential SPED leaders to provide timely and relevant instructional support and services to campus leaders, special education teachers, staff, and other stakeholders who serve students with disabilities. Interested applicants may access the applications online via the HISD Careers link – Business Professionals>Special Education Cohort. For more information regarding the timeline, application criteria, and frequently asked questions, click here. The cohorts are scheduled to begin on Nov. 16 with an orientation, mixer session. For questions related to the Aspiring Cohorts of Special Education Leaders (A.C.S.E.L.), please contact Carolyn Henry via Microsoft Teams or Cattani Frye via Microsoft Teams or email at cattani.frye@HoustonISD.org.

National Bullying Prevention Month: The SEL Department is participating in National Bullying Prevention Month to help keep all HISD students safe from bullying. The week of Oct. 19 is designated as HISD Bullying Prevention Week, in conjunction with the Sandy Hook Promise “Start with Hello” campaign to raise awareness of a growing social isolation epidemic. Please encourage your students (and parents) to help raise awareness around bullying incidents. The HISD Bullying Prevention Week provides daily activities to increase awareness and reduce incidents virtually and in-person. This toolkit contains activities that students and staff can complete to participate.

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

Sanford Harmony Training: For your professional development in social emotional learning, please check out the Social Emotional Learning Department Google site for the Sanford Harmony Training. Sanford Harmony is a social emotional learning program for pre-K-6 grade students designed to foster intergender communication and understanding, connection, and community both in and outside the classroom and develop boys and girls into compassionate and caring adults. As always, please consult with your campus administrator before attending any professional development. To join the course, click here.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: Please view our upcoming virtual training sessions for CTE instructors on Oct. 21. You must register through OneSource to receive credit. The Microsoft Teams links to join the sessions are included in the confirmation email after registering and are embedded on the PD calendar. If you have any session questions, please contact Dr. Stacey Whitmore, Manager by email at SWHITMO1@HoustonISD.org.

• Amplified Linguistic Supports
• The HON-Code: Principles of CTE Website Evaluation
• Promoting STEM with Drones
• CTE Open Lab for Instructional Support (Q&A)
• Process to ASE Certifying a Campus Automotive Shop (Q&A)
• Virtual Mentorship Opportunity with Five Network
• Basic Microsoft Office Skills
• Sheltered Instruction from Beginning to End in the CTE Classroom

ALL TEACHERS

Teacher Service Days:The next Teacher Service Day (no students) is on Wednesday, Oct. 21. This is a virtual professional development day. The Oct. 21 professional development catalog is posted on the HISD eLearning website and will be updated with any new courses offered. The final catalog will be posted on Monday, Oct. 19. Pre-registration is required. Register for courses in OneSourceMe Learning through Tuesday, Oct. 20. Courses are available for administrators and teachers throughout the day as full-day, half-day, or quarter-day sessions. For any questions, contact your campus administrator or PSD@HoustonISD.org.

Additionally, there will be no virtual or in-person classes for students on Tuesday, Nov. 3, which is Election Day. Nov. 3 is now a student holiday and virtual staff professional development day. The student holiday and staff professional development day now scheduled for Nov. 3 replaces the previously scheduled date of Wednesday, Feb. 24. All students and staff should report to school as normal on Feb. 24.

Campus administrators and teachers may choose from the following three options for staff professional development:

• District pre-approved staff development
• Campus or other staff development approved by their area superintendent
• Comp day for teachers or campus administrators who have accumulated the required number of staff development hours as approved by their manager (Only applicable to the Nov. 3 staff development day).

Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS): Teachers, it’s time to reflect on your individual students and set realistic and ambitious goals for them within TADS. By now your appraiser has set your measures in the new AIM Portal. Now it’s your turn to set goals for your students within the AIM Portal. While this process is done in collaboration with your appraiser, please take a moment to check out the TADS Toolbox under Student Performance to access a number of resources to guide you through the student performance goal-setting process. Within the TADS Toolbox, you will find navigational guides on how to log into the AIM Portal and acknowledge your measures, as well as set goals for your students. You will also find the 2020-21 Student Performance Guidebook.

TADS Calendar Update: Due to adjustments made in the 2020-21 academic calendar, the annual TADS calendar has also been modified. Dates have been adjusted to provide additional time to complete TADS appraisal activities. Please access a copy of the revised 2020-21 board-approved TADS calendar in the TADS Toolbox. Additionally, to support teacher transitions from virtual to in-person learning, a 10- working-day grace period has been applied when a teacher transitions from virtual to in-person learning. During this grace period, no formal observations or formal walk-throughs are permitted.

Social Emotional Learning Department: Teachers, you have risen to the challenge of supporting students’ academic and social-emotional learning goals from a distance. Soon, you will welcome many students back to school after months of learning from home. The new Social and Emotional blog is geared toward helping you continue to stay strong during a time when you are juggling multiple demands. We hope to fill your figurative “bucket” so you can keep doing the same for our students. Please check out our blog for ideas on how to support yourselves and your students and keep the learning “going” for all of us. View the SEL blog.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): The national organization has been a leader in the work of social-emotional learning since 1994. CASEL is a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL supports educators and policy leaders and enhances the experiences and outcomes for all PreK-12 students. The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Department follows the CASEL Core SEL Competencies, on which all SEL training is based. Please find pre-recorded and upcoming training sessions to support integrating SEL into your classroom on our Social Emotional Learning Department Google Training Site.

New Teachers: Each month, we will spotlight one of the Instructional Practice (IPR) criteria within TADS. This month’s IPR focus criterion is I-6 Communicating Content and Concepts. Join us for a live webinar session where we will dive into effective practice strategies that will support your ability to:

• Explain concepts and skills clearly and coherently.
• Convey accurate content to students.
• Emphasize key points needed to master lesson objectives.
• Use technology to support language acquisition.

Two sessions will be offered via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 5 to 6 p.m. To register, please click here.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

Say Something Guide: During October, HISD recognizes the Say Something initiative. The educator’s guide is free for all teachers to use and provides a flexible curriculum of lesson plans that are differentiated by grade level to engage students in interactive activities that deepen understanding of the three Say Something steps, as well as provide students ways to integrate Say Something into their school’s culture. All lesson plans are aligned with the social and emotional learning competencies developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

Amplified Linguistic Supports: The Career Readiness Department is offering morning and afternoon sessions on Oct. 21 titled “Amplified Linguistic Supports.”Participants will learn why we should implement supports and how to implement amplified linguistic supports in the CTE classroom. We will also briefly discuss strategies to support ESL and English Learners during remote learning. This session is for CTE instructors who only teach ESL/English Learners and other special populations.

The HON-Code: The Career Readiness Department is offering a session on Oct. 21, 9-10 a.m.: “The HON-Code: Principles of CTE Website Evaluation.” Participants will learn techniques and tools to help students evaluate CTE information online. The engaging and interactive presentation will focus on the eight principles of the HON-code (Health on the Net), which can be applied to all CTE fields to teach students how to find and use reliable and trustworthy information online. Participants will learn HON-code principles and be able to apply the concepts in CTE classrooms to improve students’ critical thinking and website evaluation skills. This session is for Health Science and other interested CTE instructors.

Promoting STEM with Drones: The Career Readiness Department is offering a professional development session on Oct. 21, from 10 to 11 a.m.: “Promoting STEM with Drones.” This session is for all CTE middle school instructors and CTE high school instructors, STEM instructors, and technology instructors. Participants will understand the necessity of drones in the STEM field and how to engage high school students. Industries include First Person View (FPV) navigation, media coverage, programming, and surveying. Our drone competition incorporates all the industries that drone technology provides while getting students involved in STEM learning.

Basic Microsoft Skills: The Career Readiness Department is offering a professional development training session on Oct. 21, from 2 to 3 p.m.: “Basic Microsoft Office Skills.”During this session, participants will learn basic Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) skills. Participants will also learn how to integrate these platforms into their daily routines. This session is for CTE middle school instructors and CTE high school instructors.

Sheltered Instruction from Beginning to End in the CTE Classroom: The Career Readiness Department is offering a professional development session on Oct. 21 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.: “Sheltered Instruction from Beginning to End in the CTE Classroom,” hosted by the Multilingual Department. Participants will explore and interact with instructional strategies that support conceptual understanding and academic language development in the CTE classroom. Participants will leave ready to implement language-development activities that reinforce an interactive class environment with their ESL/EL students. This session is for CTE middle school instructors and CTE high school instructors who teach ESL and English Learners.

Project-Based Learning (PBL): We will host an eDynamic Learning Project-Based Learning professional development session, invitation-only for CTE instructors who teach a Project-Based Learning class. This is designed to support teachers applying PBL to any curriculum in their classroom. Session topics will include the benefits of PBL and ideas that integrate digital tools; PBL strategies that foster students’ thinking, teach technology skills, scaffold project planning, and facilitate project presentations; how to develop project rubrics and provide meaningful feedback; and planning project-based lessons. HISD will have access to the EDL Workplace Internship & Readiness course to demonstrate connecting project-based planning and teaching to a curriculum.

CTE PGP Trainings: Each of the three sessions has a specific audience, including only the campus counselor or administrator submitted by the principal to be the PGP designee for the 2020-2021 school year and everyone with scheduling access in SIS or PowerSchool (principals, deans, assistant principals, registrars, counselors, and special education chairs).

Devising Your Certification Plan: During the two “Devising Your Certification Plan” sessions, CTE administrators will learn about the purposes and processes for developing a campus certification plan for CTE programs of study. Industry-based certifications are valuable in multiple CTE career clusters. Please join us to discuss and think about your 2020-2021 CTE certification plan. Look at a model plan as guidance. There will be a Q&A period toward the end of these sessions.

Virtual Mentorship Opportunity with Five Network: The Career Readiness Department is offering a professional development session on Oct. 21 from 1 to 2 p.m.:, “Virtual Mentorship Opportunity with Five Network.” See how FIVE Network connects talented ninth-graders to a team of VIP mentors and motivational learning content via their free mobile app. During the course of a five-year program, VIP mentors will connect students with top companies and other professionals to help meet their career and life goals. See how mentees earn points and prizes, engage in virtual events, panels, and are provided with the tools and opportunities to become leaders in future careers.

ALL TEACHERS

Leadership Summit: HISD will host this virtual fall mini-conference on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Leadership Summit will be centered around the districtwide Professional Learning Communities that support our continuous innovation and improvement for campus success. Leaders will hear from others in our community through a combination of live speaker series, professional development learning sessions, and live modeling of the virtual and traditional learning best practices. Blended learning is here to stay, and we are capitalizing on the opportunity to highlight the great leaders and collaborative partners within our midst! Register to attend via Microsoft Teams.

HISD Connect: If you have not received training for the new gradebook system, register today using OneSource. If you have already received training, find additional resources in the HISD Solution Center, including Grade Book Solutions, the Teacher Quick Access Guide, Creating Assignments, Traditional Grade Calculations, Entering Grades/Scoring, and Modifying Grades. View additional information, including PD Plus (recommended courses from PowerSchool). Online recordings of the training sessions are located in OneSource and available 24/7 (Elementary-1443649, Secondary-1443411).

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP): New teachers, as the deadline for completing and submitting your IPDP in TADS quickly approaches, you will meet with your appraiser to develop a goal-setting plan for the school year. All teachers participate in a Goal-Setting Conference with their appraiser during October. Join us for a live webinar session on how to prepare for your first conference with your appraiser and learn more about what to expect. If you are interested in joining one of our live webinar sessions via Microsoft Teams, please click on the Preparing for the Goal Setting Conference in TADS link to register. There will be two sessions to choose from: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5-6 p.m. or Wednesday, Oct. 7, 5-6 p.m.

Social Emotional Learning Department: Please visit our Social Emotional Learning Department website for resources such as pre-recorded webinars, teacher resources, behavior resources, and parent resources. Webinar topics include Engagement Strategies for the Virtual Classroom, Managing COVID Stress for Teachers, Coping Strategies, and Incorporating SEL at Home. These resources may also be shared with your parents. Click here to access the Rethink Ed self-care series and lesson plans. Visit the Rethink Ed HISD page and the SEL Google site for more resources.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

CTE Professional Development Opportunity: CTE is offering a session on Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.: “Exploring Livestock Production, Human Nutrition, and Health with Texas 4-H.” Participants will experience the award-winning “Quality Counts” curriculum. This learning experience takes students through the livestock production process and fosters the ethical raising of youth livestock projects, building connections between animal agriculture and a healthy lifestyle. Participants will discover resources and lessons within the Texas 4-H Food and Nutrition Explore Guides. This is for CTE instructors teaching Ag Animal Science, (Livestock Production), Character Development, Ag (Food Science and Technology), Health Science (Exercise Science and Wellness), Hospitality (Culinary Arts), and Human Services (Health & Wellness); Family and Community Services.

CTE Welding Instructor Opportunity: The Career Readiness department is offering a Cengage Learning session for welding instructors, “Mind Tap for Welding.” This will be a virtual meeting via Microsoft Teams on Oct. 8, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. This is for high school welding instructors only.

Career and Technical Education (CTE): MS-ISAC has launched the 2020-2021 Kids Safe Online Poster Contest! Each year, K-12 students from across the country submit pieces of artwork that cover topics such as being safe online, online security practices, cyberbullying, and how to be a good digital citizen. Public, private, and home-schooled students in grades K-12 are all invited to participate! The contest will run from September 25, 2020 – January 22, 2021. The winners of the contest will be recognized nationally in acknowledgment of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). The contest entry form is available here, under Bring Security Home, to help guide your efforts.

Career and Technical Education (CTE): CTE instructors who certify students in MOS have biweekly access to Keith German, CCI Learning. He will be available for CTE teachers biweekly via Microsoft Teams for those who have Jasperactive questions, concerns, etc. CTE teachers are added to the calendar as optional, and it will be recurring. Contact Keith German at kgerman@ccilearning.com. To “book” a separate call session, generally 5-20 minutes, visit his online calendar page. To create a technical support ticket, visit the Jasperactive Support page and select Submit a Ticket (preferred), email help@jasperactive.com, or call 888-882-8635.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) Minecraft Cohort: The Career Readiness department is hosting a two-day cohort, “Minecraft: Education Edition Cohort,” led by Program Manager James Wigfall. This cohort is for teachers who are new to the Minecraft: Education Edition or need a refresher on the basics. This will be held Oct. 8-9. Both sessions will start at 9 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. You must register through OneSource Learning. The virtual course number is 1442193.

Career and Technical Education (CTE): Please view our upcoming Career and Technical Education Professional Development Calendar for October 2020 learning opportunities. These sessions are all virtual and planned for Career and Technical Education instructors. You must register through OneSource to receive credit. The Microsoft Teams links to join the sessions are on the calendar. Should you have any training questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Stacey Whitmore, CTE Manager at SWHITMO1@HoustonISD.org.

ALL TEACHERS

Teacher Service Day: The first Teacher Service Day (no students) for 2020-2021 is today. September 28 is a district-based professional development day. Teachers are expected to report to work and participate in development. This is not deemed a compensation day. Refer to the HISD eLearning website for the course list and course numbers. Pre-registration is required for all courses. Courses are available for administrators and teachers throughout the day as full-day, half-day, or quarter-day sessions.

Mindfulness Activities: The American Psychology Association states, “Mindfulness meditation can improve both mental and physical health.” Please consider building your Mindfulness program with the following meditation activities and exercises. These mindfulness activities can help energize, renew, and fuel your body. Click here to watch the Understanding Mindfulness presentation from the Social Emotional Learning summer series webinar. Click here to access Mindfulness Exercise videos with an SEL department manager. Click here to access the Rethink Ed self-care series and lesson plans. Visit the Rethink Ed HISD page and the SEL Google site for more resources.

Communicable Disease Plan: In May 2020, HISD established a Communicable Disease Plan Task Force — a working group made up of key employees, educators, parents, community members, and healthcare officials. The 72-member task force was charged with reviewing guidance from local, state, and federal health and education officials, as well as feedback from HISD parent and teacher surveys, to identify ways HISD could return students and teachers to classrooms and employees to office workspaces while following public health guidelines and mitigating transmission of communicable diseases. Click here to review the plan’s recommendations, procedures, protocol, challenges, and needs.

HISD Connect: If you have not received training for the new gradebook system, register today using OneSource. If you have already received training, find additional resources in the HISD Solution Center, including Grade Book Solutions, the Teacher Quick Access Guide, Creating Assignments, Traditional Grade Calculations, Entering Grades/Scoring, and Modifying Grades. View additional information, including PD Plus (recommended courses from PowerSchool). Online recordings of the training sessions are located in OneSource and available 24/7 (Elementary-1443649, Secondary-1443411).

SECONDARY TEACHERS

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department is also offering professional development training to high school CTE teachers only on Sept. 28: “Expanding Learning Opportunities Through DiscoverU.” During this session, participants will receive an overview of DiscoverU and college-focused and career-focused educational experiences available to all HISD high school students. Upon completion of the course, educators will understand the process and have access to the resources necessary to connect students with high-quality, highly engaging Fantastic Learning Opportunities that align with academic goals and personal interests. CTE instructors, please register through OneSource Learning.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department will also offer another session on Sept. 28: “A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience (ASPIRE),” hosted by the MD Anderson Department of Behavioral Science. You do not want to miss this session! This is a virtual bilingual autonomous curriculum program that teaches students about the dangers of traditional nicotine products and others, such as e-cigs, hookah, and marijuana. Discussions will center around the dangers of vaping and nicotine products, introduce ASPIRE, and outline the benefits of implementing the program for CTE teachers and their students. CTE instructors, please register through OneSource Learning.

CTE Virtual Employability Skills and 30-Second Commercial: Workforce Solutions worked and collaborated diligently to present CTE teachers with a remote presentation on the Definition of a Virtual Interview, Virtual Interview Tips, Career Pathways, 30-Second Commercial, CAR Statement, and Entitlement Creed. This presentation shows how a job interview leverages video technology to allow the discussion to take place remotely. Rather than meeting face-to-face, the hiring manager and candidate can connect online using video software. This information is for high school CTE teachers who teach employability skills to make high school students “employable,” able to apply skills to almost any job in any industry. View a completed 30-Second Commercial handout.

CTE Teacher Instructions for Updating Laptops/Adobe Creative Cloud Click here to learn how to update student laptops to prepare them to receive the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop application. Learn how to download the Creative Cloud Desktop App from the Software Center and how to perform a force update of a PowerUp Laptop’s Policies and Software Center. Once the Adobe Creative Cloud app is installed, students do not have to be on the district network to install other Adobe applications such as Photoshop, Premiere, InDesign, etc. Students can download and install any Adobe program from the Creative Cloud Desktop as long as they have access to the internet.

CTE GRAD Advising & Programming: GRAD advising and programming are available to anyone of any age interested in planning for college or career training, including one-on-one support, group workshops, and webinars. Click here to schedule a virtual appointment or visit our website for information. Grad advisors are available to answer questions and assist you with college planning. Services are entirely free. Schedule an online advising session today. Learn more about the upcoming virtual Petrochemical Industry Careers workshop, which is presented in partnership with the Shell College and Career Talent Development Program. Industry experts will be available to answer your questions.

ALL TEACHERS

2019-2020 TADS Summative Rating Acknowledgement: Returning HISD teachers who were appraised using TADS during the 2019-2020 school year must acknowledge their Summative Ratings in the former Feedback & Development Tool. The Student Performance component was waived for all teachers for the 2019-2020 school year, so there is no Student Performance closeout process. You can visit the TADS Toolbox SharePoint site to access a step-by-step guide on how to acknowledge your Summative Rating for last school year via the former Feedback & Development Tool. Click here to access the step-by-step guide directly. The Summative Ratings will be released on Sept. 21, and eligible teachers will have until Oct. 2 to opt into M-TADS.

Office of Special Populations: The Interventions Office will offer training on Sept. 24: “Goalbook: The One-Stop Shop for Educators.” The training will include research-based strategies, lesson planning ideas, academic and behavior interventions support, and progress monitoring tools all in one place. General and special educators, instructional specialists, department and grade-level chairs, this is the training that you need! Our Goalbook partner will provide information about how to use the tools and support in this resource to inform data-driven instruction that will positively impact student achievement. We will offer two sessions, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Register using OneSource (VIRT 1443652). Registered participants will receive the link to join Session 1 or Session 2. Should you have any questions, please contact the Director of Behavior Interventions and Support, Joan Anderson, at Jander13@HoustonISD.org or Behavior Interventions and Support IAT Manager Novelyn Watson-Robinson at nwatsonr@HoustonISD.org.

SEL Resources: The Let’s Stay Connected Mental Health Hotline provides emotional, social, and psychological supports to students and parents who feel the need for assistance and is available at 713-556-1340 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All callers may remain anonymous. Trained staff from the HISD Social and Emotional Learning department are available to offer counseling, mental health education, and make referrals in English and Spanish. Please also find downloadable resources at the Social Emotional department website for webinars and companion handouts. Visit the SEL Google Site for more information on training sessions.

Academic Instructional Technology: The Academic Instructional Technology department is here to provide support for you to be effective in the instructional use of technology in all types of classrooms. Our Educational Technology specialists give you strategies to integrate technology into your classrooms, share the latest information on effective opportunities for development, and troubleshoot integrating technology into classrooms. Our self-service section offers training on the HUB and Teams here, YouTube playlists of HUB Videos are here and Microsoft Teams Videos are here. Public training sessions by Microsoft are offered here and OnTrack Task Cards are offered here. We look forward to serving you! 

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Support: New teachers, are you interested in more support on developing your Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) in TADS? Join us for one of two webinars covering how to write an effective IPDP. An effective IPDP incorporates the language within the TADS Instructional Practice Rubric (IPR) and ensures you have a well-crafted, well-thought-out plan to effectively develop within specific focus criteria in TADS. If you are interested in joining one of our live webinar sessions via Microsoft Teams, please click on the Writing an Effective IPDP Live Webinar link to register for a session. There will be two sessions: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 4-5 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 24, 4-5 p.m.

SECONDARY TEACHERS

Career and Technical Education Q&A Open Lab: CTE middle school and CTE high school instructors can join Dr. Stacey Whitmore and Ms. Felicia Lara on Oct. 21 for a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Q&A Open Lab for Instructional Support. This is an opportunity for instructors to ask any questions they may have in areas of effective CTE instructional practices, and strategies to support student engagement and achievement. Questions on instructional support for CTE teachers might include asking about differentiated instruction, the use of technology, and the selection of learning and teaching resources.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department is offering several professional development training opportunities for middle and high school CTE teachers next month. On Oct. 7, the department will offer “Exploring Livestock Production-Human Nutrition & Health with Texas 4-H.” On Oct. 21, the training sessions offered include the following: “Promoting STEM with Drones,” “The HON-Code: Principles for CTE Website Evaluation,” “Basic Microsoft Office Skills,” and “Amplified Linguistic Supports (Special Populations).” These sessions are relevant for the technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare students for careers in current or emerging professions. Please register through OneSource Learning.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department is also offering professional development training to high school CTE teachers only on Sept. 28: “Expanding Learning Opportunities Through DiscoverU.” During this session, participants will receive an overview of DiscoverU and college-focused and career-focused educational experiences available to all HISD high school students. Upon completion of the course, educators will understand the process and have access to the resources necessary to connect students with high-quality, highly engaging Fantastic Learning Opportunities that align with academic goals and personal interests. CTE instructors, please register through OneSource Learning.

CTE Professional Development Opportunities: The Career Readiness department will also offer another session on Sept. 28: “A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience (ASPIRE),” hosted by the MD Anderson Department of Behavioral Science. You do not want to miss this session! This is a virtual bilingual autonomous curriculum program that teaches students about the dangers of traditional nicotine products and others, such as e-cigs, hookah, and marijuana. Discussions will center around the dangers of vaping and nicotine products, introduce ASPIRE, and outline the benefits of implementing the program for CTE teachers and their students. CTE instructors, please register through OneSource Learning.