Weekly Teacher Download for September 17
NEW TEACHERS
New Teacher Summit: If you are a new teacher, you don’t want to miss the New Teacher Summit on September 21-22 at Ryan Professional Development Center (4001 Hardy St., Houston, 77009). This is a great opportunity to build your teacher toolkit, strengthen your instructional skills and learn more about specific and actionable effective practice techniques. To register, click here. For more details on session topics, click here.
ALL TEACHERS
PreK-12 Writing Summit: The district’s first PreK-12 Writing Summit will be on Saturday, October 13 at Chavez High School (8501 Howard Dr., Houston, 77017). All teachers and leaders who wish to present sessions are invited to submit a proposal by Friday, September 14. To submit your proposal, click here. There will be multiple learning opportunities for all teachers at all levels. Participants will also receive a $10 voucher to purchase books from the on-site pop-up store.
Student Performance—What’s New: 1) Comparative Growth will be assigned when available. Teachers can “opt-out” of its use in their SP calculations with appraiser approval except for: teachers at Achieve 180 schools or teachers who wish to transfer to an Achieve 180 next year; teachers at TSL grant schools or teachers who wish to transfer to a TSL grant school next year; and teachers currently participating in Career Pathways or teachers who wish to participate next year. 2) Appraiser Approved Assessment/Performance Task is a measure for all courses. 3) RL360/Screener is a District-Wide Student Progress measure in Grades 1 & 2.
National History Day: The Office of Advanced Academics is excited to support and coordinate the district’s 2019 National History Day (NHD) competition for grades K -12 on February 23, 2019 at Hattie Mae White. NHD expectations strongly align with HISD’s Social Studies disciplinary practices and give students the opportunity to act as historians. If your school would like to participate or learn more, contact Suzanne Acord at suzanne.acord@houstonisd.org and visit nhd.org. You can also reference previous HISD History Day resources here.
CTE Instructors Training: Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers are invited to attend an AutoCad 2D and 3D training on September 21 from 1-4 p.m. at South Early High School. Participants will learn the basic computer-aided drafting and techniques. They will be introduced to 2D drawing and 3D printing. Additionally, participants will learn setting up drawings and models form printing, plus classroom applications. Register in OneSource, course #1564009.
ELEMENTARY
Read to Succeed Competition: The district is inviting all elementary campuses to participate in the district’s first-ever Read to Succeed Competition beginning Monday, Sept. 10 to Thursday, Jan. 31. This competition is an opportunity for all pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students to compete against each other to see who can read myON books for the most number of minutes. Students can choose any e-book available through the myON reading platform to read. Click here for more details on the competition and awarded prizes.
SECONDARY
Secondary Early Release PD Offerings: The Secondary Curriculum & Development team will be conducting professional development offerings during the district’s first early release day on Friday, September 21. The offerings will be held at four locations across the district with a special focus given to writing across the curriculum. For a complete list and OneSource course numbers, click here.
University of Houston – Teacher Appreciation
Business Operations Launches Customer Service Award Program
Business Operations employees who display an outstanding work ethic and great customer service have an opportunity to be recognized thanks to a new awards program that launching this school year.
Distributed monthly, the Business Operations Customer Service Impact Award is designed to honor employees who perform their job duties exceptionally, embody the standards of excellence set forth by the division, and inspire others.
The award is designed to recognize employees who consistently listen to customers, anticipate and prioritize their needs, respond in a way that exceeds expectations and demonstrate patience, politeness, and respect while doing so. These habits help ensure Business Operations employees deliver a “wow” customer service experience by building trust and dependability.
The award is open to non-managerial employees in all Business Operations departments, including Business Operations Support, Construction Services, Facilities Services and Fleet Management, Nutrition Services, Police Department, Strategic Engagement and Outreach, Transportation Services, and Business Operations administration.
“Employees who consistently put their best foot forward are the key to HISD’s success. They are the heartbeat of this organization, and we couldn’t carry out our mission without them.” said HISD Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby, who oversees the Business Operations division.
“Their work helps ensure our students make it to and from school each day, have healthy food that keeps them from going hungry, and new, clean schools in which they can learn. It is important that we pause to celebrate that.”
Nominations can be submitted via online form. Nominations should include a detailed description of how the nominee exceeds expectations in his or her role. All nominees must be non-management Business Operations employees who have no direct reports.
Each month, a committee will review all nominations and select an honoree, with the first recipient being named in late September. Monthly winners will be recognized online and treated to a quarterly lunch with department leadership, including the Chief Operating Officer.
At the end of the year, an annual award winner will be selected from all monthly award recipients. The annual award winner will be recognized at a HISD Board of Education meeting.
Weekly Teacher Download for September 10
ALL TEACHERS
Changes to TADS: There are new updates to the Teacher Appraisal Development System. Comparative growth is now an optional measure for teachers. When Principals determine the measures in which to evaluate a teacher, Comparative Growth will be selected, however it can be deselected and another measure can be chosen. The other major changes are the addition of RL360/Screener as a Student Progress Measure in grades 1 and 2 and the Appraiser Approved Assessment/Performance Tasks for all courses. Look forward to more information being shared in the future.
HUB Updates: The HUB 2018 Back to School Updates are now available. These updates offer new functionality for teachers, including an improved Google integration, personalized learning pathways, and peer assessments. Click here for more detailed information or watch videos on the updates.
CTE Instructors Training: Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers are invited to attend an AutoCad 2D and 3D training on September 21 from 1-4 p.m. at South Early High School. Participants will learn the basic computer-aided drafting and techniques. They will be introduced to 2D drawing and 3D printing. Additionally, participants will learn setting up drawings and models form printing, plus classroom applications. Register in OneSource, course #1564009.
Houston Public Library Resources: The Houston Public Library (HPL) and HISD Library Services are ready to help you and your students kick off another school year with all the resources you need. Every HISD student and staff member is automatically registered for an HPL Learning Link library card. The card gives staff and students access to a variety of online resources (from databases to e-books) through the HPL icon on the HUB, as well as print materials that are fine free for students to check out from any HPL location. For elementary resources, click here. For middle school resources, click here. For high school resources, click here.
ELEMENTARY
Lead4ward Math Training: The district and Lead4Ward are collaborating in a district-wide professional development opportunity for first grade through fifth grade math teachers titled, “Number Sense”. This first session for elementary math is on Tuesday, September 11 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Kingdom Builder’s Center. Sessions are specifically designated for self-contained or departmentalized math teachers. Instructional coordinators and math content area leads are also encouraged to attend. Register in OneSource using course number, #1174001.
SECONDARY
PowerUp Super Saturdays: Join PowerUp for Super Saturdays as they explore different strategies, tools and resources PowerUp has to offer. This weekend series is designed as a way for teachers to meet like-minded peers and take instructional strategies that help students become Global Graduates. New sessions are offered at each event. Examples of choice sessions include: HUB-basics, digital learning design, google basics, literacy empowered, etc. For more details on Super Saturdays, click here.
Pop-Up PD: The HISD EdTech team is offering two sessions of PopUp PowerUp on September 26 and October 24 to any PowerUp teachers who would like to brush up on their skills. Choice topics will include advanced tips in Microsoft Office 365, Google Basics, and other fun tools and apps to use with students in the classroom. Interested teachers can register in OneSource, course #1134001.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan is encouraging all HISD staff to join her in showcasing their college colors on Friday, August 31 for National College Colors Day.
Teachers are encouraged to tell students why they wear their college colors with pride, why they chose their college, what their major was, and how going to college changed their lives.
Additionally, every campus that tweets their staff proudly sporting their college colors will be entered into a drawing for a set of college pennants representing Texas colleges and Ivy League schools. Five HISD campuses will be selected.
To enter, your campus must:
- Tag us @HISD2College.
- Use #CollegeColorsDay and #HISD.
- Promote the day with classroom competitions and college awareness activities.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact HISD’s Office of College & Career Readiness at CollegeReadiness@houstonisd.org or 713-967-5231.
Weekly Teacher Download for August 27
NEW TEACHERS
New Teacher Tech Pathways: New Teacher Technology Pathways training (NTTP) is available to new teachers in the district, and includes essential educational technology skills needed for a digital classroom. Training sessions will be held at Hattie Mae White in room 2C07 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Register for the next class on September 5 in OneSource, course #1184006.
ALL TEACHERS
Teacher Appraisal and Development System: On Thursday, June 7, the Leadership and Teacher Development department hosted a Teacher Think-Tank at Waltrip High School. This was an opportunity for teachers to provide initial feedback on potential enhancements to the Teacher Appraisal and Development System. This survey was developed based on teacher input at this session. We value your feedback and ask you to complete the survey by Sept. 7, 2018.
Welcome Back Technology Checklist: Before you get to work in your classrooms, please take a few moments to review these technology tips.
Houston STEM College and Career Fair: Students and educators are invited to the STEM College and Career Fair on Sunday, Sept. 30 at Bayou City Event Center (9401 Knight Rd., Houston, 77045). The fair is a forum for colleges and universities to share STEM-related educational opportunities with prospective students and their parents. Representatives from industry, professional associations/societies and non-profit organizations will also be in attendance to educate students and parents on STEM-related career opportunities. For more information, email collegefairs@nacacnet.org or call (703) 299-6824.
Pop-Up PD: The HISD EdTech team is offering two sessions of PopUp PowerUp on September 26 and October 24 to any PowerUp teachers who would like to brush up on their skills. Choice topics will include advanced tips in Microsoft Office 365, Google Basics, and other fun tools and apps to use with students in the classroom. Interested teachers can register in OneSource, course #1134001.
Socioeconomic Form: The district will provide free breakfast and lunch to students at no charge for the 2018-2019 school year, but parents will need to fill out a new form to ensure Title I funding for HISD schools. While parents will not need to complete and return a free and reduced-price meal application, they will need to complete the socioeconomic form, known as the blue form. Please encourage parents to complete and return the blue form by Friday, October 26, which is the district’s PEIMS snapshot date.
SECONDARY
Take your students to Mars: Are you interested in bringing Mars to your campus? The Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab is coming to HISD middle schools this school year. In order to schedule an explorer lab visit to your school, teachers must participate in one, six-hour professional development session (a $175 stipend will be provided, plus lunch). The three-part explorer lab program includes an immersive learning experience onboard the explorer lab and classroom engagement and extension in engineering design. The explorer lab program is designed to connect to the sixth-grade Science TEKS curriculum. For more information and to register, click here.
Secondary Literacy Updates: Secondary Curriculum and Development is offering several online resources to teachers of all content areas. Teachers can click here for the full list of OneSource course numbers and access to online platforms such as Achieve 3000, Vocabulary.com, Scholastic Magazines, comprehension toolkits, and Read to Achieve.
Weekly Teacher Download for August 20
NEW TEACHERS
New Teacher Academy: Still thinking about your amazing experience at the New Teacher Academy? Watch this short video to experience it all over again.
ALL TEACHERS
Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS): On Thursday, June 7, The Leadership and Teacher Development department hosted TADS Teacher Think-Tank at Waltrip High School. This was an opportunity for teachers to provide initial feedback on potential enhancements to the Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS). This survey was developed based on teacher input at this session. We value your feedback and ask you to complete the survey by Sept. 7, 2018.
Welcome Back Technology Checklist: Before you get to work in your classrooms, please take a few moments to review these technology tips.
Risk Management Trainings: In today’s school safety climate where preparation is everything, it’s important that everyone at HISD work collaboratively to ensure our campuses are well prepared for any type of major event. Throughout the school year, the Risk Management Department offers a mandatory school safety training for each campus, as well as courses on intruderology, fire safety and school emergency preparedness in OneSource. Click here for a complete list of courses offered by Risk Management.
Socioeconomic Form: The district will provide free breakfast and lunch to students at no charge for the 2018-2019 school year, but parents will need to fill out a new form to ensure Title I funding for HISD schools. While parents will not need to complete and return a free and reduced-price meal application, they will need to complete the socioeconomic form, known as the blue form. Please encourage parents to complete and return the blue form by Friday, October 26, which is the district’s PEIMS snapshot date.
Districtwide flu shots: HISD is partnering with Healthy Schools to offer free flu vaccines to students during the 2018-2019 school year. Parents will be able to consent electronically or through a print copy. All parent consent forms and translations will be provided to campuses, and parents can either complete the form and submit to the campus prior to clinics or have their child bring the completed form on the day of clinic.
SECONDARY
Secondary Literacy Updates: Secondary Curriculum and Development is offering several online resources to teachers of all content areas. Teachers can click here for the full list of OneSource course numbers and access to online platforms such as Achieve 3000, Vocabulary.com, Scholastic Magazines, comprehension toolkits, and Read to Achieve.
Free breakfast at Hattie Mae White
Corner Bakery Cafe will be providing FREE coffee and muffins to the first 300 people on Monday, August 13 in the lobby of Hattie Mae White.
District General Managers and Senior Managers attend project management training
District General Managers and Senior Managers attend project management training
HISD Business Operations General Managers and Senior Managers gathered Thursday to enhance their project management skills and learn effective tools needed to execute projects.
The training focused on several key areas, such as focusing on how to communicate project goals and initiatives effectively, recognizing inefficiencies and bottlenecks, overcoming obstacles, and managing change and risks that can hinder overall project success.
L’Renee & Associates Certified Project Manager and Marketing Strategist LaToshia Norwood — who led the presentation — stressed the importance of project management and the various ways to handle tasks.
“Project management is the toolbox that gives you the tools and resources that you can use to get the job done,” Norwood said. “Project management goes a lot deeper into telling you what the outcome should look like.”
During the training, employees also displayed basic principles of project management by participating in teambuilding activities designed to utilize communication and management skills to reach a shared goal.
Construction Services Manager Andreas Peeples said the training was very beneficial to managers and their departments.
“This is a great development course for any teams seeking growth,” Peeples said.
