Operations Manager Hernan Urrego (right) introduces new staff meal dishes to Lamar High School Biology Teacher Janna Rancifer (middle) during her lunch break.
The Houston Independent School District Nutrition Services department has launched a new meal program at 14 schools for teachers and school employees to provide meals from HISD’s catering kitchen delivered to their schools.
Nutrition Services Operations Manager Hernan Urrego organized a taste testing at Lamar High School to inform teachers of the new meal service and provide samples of some of the featured dishes. read more…
ALL TEACHERS
- The Superintendent wants to hear from you: During his first few weeks on the job, Supt. Richard Carranza has spent much of his time traveling around the district on his Listen & Learn Tour, hosted by our Board of Trustees. The goal is meet engaged parents, community members and staff to gather input on what’s working, what could be improved, and how we can work together to improve student outcomes. For those who were not able to attend any meetings, there’s still the opportunity to make your voice heard. Click here to complete a confidential survey to provide your input on the district’s strengths, weaknesses, and challenges that need to be addressed.
As the largest school district in Texas, Team HISD has the opportunity to positively impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of students. And during the Combined Charities Campaign, our reach can extend even further than that.
The annual campaign, which runs through Nov. 7, gives the district’s employees a chance to donate to any of 600 local, national, and global charities and organizations which share the same mission we do: improving the lives of others. Thanks to Team HISD’s generosity, the district has raised a combined $1 million for charitable organizations in the previous three years. read more…
HISD providing free subscription to ReadyRosie
In an effort to increase the home-school connection, HISD is launching ReadyRosie, a free interactive tool for early childhood teachers to use with parents and guardians who are raising children age 0 to 6.
ReadyRosie provides weekly emails and/or text messages for parents that they can do with their child. Each activity is modeled with a two-minute video. The activities are simple, only take about two minutes each day, and can be done at home, in the car, at the grocery store, restaurants, or public transportation – wherever real life happens. read more…
ALL TEACHERS
- ASPIRE Award model update: For the 2015–2016 ASPIRE Award model, the district will use Comparative Growth on STAAR instead of EVAAS when calculating award amounts. Comparative Growth, which was already being used in other district evaluations, measures the progress of a teacher’s students on a given assessment compared to all other students in the district who start at the same test score level. This change was made after the Board of Trustees voted in June not to extend the contract with SAS EVAAS®, which meant EVAAS for the 2015–2016 school year was not calculated. The 2015–2016 ASPIRE Award Model, which previously used EVAAS as an award indicator, was amended to use Comparative Growth on STAAR as a replacement indicator. Click here to read more about the ASPIRE Award model and click here for more information on Comparative Growth. You can also click here for additional information about the ASPIRE Award model change. If you have any further questions, contact the ASPIRE Support Team at ASPIREaward@houstonisd.org.
- New partnership with Houston Public Library gives your classroom access to their resources: The Houston Independent School District announced on Monday along with the Houston Public Library that every HISD student can now access numerous library resources at school and home through a new virtual library card known as the Learning Link. Through the Learning Link, students will have free, 24/7 access to the Houston Public Library’s assortment of books and resources at any library location, and at school and home through the district’s HUB, HISD’s online teaching and learning platform. Students can use a laptop, tablet or smart phone to access more than one million books, e-books, magazines and research materials, as well as online resources and complimentary Wi-Fi. All HISD students will be automatically enrolled in the program and can use their student ID as their library account number to access these resources. Click here for an FAQ on how students can register for their free library card. All HISD staff members also can join using the instructions included in this link.
- Learn, implement framework for classroom management from Safe and Civil Schools : The Department of Social and Emotional Learning will host two two-day classroom management training sessions for instructional staff and administrators. CHAMPS is tailored to K-8 teachers and administrators while Discipline in Secondary Classrooms (DSC) is tailored to 9-12 grade teachers and administrators. Participants will gain an understanding of the Safe and Civil Schools’ framework for proactive and positive classroom and behavior management, which aligns to Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) principles. School staff will explore comprehensive and practical strategies to improve their current classroom management plan. These trainings are designed to help teachers manage student behavior more positively with the end result of engaging students in the learning process. Register using OneSourceMe, course number 136001 for the K-8 session (Nov. 1-2) and 136002 for Grades 9-12 (Nov. 3-4).
- Register for computer science education summit in Houston: CS4TX is a meeting that brings education leaders, teachers, business leaders, policy-makers, parents, and Computer Science professionals together to address the challenges faced in K-12 computer science education. The purpose of the meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 19, is to bring together education leaders, teachers, business leaders, policy makers, parents, and computer science professionals to address the challenges we face in K-12 CS education, and ensure every child in Texas has access to computer science in school. Come ready to participate in this interactive experience and offer your best recommendations. The deadline to register is Tuesday, Oct. 11. Click here for the summit agenda and click here to register.
Attend an open lab to get your questions answered
Having trouble navigating the new Non-Teacher Appraisal process in OneSource? Come to an open lab hosted by the HISD Performance Management team. read more…
For the 2015–2016 ASPIRE Award model, the district will use Comparative Growth on STAAR instead of EVAAS when calculating award amounts.
Comparative Growth, which was already being used in other district evaluations, measures the progress of a teacher’s students on a given assessment compared to all other students in the district who start at the same test score level. read more…
Permissible and impermissible election-related activities
Election Day for the upcoming United States Presidential Election is Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, and various Houston Independent School District (“HISD” or the “District”) facilities will serve as voting locations for the upcoming election. Therefore, it is imperative that all HISD employees understand which political activities are permissible and which are impermissible prior to and on Election Day. The guidelines below provide examples of permissible and impermissible election activities: read more…
All employees have access to Houston Public Library online resources
Thanks to a partnership with the Houston Public Library, all members of Team HISD now have an HPL Learning Link account. The account gives all HISD employees free, 24/7 access to a variety of HPL online materials in multiple languages including e-books, audio books, music, videos, and magazines as well as online learning resources such as Lynda.com, Brainfuse, and Gale courses. read more…
The following is a blog entry from the Professional Development & Support team:
One thing I hate to do is stop and get gas. It’s expensive, time consuming, the fumes are intoxicating and it can be just an overall hassle.
However, as much as I hate turning in to Shell every Wednesday and Saturday, I know that if I want my car to work properly, I have to fill up my tank with gas. Otherwise, I would not be able to drive my car without destroying the engine and breaking down, and I would ultimately fail to reach my desired destination. And as teachers, we too have a destination to reach. We are trying to drive our instruction to the corner of Content Mastery Blvd. and High Student Achievement Avenue. read more…
