A first-grade teacher at Mading Elementary was “Caught in the Act” of delivering great instruction during a recent visit to her classroom. An HISD video crew, along with Elementary Curriculum and Development Officer Lance Menster, surprised Zakiya Martin and her students in the middle of a Literacy By 3 lesson.
Watch the video below to see how Martin uses technology and pointed questions to help her students become better readers and critical thinkers.
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/FsP0gt6QxWY”] read more…
Chief School Officer Michael Cardona presents Revere MS Principal Cristian de la Riva with the February Excellence in Leadership Award.
First-year principal Cristian de la Riva wasted no time implementing his plans to help improve student achievement at Revere Middle School.
His efforts earned him the February Excellence in Leadership Award, which was announced at Wednesday’s Professional Learning Series meeting at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center.
Since the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, de la Riva has already implemented five different instructional strategies for his campus teachers. He also meets weekly with his leadership team to address the needs of students with excessive absences, and he is developing a plan to design a state-of-the-art STEM program intended to awaken the engineer in every student.
Fight cyberbullying on Feb. 9: Register now for Safer Internet Day live-streaming event
Safer Internet Day, a global effort to make the internet a better place sponsored by ConnectSafely.org, falls on Tuesday, Feb. 9, and students from schools across the country will have the opportunity to engage in a global online discussion as part of this year’s awareness campaign.
A live-streaming event will air at noon (CST) that day from Universal Studios in Hollywood, Calif., but teachers must register their classes in advance to participate. Topics of discussion include rejecting hate, building resilience, and growing the good online, and students will have the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking role-reversal activities that tackle some of today’s toughest questions about technology, social media, and online life.
The event is free and is targeted to students in grades 5 and above. To register and for details, teachers should contact Misha McClure from Comcast, one of the event’s sponsors, at Misha_McClure@cable.comcast.com.
Participants and viewers can also follow the conversation on social media using the #SIDUS16 hashtag.
The SchoolPay online program is now available to all HISD schools, allowing parents to pay tuition, as well as student activity, field trip, lost book, laptop, prom, or other fees with debit or credit cards.
To help schools make the most of this new tool, HISD is offering two-hour training sessions for principals and their designees at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th, 77092) and the Teledyne Building (5827 Chimney Rock, 77081) March 21–24.
HISD, UH offer free tuition to students who choose to get degree in education, work in HISD
The Houston Independent School District and University of Houston are joining forces to offer a new teacher preparation program that aims to bring HISD’s brightest students back into the classroom upon their college graduation.
Through the Teach Forward Houston fellowship program, HISD graduates interested in obtaining a degree in education are eligible for free tuition at University of Houston in exchange for teaching four years in HISD after graduation.
“Teach Forward Houston will benefit our communities by bringing highly qualified teachers into the classroom,” said Robert McPherson, dean of the UH College of Education. “The students participating in the program will have the opportunity to study in a Tier One institution, receive the top quality training and ongoing support they need to be successful in the classroom and graduate with little-to-no debt.” read more…
Thanks to their hard work toward improving student achievement, more than 5,400 campus-based employees will receive a total of $17.1 million in ASPIRE Award payments for the 2014–2015 school year.
The awards are designed to recognize members of Team HISD whose hard work has led to increased student academic growth and progress. Employees who received the award include core foundation teachers, non-core foundation teachers, teaching assistants, instructional support and operational support staff, principals, assistant principals, and deans. read more…
Coach Granvil “Wayne” Tedder has been guiding HISD athletes to greatness for more than 30 years, but on Jan. 22, district officials and students took time out to honor him, with a special ceremony held at Bellaire High School to induct him into the HISD and Houston Coaches Association Hall of Honor.
“It is quite an honor to be recognized by your peers, players, and friends,” said Tedder. “No one in my family graduated from high school except me. But I had coaches who helped me out, so I have dedicated my life to giving back what was given to me: love, knowledge, and commitment.”
Congratulations also go out this week to:
- Six members of Team HISD recognized during Thursday’s Central Office Staff Meeting. Read more here.
- When Angela Sugarek took the helm at Hogg Middle School in the summer of 2015, one of her priorities was to continue the work of her predecessor. Her goal: to have a fully functioning library, complete with its own certified librarian. Read more here.
Six deserving members of Team HISD were presented with special hats during Thursday’s Central Office Staff Meetings, the last for longtime Superintendent Terry Grier.
Richard Benavides (Construction & Facilities Services), Magda Galindo (Migrant Program), Virginia Elizondo (Newcomer Program), Eric Goedken (Technology), Alberto Duva (Technology), and Sheila Jenkins (Employee Services) got handshakes and hugs as they were recognized for their commitment to their jobs and Team HISD.
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Look for change agents wearing jeans and OneSource T-shirts every Friday
Members of the district’s Change Agent Network will be wearing OneSource T-shirts with jeans every Friday to help spread the word about this important districtwide system that will go live July 1, 2016. This will allow members of Team HISD to identify them as a resource to find out more about OneSource and the changes it will bring. read more…
