Category Archives: Teachers

Two HISD educators surprised with 2016 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards

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Two HISD educators were surprised by H-E-B on Wednesday with news that they are finalists for the 2016 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards, one of the largest monetary programs for educators in Texas and the nation.

Bellaire High School teacher and international baccalaureate coordinator Ann Linsley was recognized as a teacher finalist, while North Houston Early College High School Principal Angela Lundy-Jackson was named a principal finalist for the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards.

The two are among eight educators from across Houston and 40 across the state who were selected as award finalists. They now will go on to compete at the state level, where they will have the chance to win additional cash prizes.

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HISD teacher receives state humanities award

Rebecca Ryan

Rebecca Ryan

Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men teacher Rebecca Ryan is among 12 recipients from across the state to receive the 2015 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award.

The award is among several bestowed annually by Humanities Texas — a National Endowment for the Humanities affiliate — to encourage excellence in teaching and recognize Texas classroom teachers who have made exemplary contributions in teaching, curriculum development and extracurricular programming. Continue reading →

HISD’s alternative certification program now accepting applications 

Effective Teacher Fellowship offers paid training, hands-on support for new teachers 

Interested in starting a challenging and rewarding career as a teacher at HISD? The Effective Teacher Fellowship (ETF) is now accepting applications for 2016 and is looking for highly qualified and passionate new educators to help the district produce Global Graduates.  Continue reading →

HISD hosting teacher job fair for pool-approved candidates on Saturday, Dec. 5 

HISD is hosting a teacher job fair on Saturday, Dec. 5, in order to fill current and future teaching vacancies.

Principals from across the district will attend the event to conduct interviews with teacher candidates and, in some cases, extend job offers. Teachers certified to teach bilingual, secondary math and science, and special education are strongly encouraged to apply and attend.  Continue reading →

Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT) set the stage for student success

This year, in nearly 200 classrooms at nine HISD elementary schools, parents are experiencing a new kind of parent-teacher conference that gives them the tools both to expand their children’s learning and to monitor their progress.

Schools in their second or third years of implementing the Academy Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT) program are continuing to perfect and expand the new model of meetings to empower parents to help their children learn outside of school.

Eliot, Gallegos, Kennedy, Mitchell, Piney Point, Shadowbriar, and Tijerina elementary schools, as well as Fonwood Early Childhood Center and the Wharton Dual Language Academy, all recently completed their first round of fall APTT meetings.

The model replaces traditional parent-teacher conferences with three 75-minute group meetings involving all parents in the class, and one 30-minute individual session with the student, teacher, and parents. During group meetings, teachers share student performance data and expectations for the class, review skills, and model hands-on activities parents can do at home to help their children master skills. Parents practice the activities at home with their kids over a 60-day period until their next meeting, when they can again review the data and see how their child has progressed. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education requests additional information on discipline policy proposal

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday declined to consider a proposed policy revision that would ban suspensions and expulsions for students in second grade and below.

 

Trustees had been set to review the proposal during the October board meeting. The agenda item was withdrawn by trustees on Thursday afternoon. Board members have asked district administrators to provide additional information about the educator support systems that are tied to the proposal.

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Longtime HISD educator named Bilingual Education Secondary Teacher of the Year

A recently retired teacher from The Rice School has been selected as the 2015 Texas Association for Bilingual Education Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Tanya Thompson, who retired in May after more than three decades with HISD, was selected because of her teaching philosophy, which uses personalized learning to cater to the learning style of each student. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education approves signing/retention bonuses for teachers in struggling schools

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday voted to expand the current signing and retention bonus program to include teachers in core subjects at struggling schools.

The $5,000 annual bonus is part of a pilot program proposed by district administration. Eligibility is based on campus, as well as grade and subject taught. Teachers must be assigned to subjects in third through 12th grades that are tested by the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR. This includes high school level STAAR End-of-Course exams. Continue reading →

‘Caught in the Act’ spotlights Wheatley HS geometry teacher

Keisha Evans, a Wheatley High School teacher, was “Caught in the Act” of delivering great instruction during a sophomore geometry class toward the end of the 2014–2015 school year. An HISD video crew, along with Secondary Curriculum and Development Officer Annie Wolfe, surprised Evans and her students, and captured the video below.

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The “Caught in the Act” video campaign was started by HISD earlier this year to recognize highly effective teachers who are delivering instruction that will lead to students becoming Global Graduates — young men and women who possess the skills necessary to ensure success in college and the ability to compete in today’s global workforce. Continue reading →

Teachers get support in science instruction from Baylor College of Medicine

Greg Vogt demonstrates Newton's second law of motion by igniting vaporized ethanol to show how thrust is generated for rocket launches.

Greg Vogt demonstrates Newton’s second law of motion by igniting vaporized ethanol to show how thrust is generated for rocket launches.

Students may still be on vacation, but more than 450 teachers from the Houston Independent School District went back to the classroom this summer for an intensive training program organized by Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Education Outreach.

The Baylor Summer Science Institute is geared toward teachers who may not have a strong science background. The program included presentations by scientists and inquiry-based lessons featuring content specific to teachers’ grade levels, with a focus on the nature of science and physical science. Each participant also received teaching resources to take back to their campuses and earned professional development credit.

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