Husky Teacher News Flash
November 5 -9, 2018
HMS WIG (Wildly Important Goal)
CTE Showcase at BHS
Students will remain in Pack class for the day. They will work on science and social studies lessons while on campus.
More details to follow.
Blessing Bags for the Homeless
House Council will be putting together Blessing Bags for the Homeless. Items needed are as follows:
Travel size tooth paste
Tooth brushes
Travel size soap
Quart size baggies
granola bars
socks
Canned Drive
Oct. 22 - Nov. 14
Much needed items -- cereal, beans (dry and canned), rice, canned chicken, mac and cheese
The PACK that donates the most items will win a Pizza Party
SHP - Johnson County
November LT newsletter
The link above has all kinds of good info on incorporating technology in to lessons. From Veteran's day lessons to how to become Level 1 certified. Take a look.
Please take our survey
BrightBytes Starts Nov 5
Please take a moment to complete this year's BrightBytes survey. The survey will be available for completion during the week of November 5th.From the LT department
Have Ticket Will Train
Please encourage your staff to put in a ticket for technology integration help whenever they need something. We are available through online chat, but appointments and bigger issues are handled through IncidentIQ. Our team has a response time of .5 days and a ticket completion time of 1.4 days. We’ve completed 276 requests for help since school started and we’d love to help your teachers. We give priority to IncidentIQ tickets, so it’s a fast way for teachers to get help when a quick online chat isn’t enough. From Flipgrid to Google, to how to use Chromebooks more effectively, we can help! Here’s an easy How-To for getting help from the LT Dept. Please feel free to share with your staff. CLICK HERE.
Bil/ESL PD Opportunity
FREE professional development for teachers of Spanish-speaking EL students: English vocabulary enrichment for English learners using cognates and other effective vocabulary strategies. Dates to choose from are: 11/8 and 11/9. To sign up, please contact Maria Jones ext. 0865. See flyer for details.
Important info regarding tests in Edugence from district
Campus Assessments in Edugence:
A decision was made this year to discontinue the use of Progress Testing as a test bank in Edugence. Progress Testing had informed us that they were not planning to update the TEKS associated with their product to align with the TEKS changes from TEA. That made the decision relatively easy. We have transitioned to Certa. One consequence of dropping Progress Testing is that we no longer have access to the questions from that bank that we used in previous year tests. Therefore, if you teachers are using tests copied from previous years, that employed any Progress Testing questions, those questions will no longer appear on the tests.
Hughes Spirit Dress Up Days
November 5 “Beat the Cougars” Wear Red
November 6 “There’s Only One Hero in this Town” Superhero Day
The strategic use of questioning
Questioning helps teachers identify and correct misunderstandings and gaps in knowledge. It gives teachers information about what learners know, understand and can do.
Use open questions
Closed questions only ask learners to recall. Use open questions to encourage the use of thinking skills, communication and eliciting more information. Examples of good question stems:
- Is X important?
- Why is X important?
- Why does…?
- What if…?
- How would you…?
- Can you explain…?
Wait time
Tips:
- Give 30 seconds silent thinking before any answers.
- Ask learners to brainstorm in pairs first for 2-3 minutes.
- Ask learners to write some notes before answering.
- Ask learners to discuss with a partner before answering.
- Use think, pair, share.
Use higher order thinking skills (HOTS)
Change "When was World War II?" "Did it impact the U.S.?" to "What were the causes of World War II and the impact on the war had on the U.S. economy and workforce?"
Then learners don’t only recall, they reason too.
More AFLs
In order to better understand and learn whether students are grasping the lesson, practice frequency. Check for understanding at least three times a lesson, minimum.
New Examples of AFLs:
KWL
At the beginning of a topic learners create a grid with three columns – what they know; what they want to know; what they have learned. They start by brainstorming and filling in the first two columns and then return to the third at the end of the unit.
Post-its
Use post-it notes to evaluate learning. Give to groups, pairs or individuals and ask them to answer questions. For example:
- What have I learnt?
- What have I found easy?
- What have I found difficult?
- What do I want to know now?
UPCOMING EVENTS
10/28 - 12/14: Collecting for Blessings for the Homeless & Toy drive
11/6: HMS pep rally
11/8: SSEP NIght @ Centennial
11/10: All Region Bank audition
11/15: CTE Showcase
11/15: Basketball vs Cleburne Smith 5/6/7
11/15: Girl's basketball @ Cleburne Smith 5/6/7
11/17: Girl's basketball versus Kerr
11/19 - 11/23: Thanksgiving Break
11/30 - 12/1: All Region Band Clinic @ Weatherford
12/1: Drama Fall play @ BHS 2:00
12/3: HMS Winter Choir Show @ BHS 7:00 - 8:30pm
12/4: 7th and 8th Winter Concert @ BHS 6:00 - 8:30 pm
12/6: Basketball @ Aledo
12/6: Girl's basketball versus Aledo
12/7: Beginning band concert @ BHS
12/7 - 8: Girl's tournament
12/11: Hughes Art Show 2 HMS 5:30pm
12/13: Basketball @ Cleburne Wheat
12/13: Girl's basketball vs Cleburne Wheat
12/14-12/15: Boys 7B & 8B basketball tournament @ Coble Middle School, Arlington
12/17: Basketball vs. Brewer
12/21: Early Release
12/24 - 1/8: Winter Break
Hughes Middle School
Email: ana.ketcham@bisdmail.net
Website: http://hughes.burlesonisd.net/
Location: 316 SW Thomas St, Burleson, TX, United States
Phone: 817-245-0600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hughes-Middle-School-137476863287677/
Twitter: @HughesHuskies