October 2015

From the Desk of Dr. Cotton

I was so proud recently to see groups of our students serving the community on United Way's Day of Service, the kickoff event for this year's community campaign, as they worked to clean up a local park and to distribute important fire safety information through neighborhoods in our community. Likewise, many of you dedicate time and resources each year to ensure that the members of our community have crucial education, financial, and health needs met. As your school or department begins to discuss ways to support our local United Way this year, I encourage you to participate in any way you are able - remember, no gift is too small to make a difference if we all #LiveUnited.

Teacher Reflection: Teaching with Poverty in Mind

This summer, I attended the Margaret Copenhaver Institute, a thought-provoking conference which highlighted implementing instructional practices with poverty in mind. Most teachers are not examiners of the brain but can easily process how the affects of one's environment can not only affect his/her physical environment, but also influence an individual's actions and thought process. One of the most vital concepts shared at the conference was the definition of poverty. Poverty, as defined through this Institute, is not a culture, but a chronic condition affecting the mind, body and soul resulting from multiple adverse risk factors. Therefore, students (as well as teachers) may suffer from these affects. It should be the goal of each teacher to acknowledge this challenge and remember these four keys to progression and student achievement:

1.  Brains physically change every day

2.  Targeted classroom instruction can make dramatic changes in days

3.  DNA does not determine DESTINY

4.  Teachers are the strongest change agent in students' lives
Katrina Perry teaches at Bassett High School


Now's Your Chance! Exabyte Challenge Part 2

Have you won an Apple TV for your classroom? Want an iPad as well? Create and submit a dynamic, technology-rich lesson plan involving our 4Cs: Critical thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity and show how your students can use technology to be connected globally. ITRTs will evaluate lessons in action and 30 teachers will be selected to receive an iPad to use with their students. 

Have You Noticed?

In addition to our website face lifts, there are two new features on each site that will benefit our school community. Let's Talk! is a two-way communication app. Teachers, parents, and students can use Let's Talk! to share feedback as we work to enhance the educational experience in HCPS. Translation is also now available on every school website. This feature allows the site visitor to translate all page content (excluding photos and attachments) into more than 10 languages - a fantastic feature for families whose home language is not English!

Coming Soon!

If you're not already using Remind, there's a great new reason to add it to your communication tool box. The developers at Remind have added Translate, an intelligent feature based on the language settings of the user's device. Once clicking “See Translation” above the message, users can select one of 6 languages to view translated content, and simply click “See Original” to switch back to the original message. Note, Translate will only be available to teachers, students, and parents on the Remind app.


Resource Room

Think It Up inspires public school students in grades 7-12 to pursue their passions through student-powered, teacher-led learning projects. Check it out!

Thinking about ways to further incorporate BYOT, social media and mobile devices in your classroom? Read one teacher's reflection on how to break barriers and facilitate a connected classroom.

Need some inspiration for boosting your daily classroom excitement? Learn how colleagues around the country keep their motivation high and share their infectious enthusiasm for educating today's youth. The 2015 state Teachers of the Year share their advice.

Know a fourth grader? Encourage him/her to get outdoors and see natural wonders and historic sites via the FREE Every Kid in a Park campaign. President Barack Obama created Every Kid in a Park so fourth graders and their families could discover our wildlife, resources, and history for free. Students, teachers, or parents can get a free pass on the campaign website and plan a trip to the park of their choice. #EveryKidInAPark






Announcements

 

SPCA Zombie Run details