The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

Three YES Prep campuses rank among the top middle schools in the state of Texas

April 26, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

Three YES Prep middle Schools rank in the top 200 in the state of Texas. 

• YES Prep Southwest ranks 52

• YES Prep North Central ranks 157

• YES Prep Southeast ranks 186

For a full list of rankings, visit the Houston Chronicle database.

Continue reading Three YES Prep campuses rank among the top middle schools in the state of Texas...

--
0 Comments

Five reasons to apply to teach at YES Prep

April 24, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

The Top Five Reasons to Apply to Teach at YES Prep:

5.  We make fun videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SQHAzVXmks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TfiRIOj9xA&feature=related

4.  We work with amazing teachers

http://yesprep.org/TheAnswer/full/pastelpalooza_at_yes_prep_east_end/

http://yesprep.org/TheAnswer/full/the_ideal_yes_prep_teacher/

3.  We work with awesome students

http://yesprep.org/TheAnswer/full/yes_prep_north_central_senior_is_a_2010_dell_scholarship_winner/

http://yesprep.org/TheAnswer/full/spring_trip_qa_from_yes_prep_se_junior_adrian_turcios/

2.  We are opening our 8th campus this year

http://yesprep.org/TheAnswer/full/yes_preps_next_school_director_and_his_billion_dollar_school/

1.  We are going to triple the number of low-income Houston

Continue reading Five reasons to apply to teach at YES Prep...

--
0 Comments

Pastelpalooza at YES Prep East End

April 23, 2010 by Sarah Murphy

TAKS Prep. Common Assessments. Duty. Home Visits. Spring Trip. Grade Submission. Parent Communications. Lesson Plans. Unit Plans. Observations. Differentiation. Ahhhh! The END of the school year is chockfull of crazy just like the start of the year. So, how do you make it? How do you get teachers to come to school each day, energized and enthused, ready to close the achievement gap? 

Tough question. At YES Prep East End, we have stumbled upon one way to lighten the load. Enter PASTELPALOOZA, a friendly competition between teachers which involves a calendar of colors, a form of currency known as a ‘PEDDY’ (pastel Eddy…as in Eddy the Explorer), and a whole lot of good-natured, old-fashioned, friendly competition. 

A color of the day was communicated to teachers (e.g. creamsicle

Continue reading Pastelpalooza at YES Prep East End...

--
2 Comments

Roses are red, Mavericks are green: YES Prep Southwest poets

April 22, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

In preparation for the upcoming district writing assessment, YES Prep Southwest teachers Jeremy Tullis and Eric Newcomer have been focusing their efforts on teaching a unit about poetry. First, we had our 7th graders read lots of different poems and write analytical paragraphs about them. Recently, we switched to having our students write poetry. They've since dabbled in "found" poems, "I Am" poems, haikus, odes, and free verse poems. Below is a haiku by Sydney "Syd the Kid" Clark and an ode by Arthur "Arty the Party" Soto.

Whatever It Takes  By Sydney Clark

Whatever It Takes

Giving 100 percent

Houston will be great

Ode to My Agenda  By Arthur Soto

My agenda

Helpful, simple, progressive

It is the reminder that sticks with me and never forgets anything

It

Continue reading Roses are red, Mavericks are green: YES Prep Southwest poets...

--
0 Comments

Five Tips to increase short-term memory of your students

April 22, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

For many of our students with special needs at YES Prep, short-term memory and processing speeds are below average. It is a challenge for students to grasp information on the first try, and sometimes even with repeated information, mastery of objectives is hard to obtain. Short-term memory enables us to hold information for a brief period of time. We can use such information immediately while it is being developed, or we can forget it almost instantly.

Challenges with short-term memory tend to produce inconsistencies in: following verbal instructions; a history of having trouble studying facts, words, dates, and vocabulary; and failure to use strategies of any kind while studying. Here are some strategies that you can adopt into your classroom that will help students recall and

Continue reading Five Tips to increase short-term memory of your students...

--
0 Comments