May 2016 Gateway Newsletter

May 24, 2016

Early this spring, we launched the Texas Gateway to deliver classroom-ready instructional resources and PD training opportunities to teachers across the state. To find out about the latest content, or find some best practices that align with your local initiatives and classrooms, read on and learn more about the following:

  • Quick facts about the Texas Gateway
  • Video example of how Texas teachers can use the Gateway
  • Gateway courses and integration opportunities
  • Teacher spotlight
  • Your Gateway story

Quick Facts about the Texas Gateway

Is the Gateway another name for Project Share?  No. The Gateway is a new content ecosystem focused on classroom-ready and TEKS-aligned instructional resources and PD. The most important content from the Project Share portal is now in the Texas Gateway.

What kinds of content are included in the Gateway?  Currently, TEA has thousands of TEKS-aligned instructional resources, including videos, classroom handouts, interactives, formative assessments, and many CPE-bearing professional development courses available to all Texas educators. 

Who can use the Gateway?  The Texas Gateway is a free resource provided by TEA for use by all educators throughout Texas. There are no limits to your use of the content within your school district’s buildings and classrooms. In fact, we are working with several pilot ISDs to embed Gateway content directly into their local learning management solutions.


Video Example of How Texas Teachers Can Use the Gateway

Watch our video to see how a Texas teacher is using the Gateway: 

Want to learn more about how Dr. Lopez uses the Gateway to help her students succeed? Read her story below in the Teacher Spotlight section.


Gateway Courses and Integration Opportunities

We are excited about all of the professional development courses on the Gateway. Educators can earn continuing professional education (CPE) credits by completing these self-paced online courses. Below is the list of available courses as well as courses that are coming soon. Be sure to check back throughout the summer as new courses go live.

Science Safety Courses
Review safety policies, procedures, and responsibilities that pertain to safe science instruction in classroom settings. 
Science Safety Training for Elementary School
Science Safety Training for Middle School
Science Safety Training for High School

CTE Courses
Teachers who have been assigned to teach one of the CTE courses for mathematics or science credit must participate in online training prior to teaching the course.

All teachers who haven’t already completed it should begin with Science Safety Training for High School. Teachers certified to teach math or science should also complete CTE 101: Career and Technical Education in Texas.

Teachers should then enroll in the training specific to their teaching assignments.
Advanced Animal Science Training  Coming Soon!
Advanced Biotechnology Training  Coming Soon!
Advanced Plant and Soil Science Training  Coming Soon!
Engineering Mathematics Training  Coming Soon!
Engineering Design and Problem Solving Training 
Food Science Training 
Forensic Science Training
Mathematical Applications in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Training  Coming Soon!
Statistics and Risk Management Training

Additional Courses
The following professional development courses are also available on the Gateway:
ELPS Academy
The Revised Fine Arts TEKS
Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy Tier I
Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy Tiers II & III

Watch for the following courses to go live this summer:
Implementing the ELPS in English Language Arts and Reading  
Implementing the ELPS in Social Studies    
Math TEKS (K-8) with Supporting Documents 
Math TEKS (K-8): Applying the Mathematical Process Standards 
Math TEKS (K-8): Completing the Gap Analysis 
Math TEKS (K-8): Achieving Fluency and Proficiency  
Math TEKS (Grades 9–12) with Supporting Documents  
Math TEKS (Grades 9–12): Applying the Mathematical Process Standards  
Math TEKS (Grades 9-12): Completing the Gap Analysis  
Math TEKS (Grades 9–12): Achieving Fluency and Proficiency 

The Gateway allows TEA to share courses with districts that wish to import and manage courses within their local learning management solutions. If your district would like to explore integration opportunities, please contact us at txgateway@tea.texas.gov.


Teacher Spotlight

Dr. Beatriz Lopez, a middle school science teacher at Hudson Bend Middle School, teaches five periods of grade 7 science. She has been using the Texas Gateway since March and has already seen the impact it has had on her teaching and her students’ achievement.

Like most teachers, Dr. Lopez has a broad range of learning needs across the students in her classes. “I have every kind of learner in my classes, and I am always looking for lesson extensions to help my students practice a skill or concept. The Gateway simplifies how I prepare lessons and strengthens how I support all my students.”

Soon after hearing about the Texas Gateway, she logged in and started finding TEKS-aligned resources and collecting them into online binders. Through the Texas Gateway, Dr. Lopez has access to videos, interactives, formative assessments, practice problems, and other support materials designed to strengthen classroom instruction. Dr. Lopez said, “It is easy. . .to access the Gateway and look for resources that are directly related to the objective that I’m teaching.”

Dr. Lopez and the Hudson Bend Middle School science team meet regularly to plan upcoming units, identify the needs of each class, and discuss the best way to teach the content. In a recent lesson on work and force, she used a Gateway interactive to lead her students through a kinesthetic activity. “The immediate feedback helps so much. Because we practiced a concept with one of the Gateway interactives, 100 percent of our students got that answer right on our unit test.”

The science team is now using the Gateway to add activities to their own lessons to address different needs and levels in all classes. “It helps me to individualize my teaching based on the needs of my students. I can go up or down grade levels to find and save resources for the same concepts to help my struggling and advanced learners,” Dr. Lopez says. “It is an easy, fast, simple way to reach them. Plus, students, tutors, and parents have access to it as well. I really like how it is open to everyone!”

After using the Gateway for the last few months, Dr. Lopez plans to present at her next faculty meeting to show everyone how the system works and how to use it. She thinks it will help her colleagues as much as it has helped her.

“I use it a lot in my planning period, and I’m always able to find a useful lesson extension. Other websites can go out of date quickly and links don’t always work. The Gateway is up to date, and it is constantly being updated so you can always find something new.”



Your Gateway Story

Have you been using the Texas Gateway in your classroom? We want to hear about it!

If you have tips, advice for new users, or ideas to integrate the resources in the classroom, let us know who you are and how you are using the Gateway to help your students succeed. Share your story here!