Sunday, August 30, 2015

Week 2: Makerspace, ELL, Weekly Recap..Oh My!




It was another busy week that began, and ended, with Makerspace presentations by our fabulous CPSREDS staff. 

We hosted the #oklaed chat Sunday night from Nance Elementary Makerspace. Each campus was represented by principals, teachers, and students that were engaged in 
centers around the room. 


Monday and Tuesday I worked with two amazing ladies WIDA testing Pre-K and Kindergarten students, it is going to be an amazing year working with these two! It has been a few years since I have worked with little ones, but one thing is still the same, they are adorable! 


Wednesday-Friday I worked on ELL binders, Home Language Surveys, and making groups at Southwest. My little room was taken over by boxes and paperwork...
                                                

Friday afternoon I produced Southwest Weekly Recap~Week 2, with  a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grader, they were spectacular! 



My week ended at the OSSBA conference Saturday morning. CPSREDS put on an "out of the box" presentation for superintendents and board members from across the state.  


As I conclude my weekly reflection I want to share a quote I recently read on twitter, 
it is worth a retweet! 



Leave a strong impression this week!
Mrs. Hime























Sunday, August 23, 2015

Week 1: Everything is New Again...

You know the old saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks", well this old dog has learned some new tricks, grown as an educator, and found herself in a new position this school year. 

After being in education for 24 years, 20 of those as a classroom teacher, which includes teaching Pre-K, high school (and every grade in-between), reading teacher, test coordinator, cheerleading coach, mentor and Teacher of the Year, I now can add ELL Interventionist/Instructional Technology Specialist to my resume. 

My first official week on the job was a very busy one... It started with ELL PD on three campuses, lunch with the Noon Lions Club to discuss a new reading program our district has purchased (Footsteps to Brilliance),  answering ELL questions on Southwest and CMS campuses, assisting teachers with Parent Contact Forms to embed on their websites, handing out Mystery Skype packets to those interested, discussing Author Skype with teachers, and producing a Southwest Weekly Recap green screen project with students. 

I was a little worried that this first week would drag, that I wouldn't have enough to fill my time, and that I would miss having my own classroom... but, even though everything is new again, it's exciting, it is very fast paced, and there has been  no time to miss having my own classroom. 

The past three years I have faithfully written a weekly reflection on the week in my classroom. I have posted daily to my class Twitter @himetimers and a picture a day on Shuttercal as a way to bridge the communication gap between school and home. I have decided to continue these but shift the focus... I will reflect upon each week as an avenue to learn and grow in my new position. I will tweet the amazing things happening at #cpsreds from @mrshime and post a picture a day on Shuttercal to document my adventures. 

Everything is New Again, learning and growing in a fabulous new school year! 
Mrs. Hime