Week 22: Opportunities

This year I have not had one week, day, or minute that have been the same and I have had at least one "first" each week. This has given me the opportunity to grow and learn in ways that I didn't dream were possible.  In the previous four years on Southwest campus I was confined to the third grade hallway, those were my friends and colleagues, those were the teachers that I interacted with daily. This year I have been able to work with each member of the staff and faculty and have built relationships that I would never of dreamed possible. A teacher (whom I have never met), from another school district in Oklahoma, randomly sent me a direct message on twitter this morning asking me how I got the job I have, she is very interested in pursuing something similar.  As I reflected, then shared my journey with her, I was humbled and thankful for the opportunity I have been given to serve and support others. I was also very excited that a teacher from another district sees the amazing things going on in our school, I love my job! 

Students of the Month enjoyed an hour of extra Makerspace time this week. Second and third graders helped with a "Theatre Marquee" that we hung above the door going into the green screen room. 

Maker Monday was a huge success! Thirty seven third graders and their families (totaling over 115 people) enjoyed an evening of making in the Southwest Makerspace. 

I assisted teachers with green screen projects as the January challenge ended Friday. I am so excited that eleven Southwest teachers took the challenge! All the teachers that participated were in a drawing for a grand prize, Mrs. Flores won.... she not only won a book on movie making and a director's clapboard, but a one day pass for lunch/recess duty! 

I am thrilled that two more teachers are ready to try #Mysteryskype! I worked on getting those set up this week along with videoing a Mystery Skype and more reading centers in action.  Access testing begins in one week so I completed that training along with checking on ELL classrooms. I am super excited to see the growth in these students! 

My "first" this week was presenting virtually at the Global Edcamp. I had signed up several weeks ago and did know what to expect. I choose to present through a google hangout, the title of my presentation was "Becoming a Maker". It was PLC day, so I wasn't sure what classes would be in the Makerspace, it turned out to be third graders, and they weren't shy! I traveled to each station asking what they were making, building, working on. Each table did an outstanding job of explaining. The audience consisted of educators from all around the world, I am really glad we were able to participate! 

Week 22 Weekly Recap went really well. The kids interviewed one of our veteran teachers, Mrs. Collins, she is an amazing lady! 

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey as I learn and grow each week, I love my job! 

Mrs. Hime 

Week 21: Creating Change

It was another week busy in Room 104A at Southwest Elementary...

We have a new ELL student whose home country is China! His native language is Mandarin but speaks English quite well for only being in  America for approximately one and half years. He came to Clinton through New York and Missouri. I enjoyed meeting with our "team" to set a plan in motion for this young man, I am excited to see how he learns and grows with us! 


This week I had the opportunity to video a class during reading centers. It is wonderful to see the many different ways teachers set up and implement centers in their classrooms. Each teacher is working toward the same common goal, but there are many ways to get there...



Tech Tuesday became Wireless Wednesday this week due to afterschool tutoring the second semester. Thirty-three staff members were in attendance, the largest group this year! The first 10 minutes is what I call "Share Time". All staff members are encouraged to share something innovative or techy that they have done or seen, this leads to wonderful discussion. 

 Then it was  my turn to  share one of my favorite things, this month's was a "Mystery Box". It can be used in all subjects, whole group or at a teacher table, pre-reading strategy, for book reports, inferencing, predicting, retelling, etc. 

This month I also added a challenge to all staff members that attended Wireless Wednesday... reflect each day. A  "buzzword" in our district this year has been Reflection.  A handful of our staff  are writing weekly reflections,  I thought some may want  to start smaller, reflect each afternoon, write one awesome thing that they did that day on a slip of paper, and put it in a jar. At the end of one month (our next meeting) we will open our jars and share some of the amazing things going on in their classrooms. 

"We all have moments of greatness. Let's not forget to celebrate, reflect, and revisit those..."

January's Tech Challenge to Southwest teachers was to use the green screen in our Makerspace to make a video using Doink and Videoshop apps. I was able to assist six teachers with this project this week, they turned out fabulous! 

My week ended by organizing, producing, and publishing the Weekly Recap, I can't believe this was number twenty-one! 

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey as I learn and grow each week, 
Mrs. Hime

Week 20: 3Cs...Community, Connections, Communication

I cannot believe we are into week twenty of the school year... what is that saying, "Time flies when you are having fun". 

We hosted our first Maker Monday this week at Southwest! We invited all second graders and their families to join us in the Makerspace for two hours of connecting and exploration. We had a great turnout! This was another  wonderful way to connect with our families and community. We will be hosting third and fourth grade nights in next few weeks. 

Mrs. Gaunt and I spoke at Rotary this week to share about our ELL program, Footsteps to Brilliance. We were able to connect with many community members and let them know the progress and benefits of having this program in our schools. 








Southwest also hosted Legislatures, area Superintendents, and community members into our Makerspace Friday. We were able to showcase the amazing things going on at Southwest while connecting with our community. 

Also this week  an area elementary principal visited our campus and I was able to share about our Makerspace, I videoed teachers "Best Practices", helped with green screen videos, assisted our librarian with an author skype with the fabulous Carol Ekster, and meet with ELL assistants  at Washington and the CMS. It was a busy week!

My week ended as every other week with organizing, producing, and publishing this week's weekly recap:

Thank you for allowing me to share as I learn and grow each week, I love my job!
Mrs. Hime

Week 19: Second Semester, Week One

My week began in Wichita, Kansas at the Discovery Magnet Conference. I shared two of my presentations, Exploring the World Without Leaving Your Classroom II, and "Techify" Communication Between School & Home.  This was my second time to present to the faculty and staff of Wichita Public Schools, I was thrilled to be invited back!

January Innovation & Technology News was published this week. It contained a Green Screen Challenge, a chance to obtain an OSMO Numbers kit, and information on a Global EdCamp. Tech Tuesday is changing to Wired Wednesday this semester due to after school tutoring, I hope we are able to  maintain the momentum!

I worked with our January Students of the Month to make a green screen video for one of our school board members, Mr. Anders, in honor of National School Board Appreciation Month. We made an Aura  on a card thanking him for his service to our school system.

Friday morning I was able to take Mr. Anders on a tour of the Southwest Makerspace and video Kathryn interviewing him for the Southwest Weekly Recap. Thank you Mr. Anders, #CPSREDS truly has the BEST school board members! 

Thank you allowing me to share my journey as I learn and grow each week,

Mrs. Hime 

Reflecting on Professional Moments in 2015 #Best12

I know that everyone is doing their "9" best moments in 2015, but if you know me you know that I am always a little different and that nine just wouldn't be enough. I decided twelve was a good number so here goes!

1. Himetimers 2014-2015 was such a fun group! We skyped with 43 states, 5 countries,  6 authors, several experts, had global read aloud partners from Nebraska, and had awesome facetime buddies with @gauntsgang. This group took the phrase "Global Learners" and ran with it! They were smart, critical thinkers, and most importantly we built life-long friendships.

2. Here are my sweet Himetimers again! We were the first class on SES campus to organize, produce, and publish a green screen activity. It was about our city, state, and country. We sent it to 4 countries because our time zones were so different we would never be in school during the same time. Everyday was an exciting learning adventure!

3. Tonya, Anne, and I took our show on the road during 2015, we  traveled across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas as a team.  We spent a lot of hours together, presenting, learning, and growing.  I have learned so much from these two amazing educators!

4. This was my first year to present at a national conference, TCEA. I was a little nervous, but as soon as I started talking about the things I love to do, my nerves left and I enjoyed it! I also presented at OTA and Recharge again.

5. I lived out of a suitcase the summer of 2015. I accepted a new position in my district which required a lot of professional development. My amazing colleague Mrs. Gaunt and I, traveled to Chicago and Tulsa together. Then she went to Denver and I went to Kansas. I also spent a week at the beach with my family!

6. Tonya and I were instrumental in implementing a new district ELL program this year. After many hours of professional development we visited several local civic groups to share about the program. We have hosted parent nights and worked at the district health fair too!

7. During 2015 I organized professional development opportunities for teachers in our district. I really enjoyed this. I made new friends and strengthened my old friendships as we learned and grew as educators!

8. This year I think I have been a part of more meetings than the other 49 years I have been alive. I am grateful for these meetings, that means we are progressing as a district and I am learning and growing with the best!

9. A highlight for me as an educator is to see my former students and hearing about their successes and failures, really just about their lives. I love twitter for keeping up, even right here in our district. The art teacher posts about her classes quite often and I love to see the projects the classes are working on. One post caught my eye, I commented, and the next thing I knew I had an invite to the middle school art class. I saw several former students in person, which was a special treat!

10. In my new position I have the opportunity to serve and assist teachers with ELL, innovation, and technology. It has been awesome to do Mystery Skypes, Author skypes, tech challenges, sharing a "favorite thing" each month, host Tech Tuesday's, and just share learn, and grow with the amazing teachers at SES!

11. Tech Tuesday's have grown so much  the first semester, I thought it deserved its own pic! I have loved getting to connect, share, learn, and grow with these fab educators!!

12. The Makerspace was a fairly large undertaking that took meetings and hard work to accomplish. I am so proud of the outcome! The transformation in just four short weeks was incredible, so proud to be a Clinton Red Tornado!

There are many more outstanding professional moments that I could share, but I think you get the idea: I LOVE MY JOB! My word for 2015 was "GROW", I think I nailed it...

Week 18: First Semester Complete...I Survived!

I just completed the first semester in my new position...and I survived! As I  looked back at weeks 1 thru 17 blog posts I realized that each week was so different, this week did not disappoint.

I had the opportunity to be a part of team meetings with each second thru fourth grade teacher this week. Myself, Reading Coaches, our Principal, and Asst. Principal met with each teacher to go over benchmark data. We worked as a team to make a second semester plan for each student, I think it was a success!

I hosted Innovation & Tech Tuesday this week. There was a record crowd of twenty-seven in attendance, it was a wonderful time of connecting, sharing, learning, and growing! My "Favorite Thing" this week was in honor of one of my former students that lost his life last week. Each weekend, for many years as a classroom teacher,  I wrote each member of my class a note of encouragement, and placed it on their desk before school each Monday morning. I wanted to share this story, the impact that it had in my classroom, and a few sweet stories about my former student. After sharing, I gave each person  a cute notepad, we got in a big circle,  and played a fun game. As Mr. Meget read the "The Night Before Christmas Break" each time he said "the" we passed the notepads to the left. When the poem was over each teacher was able to keep the notepad in their hand. GOOD TIMES!

One of the goals I set for this school year was to organize, produce, and publish "Southwest Weekly Recap" each week to help bridge the gap between school and home. I am so excited that I am halfway there! 

I completed the first semester by visiting with groups of teachers in the Makerspace Friday morning. I was able to take them on a "walk around", share information about each station, answer questions, and jot down ideas and suggestions. 

When is a "new" job not "new" anymore? Second semester here I come! 

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey as I learn and grow each week,

Mrs. Hime