This poem by Clark Mollenhoff speaks well of educators’ opportunities and responsibilities.

Teachers

You are the molders of their dreams.
The gods who build or crush their
young beliefs of right and wrong.

You are the spark that sets aflame the
poet’s hand or lights the flame
in some great singer’s song.

You are the gods of young – the very young.
You are the guardian of a million dreams.
Your every smile or frown can heal or pierce a heart.

Yours are one hundred lives – one thousand lives.
Yours is the pride of loving them, the sorrow, too.

Your patient work, your touch, make you the god of hope
That fills their souls with dreams,
and makes those dreams come true.

Teachers, as molders of dreams, inspire greatness, and in doing so become … almost unnoticed and ever so humbly … great.

The Flip Model is an instructional practice where students receive foundational instruction at home. Then, when the students come to class they are ready to work-on-the-work with teacher or peer assistance, and/or participate in enrichment activities.

Ms. Fitzgerald tried this new approach for one chapter … about three weeks class time … in the hope that she could spend more time with each student. It worked.  ”I have time to help the kids and to really dig deep into concepts,” she said. “I talk to each student individually several times in one class.”

And the kids liked it. Ginny noted she was “surprised at how excited the kids were. It makes math enjoyable for a lot of them.”

Parents liked it, too. Parents would watch the instruction along with their children and know how to answer questions that they might have.

Ms. Fitzgerald plans to use The Flip Model again in February (2012). Her students are excited. They keep asking her, “When are we going to use The Flip Model?”

The kids liked it. Parents liked it. The teacher liked it. “It” sounds promising.

Ms. Stacee Johnson

Stacee Johnson, 5th grade math teacher at J. A. Vitovsky Elementary School (Midlothian ISD, TX), uses the Flip Model with her students. “Basically,” she says, “students receive foundational instruction at home. That allows for deeper instruction during class and the opportunity for students do their ‘homework’ in the classroom.”

Ms. Johnson takes about 5 minutes in the evening at her home to video a lesson and then posts it to the internet through a free, secure social learning network for teachers and students. The network allows for student-teacher interaction. For students who do not have access to the internet, she burns the same lesson to DVDs.

Stacee’s students really like the Flip Model. They learn at their own pace at home and come to class prepared for work.

The students also appreciate the opportunity to interact online with their teacher on the learning network. They can ask questions and get answers from Ms. Johnson. An added benefit to the online approach is that Stacee’s students are helping their peers with answers to their questions, too.

Ms. Johnson notes that the Flip Model is a more efficient teaching process. Now, more class time is devoted to students working on the work and less time is taken by whole group instruction. Also, there is more time for the teacher to work one-on-one or with small groups as the need arises.

Kudos to Ms. Stacee Johnson for taking it upon herself to work with a new model of instruction for the benefit of her students.

The “special” in Special Olympics is not just the kids, it also includes the people who stand by and support our children: Thank you.

____________________
More pictures can be viewed at (direct link) Basketball (Special Olympic) 2012.

Greatness is the giving of oneself in loving service to another person(s), for her good, with the expectation of receiving nothing in return.

Greatness is within the grasp of anyone who desires to reach for it.

In the figure below, “Numbers” is the few or many people who are impacted by an act of loving service. “Notoriety” is the few or many people who know about that act of love. The relationship between “numbers” and “notoriety” creates four quadrants within greatness.

Quadrant I

In Quadrant I, the act of service impacts few people and few people know about it. An example is the story of the starfish thrower by Loren Eiseley.

“While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, “It makes a difference for this one … “

If an act of loving service makes a difference to just one person, it still makes a difference, and it most certainly matters to that one person.

Quadrant II

In Quadrant II, many people are impacted by the loving act of service and, like in Quadrant I, few people know about it.

K-12 public school teachers often fall into this category on a daily basis and over the spans of their careers. Day in and day out, year in and year out, they perform countless acts of loving service for so many children … and more often than not, those acts go unrecognized.

Quadrant III

Notoriety enters into Quadrant III: The act of service impacts a few people, but many people know about it. Many of our military heroes who earned Congressional Medals of Honor fit well here: great service for a handful of men with special recognition.

Quadrant IV

In Quadrant IV, many people are impacted by loving service and many people know about the service. Mother Teresa, winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, is an example of someone who had a world-wide impact and is well known for her loving acts of service.

Conclusion

Booker T. Washington wrote, “A person who goes on an undertaking with the feeling he cannot succeed is likely to fail. On the other hand, the individual who goes at an undertaking, feeling that he can succeed, is the individual who in nine cases out of ten does succeed.”

Let us give our children the hope and desire that greatness is within their grasps.

Filed under: Inspiration, The Greatness in All of Us ]]> http://drjstewart.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/the-greatness-in-all-of-us-ii-notoriety/feed/ 0 drjstewart Screen shot 2011-12-26 at 1.47.50 PM Screen shot 2011-12-26 at 2.57.56 PM http://drjstewart.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/the-greatness-in-all-of-us-introduction/ http://drjstewart.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/the-greatness-in-all-of-us-introduction/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:24:44 +0000 drjstewart http://drjstewart.wordpress.com/?p=2400 Continue reading →]]> Everyone has the potential to be great.

That may sound bold at best and false at worse, but that is why the goal of this two-part series on “The Greatness in All of Us” is to see and understand the simplistic truth in the belief that greatness is within the grasp of anyone who chooses to reach for it.

The goal is made difficult because greatness is often seen as the same thing as notoriety – someone who is generally known or talked about. That confusion leads to a flawed, fatalistic belief: unless I am famous, I cannot be great; I am not famous nor will I ever be, therefore I am not great, nor will I ever be great.

My response to that fatalism, in the words of a famous skeptic, is, “Bah, humbug!”

Greatness Defined

What is greatness? Greatness is the giving of oneself in loving service to another person(s), for his good, with the expectation of receiving nothing in return.

Greatness Described

At its most basic level, greatness is one person serving one other person. It does not have to be one person serving hundreds upon hundreds of people, although it can be that.

At its most basic level, greatness is service or kindness shown in the most routine way.  It does not have to rise to the level of the heroic, although it can.

At its most basic level, greatness goes unnoticed to the world. It does not have to garner the attention of the masses, but it can.

Greatness: An Example

In a Panther Pride* newspaper column, Loryn Teater, a student at Midlothian High School, writes about a great person: her mother.

“My momma has springy, curly hair that bounces with every step she takes. On her face is an almost permanent smile and a pair of laughing eyes.”

The bounce, the smile, and those laughing eyes were not products of an ideal childhood. “[Loryn's mother] came from poverty … Her playground was outside in the streets that were filled with broken seashells and dangerous characters. She saw, heard and experienced things no little girl should.”

Despite that background, Loryn testifies, “One newspaper column isn’t enough to share every happy memory that I have with her, or tell you every time she’s made me laugh or held me when I cried. An entire newspaper couldn’t begin to describe how much I look up to her.”

One person. Nothing heroic. No notoriety. Yet, that mother – her name is not mentioned in the story – is a great person. If doubt remains, just ask Loryn.

The second blog in this two-part series further explains the relationship between greatness and notoriety.

________________________
*Midlothian High School student newspaper, December 14, 2011

This second update is a detailed summary of events involving the 2011 Bond. The summary of events involving the 2011 Bond is arranged in six areas (1) Architect, (2) Schematic Design Process, (3) Design Development Process, (4) Construction Manager at Risk, (5) Bond Sales, (6) Land Purchases, (7) Bond Oversight Committee, and (8) Financial Transparency.

Architect

On April 18, 2011, the Midlothian ISD School Board hired VLK, an architectural firm, to design all three projects in the 2011 Bond: High School #2, Phase 1, Frank Seale Middle School addition, and Elementary School #7.

Schematic Design Process

VLK, MISD’s architectural firm, started its work on High School #2, Phase 1, with a schematic design process.

The  schematic design process is one of five professional services that VLK provides MISD. [Note: The five professional services are (1) schematic design, (2) design development, (3) construction documents, (4) bidding, and (5) construction]. It takes the academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs the District wants for the new high school and develops a conceptual floor plan.

In this phase of development, the architects will identify (1) the general location of the building(s), (2) student, employee, and public access to the buildings and site, (3) building orientation with environmental performance considerations, (4) the number of stories for the high school and the general grouping of programs, (5) site circulation for vehicles and pedestrians, bus pick up and drop off, staff and student parking, and delivery drives, and (6) athletic facility and field arrangements.

On the district side, the MISD School Board identified programs that it would like to see included in the High School #2 at its meeting on July 18, 2011. Core academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs are on the list. Added to that list of programs were health science, horticulture, and culinary arts. [Note: It may be that some programs may be started with High School #2, Phase 2.]

Also, a  schematic design team was created. The members of the team are Ms. Robin Bullock, Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Edd Bigbee, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, Ms. Judy Walling, Assistant Superintendent for Learning, Dr. Al Hemmle, Midlothian High School Principal, Mr. Steve Keasler, Athletic Director, Mr. David Boswell, Director of Maintenance, Mr. Kirk Paschall, Executive Director of Technology, Ms. Nancy Bergvall, Instructional Technology Coordinator, and Ms. Melissa Wolfe, Executive Director of Special Education.

Over the summer months, the Schematic Design Team visited several high schools including, Byron Nelson (Northwest ISD), Timber Creek (Keller ISD), Centennial (Burleson ISD), Lone Star (Frisco ISD), Wylie East (Wylie ISD), Hollenstein Career and Technology Center (Eagle Mountain – Saginaw ISD), and High School #3 (Eagle Mountain – Saginaw ISD). The purpose of the school site visits was to gather ideas on high school designs – things that would work for and things that might not work for MISD.

VLK has taken all that information (e.g., academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs, and school site visit input) and will develop a conceptual estimate of cost to ensure that we are in budget. That information will be brought to the Board for its consderation. Once approved, VLK will begin its second phase, Design Development.

Design Development Process

Design Development is the second phase of service an architect performs for its clients. This phase began in November 2011. It includes (1) Articulate every space within the building, (2) Include all built-in cabinets, millwork, and furnished equipment in the floor plan, (3) Locate and define all utility devices in each room, (4) Determine ceiling heights, (5) Identify all building materials and finishes, (6) Incorporate all building support areas into the overall square footage, (7) Determine all building systems, (8) Determine all floor-to-floor heights and massing, (9) Determine roof elevations and drainage concepts, (10) Develop schematic grading plans, (11) Design all exterior elevations, (12) Detail all site amenities (e.g., fencing, paving, sidewalks), (13) Prepare a cost estimate for the projects, (14) Prepare a code analysis, (15) Include all accessibility elements, and (16) Conduct a geotechnical analysis. 

This phase involves many MHS teachers and administrators. As experts in the use and utility of their rooms, work areas, and other areas, their suggestions are used in the design development of HS #2. 

This phase also includes administrators from Frank Seale Middle School. Their input is used to design the additions to FSMS. 

Construction Manager at Risk

At its meeting on June 20, 2011, the MISD School Board chose the Construction Manager at Risk option as the method for which to build its facilities.

The Board, at its meeting on September 19, 2011, chose Charter Builders as the construction firm with which to enter into contract negotiations to build High School #2, Phase 1, and the Frank Seale Middle School addition. At its meeting on October 17, 2011, a proposed contract will be was brought to the Board for its consideration. The Board can accept the proposed contract, or if the Board believes that the proposed contract is not in the best interest of the district, it can reject it and, by law, move to the next construction firm in which to enter into contract negotiations.

The MISD School Board met on October 17, 2011, and selected Balfour Beatty Construction (formerly known as Charter Builders … two separate companies (Charter Builders and Spaw/Maxwell) combined as one company, under one name) as its construction manager at risk. 

Sale of Bonds

The MISD Board has approved the sale of $76 million in bonds. The sale is in the form of two bonds – one fixed rate bond at $26m, and one variable rate bond at $50m. Both bonds have been sold. MISD has received the money from the sale of the $26m bond, and it anticipates receiving the money for the $50m bond by the end of September 2011.  and from the sale of the $50m bond. Because of lower-than-predicted interest rates, the bonds, as sold, will save the MISD taxpayers millions of dollars over the lives of the bonds according to our financial advisor, Mr. Bill Gumbert (BOSC, Inc).

The bonds are for two projects: High School #2, Phase 1, and the Frank Seale Middle School addition. As of this date, there has been no decision to move forward with the construction of Elementary School #7.

[Note: Construction for High School #2 and the Frank Seale Middle School addition is planned to begin in the summer of 2012].

Land Purchase

The Board is pursuing the purchase of land (previous bond funds (2004), not 2011 bond funds) for Elementary School #7 a future elementary school. [Note: The change is to share with the reader that the School Board has the authority and needs the flexibility, given changing data, to place MISD's next elementary in the most advantageous location. Certainly, Elementary School #7 may be at this location, or it may be at a location yet to be determined. At this time, MISD does not have additional land purchases under consideration]. Parts of several Board Meetings have been were devoted to the consideration of land purchases. A decision was finalized on September 19, 2011. The contract for that land purchase, as of September 21, has had not been fully executed.

The land for an elementary school site was purchased and can be viewed at this blog (direct link): Midlothian ISD Purchased an Elementary School Site.

In addition, MISD purchased a 10 acre site contiguous to High School #2. 2004 bond funds were used for the purchase. The planned use, at this time for for the additional land is parking spaces, the flexibility to repositioning the baseball field, and band practice area. The site can be viewed at this blog (direct link): Midlothian ISD’s High School #2: Land Purchase.

Bond Oversight Committee

A 2011 Bond Oversight Committee was created by the Midlothian ISD School Board as a testament to its commitment to financial transparency. 

The two objectives of the committee are (1) monitor the use of school district funds in the 2011 bond building projects, and (2) receive information on all aspects of the 2011 bond building projects.

Members of the committee are Clint Almand, Cathy Altman, Bill Burdett, Karen Cox, Brent Crow, Jan Davis, Pat Farrell, David Fry, Roger Hall, Keith Hitt, Mike Houston, Cindy Kelly, Mike Marshall, Mark McComas, Jimmy North, Kevin O’teter, Pam Poole, Donna Smith, Kim Wiens, Jamie Wickliffe, Jennifer Wilson, and Dirk Younts.

Financial Transparency

MISD is committed to financial transparency. The overall bond budget as well as every check written to the 2011 Bond account are available on MISD’s website. Just go to MISD’s home page (direct link: http:www.midlothian-isd.net/). Then, go the right side of the page under Bond Update and click on (direct link) Bond Finance. On the Bond Finance  page you can find the overall budget under (direct link) Financial Report and all checks at (direct link) Check Registry.

For additional information, you can go to this blog (direct link): Financial Transparency: 2011 Bond and Buildings.

Conclusion

So, this That is the latest on MISD’s 2011 Bond Program. If you have questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Jerome Stewart, Superintendent MISD, at 972-775-8296 or through the comment section on this blog. Additional information can be found on MISD’s website at 2011 Bond.

One such leader is Mr. Mark Singleton, President and CEO of Citizens National Bank. In the November/December issue of Living Magazine, he wrote an article titled, “Pushing The Right Domino.”

Mr. Singleton recalled from his youth lining up dominoes or bones in such a way that  pushing the first one in line would cause all the others to fall. That activity has relevance to building communities, he noted. “… Picture that in any city, each row of dominoes is an essential element making up the bones of the community … How these [dominoes] connect often makes the difference in a winning combination … that drives a community to successful growth.

This point was made by Mr. Singleton: “So in the rows or bones of the communities making up Ellis County, which of the tiles is the correct one to push so that all the rest drop in place? I believe, without question, it is education. Every row, every dot, every bone is linked to education.”

Education is important and educators can take pride in the significant roles we play in our community.

Baylor Magazine (Winter 2011-12)

In the Baylor Magazine (Winter 2011-12), the most recent Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III, is highlighted. His incredible football accomplishments are noted, but one story adds, “Yet, there is even more. Robert is a young man of character, true integrity, selflessness and humble … [He] does the right thing on the field, off the field, in the classroom, in the community, or while being interviewed in front of millions during a live national broadcast. Above all, he is driven by a higher calling.”

It is uplifting to read about the good in collegiate athletics, and RGII represents the good.

And for every RGIII, there are thousands of high school and middle school athletes who go about their everyday lives (family, friends, academics and athletics) in stellar fashion.

What is true of RGIII and thousands of public school athletes is true in Midlothian ISD: There is a lot of good in athletics.