Today's Focus

By now I fully expect you to know your greatest needs in READING, MATH and SCIENCE. As our morning song is playing ("Birth, School, Work, Death")* reflect on what these are, as well as the ideal way you would like to turn these weaknesses into strengths today.

I Believe In You

104 years ago today the Ford Motor Company was created by Henry Ford and 11 associate investors. Ford cars are everywhere, a reality today that didn't exist just 100 short years ago. You were not a reality just 10-11 short years ago.

Now you are. You are here. There has never been another you. There never will be another you.

You are very special, and very magnificent. I saw this confirmed and learned this past year in your eyes and actions and test results (boy do I miss you guys as I'm remembering seeing this).

What special and magnificent things will you do with your lives? You are capable of incredible things. One way to gain insight and inspiration into how to make this happen is to study those who have already done it. Henry Ford might be one of these people for you.

Henry Ford.
Ford Motor Company

born July 30, 1863, Wayne county, Mich., U.S.
died April 7, 1947, Dearborn, Mich.

(I included the state where he was born mainly for Malcolm and Dallas, as much as it hurt me to do this :-)

He was an American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with his assembly-line methods.

Ford spent most of his life making headlines, good, bad, but never indifferent. Celebrated as both a technological genius and a folk hero, Ford was the creative force behind an industry of unprecedented size and wealth.

Remember, find those who have what you want, do what they did, and you'll get what they got.

I miss and love you all, not just for who you already are, but for who you are in the process of becoming. Never give up on yourself. Never shrink from a challenge to become more.

Never, never, become less.

You are a special gift to this world. Develop your highest self and give the gift of yourself, your unique talents and genius to the world, and make it an even better place than it already is!

When do you do it? Today. You do it every today by believing you can.

I believe in you, today, and every today.

Mr. Stuart

Your teacher whenever you still need me.

I decided to copy this post to all three other weblogs, getting the message of your confidence and courage to as many people as possible. Thank you for believing in yourselves and working as hard as much as I believed in and worked with you.

I invited them to read your comments. You DO make a difference in the world. I thank you for paying attention to how you spell those words (hint, hint :-)

Describe, Design, Do, Determine

DREAM BIG

1. Describe the problem you'd like to solve or objective you'd like to achieve

2. Design an experiment or project to explore the mystery you'd like to solve or idea you want to test
DO BIG!
3. Do it!

a. Have as much fun as you can responsibly handle.

b. ****As you search for answers, be OK with frustration and struggle. It means new learning is near. New learning means new growth. New growth means a new you (your creativity, caused by your frustration, will bring answers). Creativity creates.....you.

c. *If you are not more at the end of the day than you were when you walked in, we both have done a terrible diservice to you; disrespecting who you are, and not honoring everything you are to be!

4. Determine the amount of learning that has taken place. How? Always go back and start with what you know. In this case it's your objective or the intriguing problem you wanted answers to.

Reflect on what you've learned. Evaluate the outcome(s) of your experiment or project. Don't forget about any new or unexpected learning that might have taken place. Some great inventions were made by accident and "failure" (i.e. post-it notes).

BE BIG!
Respect who you are by turning in a paper reflecting your best effort.

Honor who you are to be by listening to new questions that come to mind and pursuing those on your own.

Differentiated Instruction

Different needs need different instruction. One-on-one, learning in pairs, small group, working by oneself, and student teaching. What's important is determining how each student learns best and teaching in a way that allows for this learning to occur (see Brain Recognition for how to do this with your own children at home).

Working one-on-one with the future Professor Lachinski.

Ryan and Mark determined to work the data.
















Working closely with the Sky Man.
















Stepping in to provide some small group instruction to guide the direction of student small groups.


















Overseeing the progress of the group's work.





















Belle finding she needs to work on part of the project separately.































Mahrukh and Bridget design a very good PowerPoint review lesson for the class.
















Bridget and Jessica display their graph of visitors to their website in both circle and bar graphs.












This was a great exercise in the application of textbook knowledge to real world problem solving and developing marketable skills.











The group of Serena, Zack, Mahrukh, Brianna, Amanda, and Summer put up their graph.









A tracker was added on this site two weeks ago. In that time, not including the United States, 37% of the visitors are from China, 23% are from New Zealand, 12% are from India, 12% from the United Kingdom, 8% from France, and 4% from Canada.







Ironically, China and India are likely to become the next two world super powers and main competitors to the United States. They rank #1 and #3 in who read about and study the accomplishments of these amazing students.

Ideally, the development of students like these and their readers from other countries will allow our nations to interact in a peaceful spirit of healthy competition and cooperation. The size of your world is the size of your mind.