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January 28, 2013

Weekly Thought: There is no more powerful engine driving anorganization toward excellence and long-range success than an attractive,worthwhile, and achievable vision of the future, widely shared..

Burt Nanus (1992, p. 3)

NOTT: JustRamblin

Just this week,we celebrated MartinLuther King Jr. byobserving our annualnational holiday in hishonor. Like many of

you, perhaps, I stilladmire this man and somuch of what he stoodfor. Although it is easyat times to forget theactual reason for manyholidays, I do try tokeep this mans noblework in mindthroughout the year.One might ask how this

personal aside relatesto our school. Well,recently, I have beentalking about our needto examine ourschool/district missionand to create a visionfor ourselves as a

school community.When considering theidea of a vision, whatbetter place to startthan MLKs I have adream speech. Hisvisionexpressed inthis brief, but powerfulspeechis a lasting

and dramatic exampleof the power that canbe generated bycreating andcommunicating acompelling vision of thefuture.

As I mentionedin a faculty meetingrecently, a schools

vision addresses thewhat question: Whatkind of school do wehope to become? or Ifwe are true to ourpurpose now, whatmight we become atsome point in the

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future? If we do notdecide what an idealParker Middle Schoollooks like, we will notbe able to adopt

programs, enact ideas,create policies, orbehave in ways thatmove us to this idealstate. Getting frompoint A to point Brequires knowingexactly where point Bis and recognizing whatit will take to get thereand what it will look like

when we arrive. Visioninstills an organizationwith a sense ofdirection. It articulatesa vivid picture of thefuture so compellingthat its members will bemotivated to worktogether to make it areality. Like a Specific,Measurable,

Attainable, ResultsOriented, and TimeBound (SMART) goal,our vision should becredible, focused onthe essential, and usedas a blueprint forimprovement.

Here are a fewrandom vision

statements I admirefrom organizationsother than K-12education, which seemto fulfill the descriptionlisted above:

1. From The SeaIsland Companyon Sea Island,Georgia: To beknown as the

finest resort andresortcommunity inthe world asrecognized byour employees,members,guests, and theindustry.

2. From a John F.Kennedy

speech: "By theend of thedecade, we willput a man onthe moon."

3. FromMcDonalds:"McDonald'svision is to bethe world's bestquick service

restaurantexperience.Being the bestmeans providingoutstandingquality, service,cleanliness, andvalue, so thatwe make everycustomer inevery restaurant

smile."4. From McCaw

CellularCommunications: To develop areliable wirelessnetwork thatempowers

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people with thefreedom totravel anywhereacross the hallor across the

continentandcommunicateeffortlessly.

5. From theUniversity ofKansas(Wichita) Schoolof Medicine:We will be thepremier centerfor community-

oriented medicaleducation,scholarship,patient care,service, andresearch. Ourleadership willrevolutionize thedelivery ofhealth care inKansas and

beyond.

Wow! Visionstatements can indeedbe powerful andmotivatingproclamations oforganizational directionand focus. At theschool level, a facultythat works together to

craft a clear, sharedvision of the schoolthey are attempting tocreate benefits in anumber of ways:

1. Shared visionmotivates and

energizespeople;

2. Shared visioncreates aproactive

orientation;3. Shared vision

gives directionto people withinthe organization;

4. Shared visionestablishesspecificstandards ofexcellence;

5. Shared vision

creates a clearagenda foraction (DuFour& Eaker, 1998).

I look forward toworking with all staffmembers in the nearfuture to co-create abold and compellingvision statement for our

school that shouldstand for the next threeto five years, at whichtime, it would need re-visiting to gauge ourprogress. As we worktogether in thisprocess, it is helpful toconsider severalquestions to guide thevision development

process:

1. What would youlike to see ourschool become?

2. What reputationwould it have?

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3. Whatcontributionwould it make toour students andour community?

4. How wouldpeople worktogether?

5. What valueswould itembody?

6. When I leavethis school, Iwould like to berememberedfor.

7. I want my schoolto be a placewhere.

8. The kind ofschool I wouldlike my ownchild to attendwould.

9. The kind ofschool I wouldlike to teach in

would.10.What could we

accomplish inthe next fiveyears that wouldmake us proud?

A vision will havelittle impact unless it iswidely shared andaccepted and connects

with the personalvisions of those withinthe school. Building acommon vision for thefuture can be a difficultprocess and can evenbeat timesacontentious process.

As we embark uponthis, we must help eachother identify commoncauses, interests,goals, and aspirations.

Every school in theworld is a uniquelearning communityrequiring a uniquevision statement. AtParker, we are blessedwith amazing students,awesome teachers,and fabulous parentand communitysupport. As a result,

creating a vision for ourschool should be anexciting venture.Thanks for joining mein this processbeginning at our nextChat N' Chews!

Having a clearand agreed upon visionfor what we want to

become and achieve isa vital way that we Livethe Dream each day.

No Excuses!

Dr. Nott

Spotlight: Staffmember

of theWeek

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O the Parker MiddleSchool Pirates! My

name is Ms. ShaquannaLittle and I am the newmath teacher at Parker

Middle School. I am soexcited to be at ParkerMiddle School.

T

I am a graduate of theUniversity of NorthCarolina at Greensborowith a Bachelor of Science degree in

Accounting. I am also agraduate of the Universityof Phoenix with a Masterof Science degree in

Business Administration.I have a two-year old sonnamed Chase. I was inthe Army Reserve foreight years beforedeciding to become ateacher. I teach becauseof my strong passion formath and kids. I am aformer Parker Pirate andam looking forward toworking with each andevery one of you.I have great expectationsfor the students in myclasses. I am lookingforward to having newstudents and easing theirtransition by buildingrelationships. I have highexpectations in my class

and I will strive to makesure students excel.I look forward to workingwith each and everystudent individually, as

well as collectively. Mybelief is that students willwork hard, but they musthave support to achievegreatness. I valuerespect, honesty, effortand integrity. I will giveeach student respect andexpect the same inreturn.

O

n January 15, 2013 at5:30pm, Parkerconducted its firstParenting PartnersWorkshops. InSeptember 2012,Mildred Oxendine,

Edith Penny, ReneeLynch and WandaCorbin-Robinsonattended a two-daytraining session tobecome CertifiedParenting PartnersFacilitators. ParentingPartners is acomprehensive,dynamic method which

combines practicalparenting skills andleadership skills to helpparents become vitalcontributors totheir children'ssuccess.

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Approximately thirtyparents of studentswho attend Parkerwere invited to attendthe workshops on

January 15, 2013.These workshops arealso being conductedat other Title 1 schoolsand everyone who hasbeen involved isexcited about beingable to provide trainingfor parents. After all,parent involvement isessential to academic

success. The ParentsPartners Facilitatorswill keep Parker Staffupdated on theoutcome of theworkshops. If thissounds like somethingin which you would beinterested, please letDr. Nottingham, Mrs.Penny or Mrs. Corbin-

Robinson know.

WOWs(Within Our Walls)

Ms. Speights 7thgrade science classesrecently culminated theirstudy of the human bodywith 2 dissection

activities. Following aweek of studying aboutthe skeletal system,students dissected an owlpellet. An owl pellet is thefur and bones of its preythat an owl regurgitates.Following video clipsabout this process and anonline dissection activity,students worked in pairsto take these pellets apart

and find bones such asthe skull, femur, tibia,vertebra, pelvis, and ribs.

In order toreinforce learning aboutthe internal organs ofhuman beings, 7th gradescientists then dissectedgrass frogs. Eachstudent completed avirtual dissection onwww.froguts.com andthen worked with theirteam in order to dissectthe actual preservedspecimen. This was agreat experience for thestudents and they wereexcited to find suchorgans as the heart, liver,stomach, intestines, andkidneys of their frog. Thisexperience providedstudents with theopportunity to gain labexperience that willhopefully help them inhigh school and beyond.

A special thanks to Mrs.Proctor and Ms. Little fortheir assistance with thisproject!

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Important

Dates

1/28Basketball vs WestEdgecombeWrestling @ CBMartinPBIS Meeting 3pm -4pm

1/29Wellington's BenefitsMeeting 1pm and

2:45pm (all staff mustattend)

Mac Air Rollout - Thisis the last meeting3pm -7pm

PTA Meeting 6:30 -7:30 pm

1/30

Chat N Chew 6thGrade 1:30pm - 2:30pm

ILC 3pm - 4:15

1/31

Wellington BenefitIndividual Meetings -Teachers Lounge 8am

4pmBasketball @ NashCentralWrestling vs NashCentral

2/1

Wellington's BenefitsIndividual Meetings8am - 2pm

2/4

Staff Meeting 3pm -4pm

Basktetball vsEdwards (last game)Wrestling @ Edwards

(last match)

2/6

Lockdown Drill 8:50 -9:50am (let meconfirm this so doublecheck with me)

2/7

EC PLC 9:30am -10:30am

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Brainteasers

1.

2. What makes thisnumber unique 8,549,176,320?

3. A sundial has thefewest movingparts of any

timepiece. Whichhas the most?

( See/Email me about thesolutions somethingspecial for the FIRST tosolve them all!!!)

What is the word

or phrase?

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Instruction in Quadrant DInstruction in highly successful schools enablesstudents to know what to do when they dontknow what to do. To gain that competence,students need to acquire depth of knowledge and arich set of skills and then be taught how toapply their skills/knowledge to unpredictablesituations in the world beyond school.Learning in Quadrant D is demanding and requiresthe student to think and work. Roles shift from theteacher-centered instruction to student-centeredlearning. Students who operate in Quadrant D havethe competence to think in complex ways and to applytheir knowledge and skills.Too often, educators get caught up in the pressure toprepare students for the next test, next grade, andnext level of education rather than doing what theyinherently understand that they should: preparestudents for the world in which they will live and work.

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