Week Three: 9/8-9/14
Despite winds howling, trees falling and power outages elsewhere, we were safe and cozy together at school this week. I was grateful we were able to maintain normalcy and have some fun while the winds blew! Most of all, I was grateful all of our CHOICE families were safe.
From the Spark Studio
It was a challenging week for our Heroes in the Spark Studio! Our “freedom within limits” learning environment has bred a huge range of emotions and behaviors. For each of our young learners, most of whom are experiencing this type of environment for the first time, it has felt invigorating one moment, as they master a difficult work, and frustrating the next, as they forget about our “peace” guardrail and have to experience the consequence of losing some of their freedoms. As frustrating as it might feel in the moment, it’s been helpful to call on the Hero’s Journey to remind us that it is important to experience both the ups and the downs – it’s all a part of our personal growth.
I have observed that the why behind our limits are beginning to set in. Friends are giving reminders (some kind, some not so kind) when others around them are being too loud, when someone has forgotten to return their materials to the shelf, or when someone isn’t being kind. Although I’ll need to keep modeling feedback that is both honest and kind, I’m glad to see them noticing what a peaceful, productive and happy studio does and does not look like.
A truly learner-driven environment takes more work and more time, but I am confident that the payoffs will be worth every effort. After only nine days, I’ve seen so much evidence of this already and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. How lucky we are to grow and learn in such a meaningful way!
From the Elementary Studio
With the introduction of SMART goals, the heroes in the elementary studio were asked to begin pushing themselves more in core skills. Many rose to the challenge and it was awesome to see a few in “flow.” One hero even requested to keep working on his math after core skills time was over!! Setting challenging goals will be a future focus.
During quest time heroes have been training in preparation for their games tournament that will start next week. It was great to see different strengths come out as they worked on squad spirit gear for the tournament and strategized on how to gain the most “training challenge points”.
I also enjoyed watching some studio shenanigans as the heroes tried valiantly to de-throne the reigning ping pong champ and dislodge the “corner sitters.” Perhaps my favorite moment however was watching the shift in studio maintenance.
Previously studio maintenance had all been about “getting my job done.” But Tuesday I watched everyone finish their own jobs and then help each other and work until everyone was done. As one hero said this week: “We are united!”
Storm or sunshine, thanks for being with us! Until next week –