Week 4: 9/15-9/21

As adults at CHOICE we struggle daily on our own Hero’s Journey. Not stepping in and fixing or solving or planning for our young heroes is a daily challenge for us.  This week both studios saw the benefit of letting the heroes lead the way!

From the Spark Studio:

From Miss Anna: I saw so much growth happen this week! It’s amazing how much more joy and freedom we are capable of experiencing when we practice self-discipline. My biggest highlight was watching them choose what to do during the work cycle. Previously, a handful of our learners would slip into more comfortable activities for long periods of time. Instead, especially near the end of the week, I saw many choose to try materials they had never worked with before – and really enjoy doing it! Although it can feel difficult as the adult to wait for them to make those decisions (we often want to jump in and “entertain” them right away), discovery, done on their own terms, leads to deeper learning and joy. 

We began our initial geography presentations this week (making a map of our surroundings, classifying things that travel on the land, air and water, learning about the Earth and its relationship to the Sun). There was a lot of interest in these topics and their accompanying “works” (materials on the shelves)! Our learners were focused, engaged and happy as they worked with them! Because of our learner-driven environment, we have the freedom to explore these topics as deeply as the learners want to. I can adapt or extend whichever topics I see interest in – we will definitely be exploring more geography next week!

From the Elementary Studio:

From Kara: There were multiple times this week during our games quest that I was very tempted to step in to mediate a situation that was feeling unfair or risky or chaotic. Without fail, when I resisted this temptation, the heroes resolved their issues themselves. They are a hard-working, compassionate group with lots of common sense and a desire to make CHOICE a great place to be. I feel privileged to spend a few hours of each day with them! We played kickball this week and it was a joy to watch them be inclusive and referee themselves.

From JeVonne: It is a hard week to pick a highlight! During our morning launches, donuts and rubber bands provided physical metaphors as we began exploring our growth mindsets. Share with your hero what you did today that put you in your “challenge zone” or share with them what size rubber band you stretched today. Let your hero explain if you don’t know what those terms mean! We will use this vocabulary all year long to describe our personal efforts.

Tournament training exploded on Thursday. We all appreciated our first “hero visit” from a local ping pong expert; thank you Zack! Ask your hero whether they are an offensive or defensive ping pong player; and they might just blow your minds with the correct ping pong rules!

I sat back in delight as I watched squads run over a mile around the turf.  While I do love running, listening to them cheer each other on and run laps for one another was definitely the best part.

Perhaps the highest highlight this week was when the Elementary Studio finished their lip dub! This was no small task. From choosing the song, the costumes, the flow, the choreography, critiquing, revising… the heroes did it all themselves.  They were oft times frustrated and grew tired of filming over and over (especially with technology challenges), but they powered through, worked together, critiqued each other, revised and ended up with a final product that they are proud of (and I think is totally awesome!!!)  They are truly an incredible group of young people. This process of creation, critique, and revision is a process we will use all throughout the year in many different genres. The heroes are excited to debut their lip dub at the exhibition; I hope you are excited to watch it!

Until next week –

Live your dreams!