Week 6 9/29-10/5
From the Spark Studio
From Miss Anna: We had lots of opportunities for life lessons this week. Our big focus was on boundaries – when someone asks you to stop doing something, you have to stop. We want our Heroes to know that their words are powerful and that they can use them to solve their problems. There were tons of little moments throughout the week of someone else pushing another person’s boundaries – which often led to tears, pushing, yelling, etc. I try to never step in to solve the problem (unless it’s a safety issue), but instead model the language they can use or ask what they think would be a good way to solve the problem. When the conflict comes up during our “fail-lights” at the end of the day, we role play and use the language that we need for the next time we find ourselves in this situation. We had lots of practice this week!
Our big project we tackled this week was taking some ownership over our outdoor materials! On Wednesday, we washed all the tires (a very worthwhile and engaging activity, turns out. I would highly recommend it!). On Thursday, the Heroes got to paint the tires! They were so excited and wanted to spend the rest of the day on their designs. It was such a fun way to add some personality to our “rustic” play space!
From the Elementary Studio
From Kara: This week is tournament time. A few heroes accepted a challenge that didn’t feel challenging enough. So when when the final round of the sprints was on the turf, they chose to sprint around the entire block instead! All the heroes have such different strengths. It’s great to see the heroes stretch themselves in different ways and recognize they can excel in very diverse areas.
From JeVonne: This week was full of life lessons, and with those lessons, a few tears. We had our first practice with peer feedback. Learning to both give and receive cool and warm feedback to our peers can be challenging. I thought the heroes did a good job for their first time giving thoughtful and kind feedback. They were also pretty honest about how they felt when they received cool feedback. There were a variety of emotions ranging from disappointed and sad to even a little angry. We discussed how natural this response is and how hopefully at the end of the process we end up feeling gratitude. Giving and receiving peer feedback is a life skill we will practice all year; we call it 360 feedback.
“Accept your loss like a victory”
– This is the motto the heroes choose for the tournament games. Easier said than done : )
With the stakes raising as we moved further in the tournament, so too did the competition level. There were many exclamations of “unfair” in regards to teams, games, referees, the lack of referees, etc. We hope to pull life lessons from these frustrations. There were even some tears after losses. See Reese below after she lost to her younger brother in chess for the 2nd time putting her out of the tournament. She removed herself, cried a little bit and then later on that day shared with me, “I still don’t like losing at all, but I have become a much better sport when I lose through this quest.”
Launches happen each day. Launches lead to insightful discussions. Perhaps mummifying apples wasn’t a life lesson, but it was super fun and the discussion that followed definitely was. The first question was “Is mummifying and pyramid building a waste of time and resources or an important way to honor the dead?” The second question following from last week’s discussion about the Indus valley was our most passionate question thus far. Is it better to have weapons to defend yourself and family or not have weapons at all so no one can get hurt? The heroes were split pretty even and their arguments were logical, relevant, passionate and respectful. Civil discourse – a needed life lesson. And Jeanette’s civilization activities are a highlight every week!
The heroes are also learning a lot about committees and planning as they are putting together the entire exhibition. I am really looking forward to you experiencing their planning, collaboration and hard work at the exhibition this week!
These are all important life lessons!!! I love learning with them.
Until next week –
Live your dreams!