Week 20: 2/2-2/8
As guides we came back this week hoping to empower our heroes with tools to work through specific challenges we observed the previous week. The heroes grasped onto these tools, and had a great time while doing it! These heroes are so fun!
From the Spark Studio
From Miss Nina Next week is my last week covering for Anna. Knowing I won’t be around as much after next week, I relished the amazing things going on at CHOICE. I am so grateful to work with a team of guides that strive to set up an environment that allows children to learn more than the skills targeted in a curriculum, and live up to the title of heroes.
In the spark studio we talked about intrinsic motivation and tried to bring more attention to it as we tracked it by filling a jar with warm fuzzies. Warm fuzzies represented such things as:
- working hard and seeing progress
- persisting even though a work was hard
- serving others
- doing more than required because the work was enjoyed
We also implemented extrinsically motivated “respect marbles.” Tribe time saw a significant increase in peace and the heroes loved the cooperative game time Thursday afternoon.
As I reflect on the past week, the word I keep coming back to is joy. There was joy in being a tribe; there was joy in our work cycle, and there was joy in our quest. We look forward to sharing our quest at Exhibition!
From the Elementary Studio
From Kara Towards the end of any quest, thoughts of the upcoming exhibition have a way of focusing efforts and accelerating the pace of work of the heroes. It’s great to watch the teams coalescing and drawing on each other’s strengths in accomplishing difficult and time-constrained challenges.
From JeVonne Developing self-motivation and self-discipline is no small feat. Each hero came to CHOICE on a different path of this particular journey. This week we recognized that we were half way through the year. I asked the heroes who felt like they were on track with where THEY wanted to be in their badges and who felt like they weren’t. The heroes who didn’t feel like they were on track compared with where THEY wanted to be, self-selected and began a mini focus group on habits of excellence. I felt like they did an extremely honest job of self-selecting. I loved that the heroes evaluated their own individual progress and then chose the habit of excellence they thought would help them most. Developing self-discipline is slow and heroic work, yet one of the most important skills they have the opportunity to learn at CHOICE. I am honored to watch it.
My highlight of this week was working through conflict resolution tools with the heroes. We were only going to play “Emotion Commotion” once, but the heroes (and myself) enjoyed it so much we played 4 different times. Who knew we had such talented actors and actresses?? 🙂 Ask your heroes for repeat performances.
After acknowledging, recognizing and putting a name to different emotions we practiced a conflict resolution process. While I’m sure the Jolly Ranchers had a motivating influence, it was inspiring to observe the honest, vulnerable, and humble discussions and resolution of conflicts that I know have been long lasting.
CHOICE heroes are hard working, willing to be vulnerable, honest with themselves, eager to change and develop, and so good at having fun. It is an honor to learn and develop with them on a daily basis. They are doing important work.