6/1-6/7
There are more books, podcasts, classes and websites focused on teaching adults how to set and accomplish goals than one could access in a lifetime. Our young heroes practice these skills every day. Developing the capacity to set and achieve goals is one of my favorite components of Acton Academies!
From the Spark Studio
From Miss Anna As we are nearing the end of our year, our heroes have been accomplishing huge milestones! The reading program has nine sets of drawers, with each set holding seven drawers. In each drawer, there are four language activities that the heroes must master. It is a ton of work! Our heroes that are working towards transitioning to the Fire Studio have been working so hard at completing all of these activities.
We noticed that even though they consistently talked about their plans to get through the drawers, it was overwhelming from time to time and distraction would often get in the way. As guides, we decided that we could present them a tool that they could choose to utilize or not – a quiet room where they could go. As soon as we implemented it, our heroes chose with great enthusiasm day after day to go in and work on language.
I have been blown away at how hard these 6 and 7-year-olds have been working. With the right tools, they are capable of doing incredibly challenging things! As an added bonus to this experience, our younger heroes have been catching the vision as well. One 5-year-old told Miss Jeanette this week that they’d like to master all of the red drawers before the end of the year. We don’t usually see this kind of long-term thinking from this age. I truly believe that if adults can equip children with the right kind of support, we don’t have to pull and pressure them into making progress – they can do that all on their own!
From the Fire Studio
From Kara Conversations with the heroes have been so fun as they work on their passion projects in the curiosity quest. They have chosen topics they find fascinating; therefore the steps of research and design are much less laborious than they would be with an assigned topic. When they conclude their project work for the day, they are all collaborating on some art that will be fun to share at the exhibition!
From JeVonne James Clear writes, “Goal setting is not only about choosing the rewards you want to enjoy, but also the costs you are willing to pay.” What a shift I have seen in the Fire Studio in this regard. In the beginning of the year most heroes were not willing to give up their socialization during core skills. This week perhaps half of them were using tri-folds as blocks to help them focus. Their willingness to say “not now, I am working” is soaring. And their work choice – choosing the hard work instead of the easy work – has shifted. The ability to stay focused still evades some of us at times, but the desire to sacrifice and the “costs” they are now desirous “to pay” are substantial. Each small step of progress in this regard will alter their future in small but powerful ways.
We are wrapping up our first years study of the Hero’s Journey with a challenge each morning. Tuesday’s challenge was the long term consequences that can come as we are willing to answer the call and step into the unknown. Ask your heroes how the baby food tasted!! Watching their faces was a highlight for me this week!
A necessity for a learner driven environment is peer to peer teaching and mentoring. A goal that I had for our school at large was to develop their willingness and ability to collaborate and help one another. Hopefully these pictures give you a small glimpse at how well your heroes are developing this ability.
