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The blue discussion rugs…a symbol of CHOICE. 😊 I often wish parents could sit and listen to the discussions their children participate in. Sometimes the questions asked are duds and the discussion falls flat and short, but far more often than that, the heroes have insightful, engaging discussions which always end sooner than the heroes prefer. (School ends at 3:00!!) Here is just a taste of the questions asked and some of the responses shared:

In the Spark Studio we used our tribe time rug as a visual Challenge Donut. While standing on the outside edge, Question, “What was in your panic zone?” Answers: “I thought this work was going to be in my panic zone but it wasn’t.” We all stepped to the middle portion of the rug. Question, “What was in your challenge zone?” Answers: “Studio maintenance, language drawers, waking up this morning.” We all stepped to the center of the rug. Question, “What was in your comfort zone?” Answers: “coming to school, getting ready for school, a particular work.” 

We read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The question, “What is this book REALLY about?” Answers: “a boy and a tree, you should be happy with what you have, be nice and kind to everyone, if you don’t have something maybe you could use what you have.” The question, “Was the boy ever really happy, yes or no and why?” Answers: “No, he was always grumpy and wanted more.” “Yes, he was only happy once and that was when he was a kid.” 

After reading Frozen and discussing Anna’s Call to Adventure, we introduced Mr & Mrs Victimhood and identified when Elsa chose a Victim mentality, running away from a problem rather than facing it.

Question during lunch, “What helped your brain grow most today?” Answers: ” math, reading, language works but I’m 1/2 way done, being brave and getting my shot, working hard in Studio Maintenance, language, learning letters, map of Asia, reading, math stamp games, language and reading.”

In the Fire Studio opening launches and closes this week revolved around doing hard things. For example:

After watching a video introducing Dean Karnazes, heroes were asked, “Dean Karnazes believed struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. Agree or disagree?”

After trying an activity that the heroes didn’t like, heroes were asked “What is harder: Training your brain to like something you don’t currently like? Or the actual doing of something you don’t currently enjoy?”

Socratic discussions during quest referred to business related questions such as:

Referring to the train thefts in L.A. “Who should do something about this?Union Pacific (it is their problem and they should fix it with more guards and better locks) OR Union Pacific and Amazon and other companies who are losing packages (they should contribute financial help).

Another quest launch asked: “Is greed always bad? Yes or No?”

At first most heroes agreed that greed is bad. But as the discussion progressed heroes pointed out that you can be greedy for things besides money, like ideas or knowledge or status or excellence, and that’s not bad; that wanting lots of money wasn’t necessarily bad, but it’s maybe more about how you use it; and that rich people usually have produced something of value that people (customers) want to pay money for. Many heroes changed their point of view. Some maintained their original position. A great Socratic discussion.

Other discussions were less Socratic and more reflection based. Such as,

“What do you want to train your brain to like doing?”

  • Answers: Waking up and staying up, piano, stopping reading when its time, spelling and reading, practicing piano, math, reading, math, vegetables, vegetables, pushups, not being shy, lasagna, focus, math, falling off an edge while skiing, being ok playing soccer every day, writing, laundry, stop eating too much candy, going to bed on time, stop being scared of bad guys that can kidnap me every single night, stop complaining, training my brain to wait, getting stuff out in the morning, going to bed on time instead of reading, not give up when something is hard, to wake up in the morning, to be happier and more patient, like reading more, to like to do hard things

At the end of the week, heroes were asked “What was the most challenging thing you did this week?”

  • Answers: Beast puzzle called mind sweeper, Beast, Civ, lifting up the cushions, Nessy and Beast, Badge book, Lit circle, being interested in the Lit circle book, Marbology, running away from a dog, Youcubed, lifting up the cushions, Khan, making a pyramid, arm wrestling, accepting that I couldn’t go to school on Tuesday (she was sick), Nessy, Marbology, Marbology, not getting distracted, finishing a Beast chapter, Marbology, finishing a badge book, getting ready to talk with our business mentor, Youcubed, finishing 2 Beast chapters, not having very much excitement that I have completed 20 lessons of dreambox, waking up and staying up.

Pictures of Youcubed…

Pictures of doing things the heroes didn’t like (spelling, looking silly in front of others, getting their face messy)…

Whether discussions are reflection or Socratic, have an activity launch or a story launch, they encourage heroes to self-reflect, think through both sides of an argument, share their opinion, listen to others’ opinions, disagree respectfully, change their opinion or stand their ground. This is the ability to find and share their voice. The ability to find and share our voice is a skill that will bless all of our lives in every situation. Bless those discussion rugs!!