Session 5, Week 1
No matter the philosophy, I think all schools should adopt the 6-week session followed by a one-week break schedule. It’s a long enough session to have time to focus and develop ideas and short enough to sprint/work hard most of the time. The week break is refreshing. And then you get to come back to NEW…A new session question, a new quest, new squads, new Running Partners, new playlists, new councils, etc! Welcome to Session 5 and all it’s newness!
In the Spark Studio we started this session exploring tools and asking lots of questions along the way. What defines a tool? Are tools just hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, etc? What are tools used for? What can be considered a tool?
We continued asking questions and the learners decided that tools help you fix something or do something. They declared that just about anything can be considered a tool, depending on how you use it.
With tools all around us, aiding us in every task, we started asking deeper questions. Are all tools tangible? What tools help us when we are mad? Sad? Worried? One learner was getting upset over sharing some materials. Another learner approached them and said, “Take a deep breath. Like this.” In a different situation a few learners were racing to be first and knocked another learner out of the way. The racing learners stepped back. One closed her eyes, took some breaths, calmed her body and then tried again. Another situation, two learners had a disagreement. I asked, “Do you have any tools that might help you work this out?” They shouted with glee, “An I-Message!”.
On Thursday, we debated a question: Are you successful because you’re happy or are you happy because you’re successful? Learners stated that being successful means that you worked hard on something and you feel really good about what you did. The vote was split down the middle. We look forward to discussing these questions more this session as we explore what is more critical to success: Hard work or creative problem solving?
Fire Studio heroes arrived in Session 5 to find they had time traveled into the future to a time when a human colony on Mars had become so big, it was now a country (Aeropolis) with its own government, of which, they were the elected president! The excitement soon gave way to difficulty as they confronted some hard presidential decisions with no clear path forward. Mainly, would they begin a civil war? Socratic Questions dug deeper and deeper into situations that President Abraham Lincoln found himself in on a different planet and a different time, and gave a fresh perspective on the President’s Day we celebrated the day before.
Fire Studio also welcomed a new governing council for the session, discovered their new squads, completed squad challenges together, and got their first listen of the new 1980s playlist they voted on and created over the break.
Also to kick off a new session, heroes examined their studio in terms of how their accountability system (Moolahs) is working and examined possible holes in their studio safety practices. Finally, the studio’s enthusiasm and focus during Week 1 Core Skills time was inspiring to see!
On the first day of the new quest, Fire Studio heroes were welcomed into the CHOICE “E.B.A.” (Explorer of Business Administration) program. In order to earn their EBA degree, they’ll be completing challenges in exploring careers, tech and tools, and finance, and then as a final project, will be running a one-day business with their squads at the school at the end of session. They’ll be conducting market research, talking to business owners, learning accounting and record-keeping, and practicing collaboration. The goal is that by the end of the session, they’ll feel well-equipped, having participated in a business experience at school, to bring to life their own business ideas for the Children’s Business Fair in May. Throughout the session, we will examine the role of hard work and the role of creative problem solving in achieving success. When do you need one or the other? Is one more important than the other?
The DELTA Studio said goodbye to Medical Biology – and hello to Mark Rober! Day 1 of the DS Creative Engineering Quest was filled with engineering challenges. How could the DELTA Teams build boats that would not sink, catapults that could shoot at least 5 feet accurately, and safe little carriers for fragile eggs to land without cracking? Hard work or creative problem solving?
The finale for the first day was to build S’mores (what a great snack that organically initiates the gathering of friends in a circle of smiles, laughter, and conversation).
The rest of the week, the DELTAs dug in with high motivation for the Quest. They began the first two stages of the creative process – brainstorming and research.
It will be fun to watch each week as heroes discuss the Session Question while using a four step creative process (brainstorm, research, prototype, final build) to complete different builds including mechanical, electrical, and coding focused creations. They will be working individually on their first build, yet will have a lot of collaboration and brainstorming time together. Ask your hero about their idea for their first build!
Along with a new quest, the heroes came back to new Running Partners – and a more in-depth conversation about what Running Partners could actually do for one another.
As part of a renewed effort towards tribal unity we enjoyed a few team building challenges (and lots of laughter!)
The DS heroes initiated a new committee – The Excellence Committee – in order to increase excellence and streamline the process of change. But they didn’t throw away all the old… DS and FS heroes still enjoyed a fun Thursday game time.
And they didn’t forget how to dial in and work hard during Core Skills.
My aunt is a master music teacher. I attended many of her trainings over the years. One of her sayings that I remember most is “The brain needs repetition but craves spontaneity.” Maybe that is some of the magic of each new session. We have the same formats and schedules to help our brain feel the patterns and repetition it needs, but enough newness to provide the spontaneity it craves. Whatever the case, the energy, focus and newness of the first week of a new session never get old!