Each year, session and even day are framed by the learning arc. A beginning launch which introduces or sets our trajectory, an arc where the learning experiences and challenges take place, and then a landing where the year/session/day is reflected upon and wrapped up. Although the landing is short, its significance should not be underestimated. Harvard Business Review claims that “Research shows the habit of reflection can separate extraordinary professionals from mediocre ones.” I claim that my own and my children’s life experiences show that a good deal of the learning actually takes place and/or is solidified during reflection. Much is lost if we don’t take the time to explore and reflect. The last week of each session is crazy, chaotic, fun and important as we wrap up and reflect on all the experiences of the past weeks.
In the Spark Studio throughout this session we explored the Olympics and the team building experience it embodies. Athletes from all over the world come together, push themselves to be better, stronger, faster, and compete while all agreeing on the same rules. Spark heroes learned about building a team with many different personalities, working together to be better, more resilient, and all agreeing to play by the same rules. Heroes created promises and signed their names to those promises. As guides, we are so impressed by the friendship and systems the heroes have already established at this point in the school year.
Just this week we saw heroes branching out and joining in with other heroes they haven’t interacted with as much previously.
Heroes are quick to check on others when they are hurt or upset.
The heroes have fine-tuned some of the studio systems so they work better for everyone. They have settled into a good routine with Studio Maintenance, making sure each job gets done. It is no small feat cleaning up after the play and creativity we see each day!
We are learning that when the heroes push back on boundaries it means they are wanting more ownership and control over their systems. Our discussions have been more meaningful as heroes are taking over more and more studio responsibilities such as managing transitions, the structure of the schedule, and asking each other to do challenging things.
We wrapped up Session 1 with an amazing Exhibition. Perhaps our favorite part was the “7 Continents” song. Seeing the heroes’ personalities shine through during a performance is priceless.
In the Fire Studio heroes spent Session 1 on an Olympic-scaled journey, exploring the question: What Call Do You Answer? Like the many Olympic heroes they discussed, Fire Studio heroes answered many calls to adventure–the call to play hard, the call to focus hard, and the call to build a studio culture that will support them through their goals.
Heroes added many tools to their belt for solving problems and being good allies and helpers to each other, including Heroic Habits, Resolution Rooms, Town Hall, 360 Reviews, Donut Reflections, and Gotchas.
Heroes celebrated all this work and discovery with their parents at a Final Exhibition, planned and executed by the heroes. It included a dramatic Contract Signing Ceremony, a Lip Dub premiere, a Core Studio Scavenger Hunt, and sharing games and snacks with their families! My personal favorite was the self-restraint heroes employed by serving their guests the snacks first!
After Exhibition heroes discussed what went well and what they would do differently next time. For example, heroes want to talk louder when they are at the microphone next time.
Heroes landed the session by discovering their studios for next session, electing their first Council of the year, and looking forward to a fresh session where heroes can use their new routines, tools, and experience to launch them into an even better Session Two.
The DELTA Studio never slowed a minute this week! With Exhibition on Tuesday, Monday and Tuesday were full of last minute Exhibition Prep and finishing session goals.
The DELTA heroes were remarkably happy with their Exhibition. They felt like it held them accountable, showed the parents what they had been doing and they had a fun time playing with their parents. THANK YOU parents for being willing to play. Finding out that they won the global lip dub competition was a great surprise that added to the excitement!
After Exhibition is over, there is still much for the DS heroes to do. Wednesday morning we went to Bountiful park for our first Misogi. Some heroes worked as hard as they possibly could. Others recognized they want to do more next time. It was fun to see the variety of challenges heroes chose.
Back at school, heroes mummified one another for Civ:
On our last day of the session heroes spent some time reflecting on which Calls to Adventure they had accepted and rejected this session (and were they still happy with those choices?), as well as which commitments they and their studio had lived excellently and which needed some focus next session. After all that reflection it was celebration time! We celebrated with those who had accomplished their session goals:
Enjoyed a blind art experience:
And made some more progress on our games tournament. The tournament will spill over into next session as there just wasn’t time to do it all!
Each end of session is a meaningful time for me to reflect on our school at large. What is going well? What do we need to focus on? What questions do we need to ask? While there is always room for improvement, growth and change, my overall feeling at the end of this session was gratitude. Gratitude for where we are landing at the end of Session 1. As I walked into the Spark Studio Exhibition, their sign summed it up well:
Welcome: be nice and kind
Yes, there are things to improve upon such as spelling, but most importantly there is a feeling of community and kindness in all studios – including the parents. Thank you for answering the Call to Adventure to join us this year! I can’t wait to launch into Session 2!