What Is The Difference Between A Dream And A Plan? - Year 4, Week 4
Week 4 and our first session is flying by! This week was filled with Exhibition planning, Quest and deep discussions as our Guides marveled at the continued growth of our learners.
spark studio
The saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun” and fun is at the top of our list of things to do at The Forest School. During free time the heroes created a cool challenge of who can build the best sand (rock) castle. As guides we found it refreshing to sit back, relax, and observe. The collaboration was so good. Listening to their little voices talking back and forth “team work makes the dream work”, others trying to decide how to make the biggest and tallest one, beautiful singing going on whilst working…you get the idea.
There was so much fun and discovery happening on both sides. Free time comes to an end and the judges (heroes, of course) announce a winner. You can imagine how this plays out. That’s right, it led us straight into a Socratic discussion about sportsmanship. We have to pull the positives from the experience along with validating our feelings. We love how our days fluidly flow together. Some of the best days are simply unplanned.
Preparation is underway for the Exhibition. We look forward to seeing you on our Journey & Discovery Mission as we end Session 1. We mentioned time flies so take a moment to stop what you are doing, sit down, close your eyes, listen to the silence and just breathe.
elementary studio
"The journey is never ending. There's always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what's right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment." -Antonio Brown
Heroes have taken a growth mindset approach for their Quest, Forest Got Talent. Many heroes discovered they have multiple passions, a passion they've never even considered or thought about, and some were able to find what they're passionate about! During this Quest, several heroes have failed and learned from their mistakes. One learner excitedly mentioned, "I was able to learn from my mistakes and my project actually turned out better than it was before my mistakes!" We even had learners that hit a wall multiple times and were on the verge of giving up. But, before giving up, they got encouragement from guides and fellow heroes and learned grit, built confidence, and learned to push through failure instead of fearing it. Indeed, success and failure are unimportant with this task, while the true value lies in recording and learning from their successes and failures while sharing that talent with others.
The driving question for the Forest Got Talent Quest was: How might we encourage heroes to step out of their comfort zone and find things they are passionate about that helps guide them toward their calling to change the world? The elementary heroes are showing that they were able to tackle this challenge with flying colors.
middle school studio
This week in Middle School, learners continued to build their knowledge of medical science. When should a doctor order a heart scan like an EKG? When do you recommend an MRI and what information does it show? How do you take a patient's medical history and what information is most helpful in determining a diagnosis? By stepping into the role of a doctor, learners are building a real knowledge of biology basics. How do the systems of the body work together to sustain life?
Next week, learners will showcase their learning by role playing as medical teams in a live exhibition. Some visitors will be tasked with role playing as patients and the medical teams will compete to see who can accurately diagnose the most cases. Real doctors will join the exhibition to provide expert feedback to learners on what they did well and how they can improve.
Through this practice — combining biology, medical science, theatre, and directed feedback — Middle School heroes will learn by doing. That's a pretty engaging way to build scientific knowledge. It sure beats memorizing random facts from a textbook for the sole reason of passing a test. In the Medical Quest, scientific knowledge is practical and empowering. Isn't that what learning should be like?
high school studio
"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan." - Eleanor Roosevelt
A plan without action steps is just a dream. To begin the week, heroes dissected their lives as they broke down the next five years and planned for the future. In addition, we focused solely on feedback! Heroes were able to receive feedback from experts regarding their five-year plans. Common themes that heroes heard from each expert consisted of: time blocking/timelines, motivation, and discipline. After dissecting if I were your plans, learners took a deep dive into the quest overview in preparation for next week's exhibition.
For Storytelling, Heroes worked in teams to pitch, plan, and design a photo shoot that highlighted lifestyle, black-and-white photos, business, modern art, candid photos all for a chance at their dream job or prospective school.
We ended the session tackling the topic of body image where heroes took an inner look at themselves and those around them looking not only at the outside, but the inside.
-Onward
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