What Is The Recipe For Growth? - Year 4, Week 10
This week our learners partook in fascinating maker challenges and continued their investigation of the moon all while continuing their quest to be master negotiators! Do you know how to make a good deal?
spark studio
We have BIG news in the Spark studio.
Six learners have made it to the 100 Club. What’s the 100 Club you ask? Once you have learned 100 sight words you get to join the 100 Club. Congratulations to our six learners on their accomplishment!
Do you remember Mexican jumping beans? Mexican jumping beans are seed pods that have been inhabited by the larva of a small moth and are native to Mexico. The "bean" is usually tan to brown. It "jumps" when mildly heated. They are from the shrub Sebastiania pavoniana, often also referred to as "jumping bean." We decided to have a Mexican jumping bean contest. The anticipation was wildly fun!
Has your hero asked you about the moon? Did you happen to notice the full moon on Wednesday evening? Some of the learners came in the next day and said they saw a face on the moon! We are planning to take the moon for a walk coming up soon. Details will be forthcoming.
elementary studio
Session 3 is off to a strong start in the Elementary studios! Our heroes are busy reflecting and writing about their personal experiences in Storytelling as they begin drafting ideas for their memoirs. After creating mind maps and grappling with idea development, both upper and lower elementary studios are on their way to capturing their experiences by writing about memorable events in their lives.
Our heroes are actively using their new skills from our Negotiations Quest both in and outside of the studio! With a focus on compromise, our Quest challenges this week introduced our heroes to preparing for and participating in negotiations. These negotiations even extended to recess as the heroes compromised on how to share space while playing together. Civilization also took an exciting turn as we shifted our focus towards ancient Egyptian Mythology and belief systems.
The heroes thoroughly enjoyed creating their own gods, goddesses, and temples while discussing the religious beliefs of ancient Egyptians and comparing it to modern religions! Guides and heroes alike are excited to see what the rest of the session will bring. The heroes are also planning a costume party for next Friday! Details for the party will be announced early next week.
middle school studio
Want to make a deal?
This week, Middle School learners launched into the Negotiations Quest by stepping into a real world contract negotiation. Learners negotiated in pairs, with one role playing as a famous actress and the other as a successful producer. The actress wanted a higher salary and the producer was working to keep the film below budget. Who got what they wanted?
Learners received feedback on their performance and coaching tips from a Hollywood agent then jumped into another simulation, this time negotiating the finer points of a marketing contract. With this rhythm — practice, feedback, coaching, reflection — learners will grow as negotiators throughout this session. The final exhibition will be a live negotiation showcase.
What if school were the sort of place where you learned how to differentiate between a good and bad deal? What if you had repeated practice at negotiating for better terms and advocating for what you thought was best? We're stoked that learners —elementary through high school — are getting this practice!
high school studio
I can’t believe we have already made it to Session 3! This year is flying by already.
Let’s negotiate!
This week in the High School Studio we began by examining last session's 360 feedback/peer reviews. By far, this was the best feedback the studio has seen in the three years of high school! We invite you to discuss the 360 feedback with your hero!
Following a discussion of 360 feedback, we launched into the Negotiations Quest where heroes learned and in real world time negotiated salaries, One including a $1 million contract, and the other their own future personal salaries. They then received feedback from a world renowned negotiator.
Moving throughout the week, heroes continued to work on their Learner Designed Courses, as well as covering the topic of music history during Civilization. We also went on the first college tour of the year, touring Georgia State University. Heroes reflected, some truly enjoying the school and others left needing more from a university. This session heroes will be introduced to Storytelling where they will write essays, one persuasive and the other argumentative, which will end in a debate on the final day of storytelling.
As we approach the Apprenticeship Quest next session, heroes have been digging deep and trying to solidify apprenticeships for Session 4. With that being said, three heroes in the Studio have solidified an apprenticeship with a few mainstream musicians in the industry. They are very excited about what’s to come!
To end the week, we had our first “Circle” of the school year. This was a truly eye opening moment for our Studio! Heroes opened up about personal things that they may have going on and as a whole the Studio created a safe space for people to share. They showed maturity and empathy as they continued to get to know one another.
Also, next week is spirit week!
Monday- gender bender
Tuesday- character day
Wednesday- white lie day
Thursday- historical figure day
Friday- red carpet day
-Onward
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