Celebrations have spontaneously erupted this week. (To be more specific, celebrations occur normally, but this week has been more than usual.) As we near the end of our year, the Heroes’ hard work is paying off. There were so many badges earned in the first 2 weeks of this session that a mid-session Badge Celebration was added. In our time-honored tradition, we brought out the ladder and announced Heroes’ accomplishments. The music played and a mini-dance party funneled the out-pouring of emotions.
But it would be a shame to only focus on the moment of success. Hours of work go into a badge. Practice problems followed by mastery challenges, Lexia syllable parsing into full text analysis- each completed skill adding to the overall accomplishment. The process is long and arduous. While it is fun to celebrate the moment of success, it is only a moment. There is so much more benefit in enjoying the process.
There are many examples of Heroes celebrating the journey: a Hero instructing another Hero on a tough math problem, and both are laughing. A Hero in the “flow” reading on the beanbag, fully concentrating, and immersed in the experience. Three Heroes clustered around a laptop as they give feedback and point out grammatical errors on a Hero’s persuasive writing. The very act of being in the same room with a community ready to learn.
Of course, the process is not always enjoyable in the “fun” sense of the word. Heroes experience setbacks, often and small and difficult in the moment. As much as we repeat, “It is better to fail cheaply, often and now,” that mantra is hard to appreciate when you are the one struggling.
That is why it is important to redefine failure. Heroes know that failure is not a bad thing, it is an essential stepping stone to success. When you hear about a major accomplishment, you know that there were hours, days, weeks of struggles leading up to that moment. The Heroes keep this truism in mind, and voted that between celebrating the moment of success and celebrating the process, each part is equally important!
villageschoolnova.blog 