Discovery’s year is off to a thrilling start as we embark on a quest, slightly larger in scale, with 39 learners. In the past, and surely the upcoming weeks, many will raise their hands to ask questions embedded in curiosity, add on to systems that have been tried and proven, and fully lean into new experiences. Both returning and new learners have been fully dedicated to helping one another navigate the various parts of the day, scope the digital landscape of headrush, and tenaciously tackle the turf with gymnastics moves during outdoor play. Most inspiring is their ability to consistently collaborate. Just last Friday the entire studio participated in a whole studio soccer game. Similar to the intricacies of studio life, the soccer game displayed an effort of grit and determination to meet the goal (to score of course!).

Who would be goalie? How can we split up across the field to provide the best coverage for each team? Which learners could be counted on to encourage fellow learners in the tougher moments of the game with good sportsmanship? Of course everyone wanted to win, but our shared studio goal was collaboration. This was on display through moments of opposing team squeals, penalty kicks, and water breaks.

Some learners jumped up without hesitation at the idea of a whole studio World Cup game. While the others who were totally new to the experience took a second to contemplate the idea. Would it be challenging? Will I score? How can I help? On goalie duty, there was Liam for team one, and Fiona S. for team two. All other learners were playing and making themselves useful by passing the ball back and forth across the soccer field in order to score.

A zealous returning learner at TVS, described the park day for Discovery studio as a prime time experience where his leadership skills were crucial. Not only does this dedication to helping others happen on the soccer field, but also off the field! When asked what it meant to be a leader, he said “It feels good. It makes me happy, because it’s really fun. A lot of people listen to the oldest learners, because they believe them.” Here at TVS older learners get the opportunity to share their triumphs and failures with newer learners in the hope that they can gain understanding on what methods have been tried and can work. Other times experiences of oldest learners may influence newer learners to forge a pathway anew.

In soccer, forwards are the goal-makers! This returning learner’s goal setting helped greatly with getting the team to score. When asked what motivated his teams, he said “we had to lock in! That just means to focus hard, and never back down.” This is the perfect example of collaboration and how it transcends school and sports. In the end he also said, “I always try to be positive, let’s just say everyone’s negative and you’re down by a goal in soccer- you probably won’t win. But even if you have a few members that are positive you will have a better chance of scoring. It gives you motivation!” In affirming others, he was able to lead his team to an impressive comeback! One can’t help but think to themselves, Messi who?  

Another returning learner who is compassionate, brings a “can do” attitude to all aspects of our daily schedule, including the World cup game. In the studio you can often find her showing other learners how to submit work, or how to achieve mastery on Khan. As a midfielder in the game, she was frequently inspiring her teammates to remain brave and resilient. When asked about how she motivates others, she said, “It depends on what they’re doing, if it’s a unit test and they fail I’d say it’s okay. I’ve failed like six times on a unit test. I know it’s hard to not get it right, but keep going and never give up.” In fact, her good nature is what kicked the game into high gear, and allowed some of the newer discovery learners to give 100% to closing the score gap.

Mixed aged classroom settings such as this one, makes way for consistent partnership. When asked about her influence in the studio the returning learner said, ” It feels great because last year I asked all of the older learners for help. Now all of the younger learners ask me for help! It feels good to be helpful to younger learners in the studio.” Research has shown learning from a peer is far more enjoyable than more traditional learning styles. In all, the returning learner and her team were set out on having fun while putting on great sportsmanship! She said, “”I feel like we worked well on the team. In the first few minutes– it was challenging. Lots of players never played soccer before, but they got it in the end. I held my role and we each had rows. When I played goalie, I told people to attack the ball! Even though we lost, we had fun!” Just like in sports, teamwork is what fuels almost all of what we do here at TVS! 

Our first session in Discovery is Build the Team, where over the course of seven weeks, learners hone in on collaboration and communication styles in order to create a system that promotes agency. Skills that have been honed in on in the previous weeks laid the foundation for a successful and enjoyable game. This memorable moment for the Discovery studio was also teachable in areas of both strength and improvement. Collaborating can sometimes feel daunting, as if it’ll be life’s most challenging task to navigate. However, together we have kicked off a wonderful start to the school year with our team!