ES Session 6: Week

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin

The scientist in me really loves this quote. Approximately 2 months ago, the world began to change rapidly. We had a call to action to adapt all our lives; for school, this meant moving our community online.

There have been many tough moments. While it is easy to get bogged down in them, it helps to focus on the silver lining. This is a time of innovation. A chance to explore new methods and re-discover the tried and true. For me, this means an opportunity to develop a new Writer’s Workshop.

In this Writer’s Workshop, heroes enter the world of science fiction. They have a mission: saving the town from radioactive sheep, surviving severe weather, or escaping the sphinx. The missions themselves are examples of science fiction and they provide a launch point for heroes to develop their own stories.

The gameboards are flexible and adaptive: heroes can complete missions at their own pace. They can choose to write many stories or focus intently on one story. Heroes chose topics ranging from astronauts to animals. The primary goal is to write! To use their imagination to create a new world.

Perhaps you need a little escapism at the moment. Here is an underwater adventure by one of the ES heroes:

Once upon a time…There was a sea turtle named Shelly and a seahorse named Zoom Zoom. Their friendship was highly unusual in the ocean world, because Zoom Zoom was the smallest of all 53 species of seahorses. In fact Zoom Zoom was less than 1inch tall! Shelly was a Leatherback sea turtle which is the largest type of sea turtle in the ocean. She was more than 7 feet long! So they really had a special relationship. Like most Leatherbacks, Shelly had great eyesight and an excellent sense of smell. That is how Shelly found Zoom Zoom one day after her 10,000 mile journey across the ocean that year. Their friendship began in a beautiful coral reef off the coast of California two years ago. The day they met, a current pushed Zoom Zoom onto Shelly’s back. At first, she did not know that a seahorse was on her back because he was so tiny! When Zoom Zoom tried to get off of Shelly’s back, Shelly then noticed the movement of Zoom Zoom, and they started to talk. They have had many adventures together ever since. 

One day, while they were swimming side by side, they spotted some litter.They both noticed that ocean pollution and litter was getting worse and worse lately. In fact, some parts of their stunning, colorful coral reef were actually turning white, and dying. Many species of fish had gone away looking for new homes.

Shelly went to try to move the litter away from the reef, but Zoom Zoom was worried. Zoom Zoom tried to stop Shelly, but she was already hard at work. Shelly was picking up a plastic ring and tried to throw it out of the reef, but a big strong current thrust it right back to Shelly. It landed around Shelly’s neck! She tried to take it off, but it was stuck! Zoom Zoom tried to help pull the ring off, but the ring would not budge.

Zoom Zoom went to get help, but while he was gone a fisherman’s boat came bobbing through the water. Some men were in the boat. They put a net around Shelly, and hoisted her into the boat. Shelly saw something gleaming in one of the fisherman’s hands, it was a knife! Shelly tried to squirm away but they held her tight, but then Shelly felt the plastic ring getting looser and looser around her neck, they were cutting the plastic ring off her neck!

Meanwhile Zoom Zoom had gotten help but he did not see Shelly anywhere! He looked for her all day, and was about to go back home to go to bed when he heard something. He swam towards the sound and found Shelly! He thought Shelly was in danger because the fishermen still had the knife in his hand. He tried to cause big waves to throw shelly out of the boat, but he could only make little splashes. 

Just then the fishermen put Shelly back in the water, and the friends swam away. Shelly told Zoom Zoom that the fishermen were helping her get out from the plastic ring, and showed Zoom Zoom that the ring was now gone! They swam back to their houses, said good night, and went to bed.   

 TVS Heroes are brilliant and adaptive. They jump into new challenges, just like this one!      

ES Session 6: Week 2

What are the benefits of a learner-driven environment? I could point to scientific studies on intrinsic motivation or educational leaders who point to the future of learning. But sometimes, it is simply easier to show you.

For the past two weeks, the Wolfpack has been learning from home. It is the ultimate test of independence. Certainly, heroes have struggled and run into obstacles, but they have also persevered, been resilient, and found success. Here are a couple of their stories.

Mission: Build a Boat

Mission: Write a science-based story

Heroes are trying a new type of Writers’ Workshop this session. They each have a gameboard and level up by writing. This story comes from The Story Spine Challenge, based on Pixar’s world-class storytelling method. The first part was created by a guide as a prompt and the second half imagined and written by a hero.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful bee named Benji. Unlike normal honey bees, he was brassy green and aquamarine blue. His colors were so exquisite, it was like he carried a painting on his back. Everyday, Benji would fly around his forest in southern Mexico. He collected nectar from flowers and even fungi, but his favorite collection spot was the Orchid flower. Oh! Benji was overwhelmed with the scents: eucalyptus rolled into vanilla and spiced with wintergreen. Nothing else smelled like an orchid.

One day, Benji was drifting through the forest and saw a special flower- a Bucket Orchid. It was most fragrant and delicious flower he had ever smelled. He landed gently on a pedal. “This smells like heaven!” he thought to himself. He couldn’t wait to collect the scent and store it for his scent collection. Benji had special scraper hairs just for that purpose.

He was leaning forward to reach the first scent-patch when ploop! He fell down into the flower and was suddenly stuck in a patch of water.

Because of that…  Benji struggled in the water for a bit, afraid of not being able to get out, or getting stuck under water and drowning, for bees can not, just like humans, breath under water. Benji really wished he had gills then he could just stay in the patch of water and not worry about getting out. He used all his strength and tried to grow gills, It did not work. “Darn!” He thought (But in bee language) He needed to find another way to get out. It could be days until a fellow bee found him.

Because of that…  Benji franticly searched for a way of escape, He wished he could rip the flower, but unfortunately he was not strong enough to do that, and he had left his tiny bee sized tools at home this day. He tried to rip the petal with his stinger, so no success, the petal was just out of reach. He could feel the oxygen becoming low, that was bad. Because bees just like humans also need oxygen. He could not move from the water. He Came to the decision if he were going to get out, he needed to get rid of this water first.

Because of that… He searched for a way to get rid of the water, he could try to dump it out. But how? He could try to move to the other side to tilt the flower.. No that wouldn’t work He is not nearly heavy enough to to tilt it. He could try to scoop it out, but to his disappointment, he did not have hands. Benji felt there was no way to escape. He had lost all hope and came the conclusion that this was his fate. But then he had an idea! If he could not remove the water the water from the flower, then he would drink it! He began to drink the water “This has to work!” He thought. He quickly drinked the water. Although it was not all water, it had hints of nectar in it, being in a flower. This did not bother benji at all it gave the water flavor. He drank until he could not any more. “Oh no!” He could not drink it all! He decided he had to try anyways. There was nothing else he could do. Three.. Two.. One.. Fly!

Until finally…  It worked! He flew he got out. He debated going back to finish the flower, but that did not seem like a good idea. He was too full anyways. Next time he would be sure to be VERY carful.

Mission: Use the past to decide the future

Two times a week, the Wolfpack comes together for Civilization. This session, they are exploring the Middle Ages from the perspective of different countries. A recent question was inspired from explorers to the New World: should the new continent have been named America after Amerigo Vespucci, Columbia after Columbus, or something else since people were already living there? A hero answered, “I think it should be something else. Columbus enslaved people and didn’t treat them fairly.” A second hero agreed, “Plus, the Vikings were actually the first ones to land in Canada.” Pretty cool to be a history buff and evaluate through a different lens.

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In sum, the heart of a learner-driven environment is that students care about the things that they create. 

Things are humming along merrily at home until that moment when your hero says, “I don’t get it! I need help.” Productivity grinds to a halt. Your hero is lost, you are lost- what to do?

Don’t worry! Heroes run into obstacles all the time in the studio. Obstacles are magical moments when a) you know your hero is invested in his/her learning and b) he/she has an opportunity for growth. This is a chance to become even more independent and empowered.

What is the next step? Here are some common scenarios with follow-up questions you can ask:

It is 1:15. Your hero just finished Quest launch and is excited to start building a boat. But she has no idea where to start and she can’t find any materials. She comes to you to ask for help.

• What resources are available to you? 
• Would you rather contact a buddy, read the challenge again, or speak to Ms. Sarah?
• Would you rather find the materials yourself or go over the schedule the night before and we can find them together?

Quests can be challenging! Even though we are not together in the studio, your hero has lots of resources: contact a running partner, join Ms. Sarah on the Zoom meeting, find the posted challenge on Journey Tracker. Some families have found that it is helpful to review the schedule for the next day each night to get supplies together.

It is time for an online meeting. Your hero knows he is supposed to be online but he isn’t sure how to join the Zoom meeting or if it is optional or not.

• Have you joined a Zoom meeting before? How did you do it?
• What do you see on the schedule that could help you?
• I notice that you’re really stuck. Would you like to email Ms. Sarah or contact your running partner?

Our heroes are pretty tech-savvy, but even technological natives are bound to run into glitches. Point your hero toward the daily schedule. Required online meetings are 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 1:00 PM. We try to keep that schedule as consistent as possible. If a meeting is optional, it will say ‘optional’ on the schedule. 

To further help heroes, there is now one Zoom meeting room for all meetings. (This is a change from previous weeks.) Additionally, there is a Zoom password as well. This password can be found at the top of the schedule, along with the Zoom link.

Your hero has been very focused for the first hour of Core Skills but now she is bouncing off the walls- literally! 

• What helps you learn best: working for a long time or intensely focusing for 20 minutes and then taking a short break?
• What kind of a break helps you reset the best? (Going outside, Yoga, Art, PE, or reading a book?)
• How could you organize your schedule to include these things?

Heroes will have almost 2 hours of morning Core Skills work every day this session. One reason is because some heroes are working very hard on earning badges before the end of the year. Another reason is flexibility. Your hero can create his/her best learning environment.

The most important thing to remember: surprise, it is possible your hero is acting differently at home! In the studio, heroes often know how to solve problems but find that it is challenging. At home, they might come to you in the hopes of an easy way out. Stay strong! Redirect with a question. Often short-term struggle leads to greater long-term success.

ES Session 6: Week 1

“The future belongs to the curious. The ones who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it, and turn it inside out.” – Unknown

This session, the heroes are on an adventure to grow their curiosity and see the world with a fresh perspective and open mind. This is the Building Curiosity Quest. The first destination was the deep sea!

“What would it be like if humans lived in the ocean?” “Will the ocean ever run out of fish?” “What effect does the moon have on the ocean over time?” 

These are just a couple of questions that drove hero research. Their research took them from the salmon runs of Alaska to the jellyfish at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.  Today, they will share their discoveries in our Research Symposium. 

The Building Curiosity Quest is a series of mini-Quests: week-long challenges with a new topic revealed each week. Even more exciting, our oldest heroes are currently designing their own quests and will lead the studio for a week on their chosen topic. 

I can’t reveal any more because I am sworn to solemn topic-secrecy but aren’t you curious about what they will choose?

ES Session 5: Week 4

I was 10 years old the last time I did a jigsaw puzzle. But yesterday, I was inspired. I unwrapped the plastic from the box and spilled 1000 pieces on my kitchen counter. 

It was going to be challenging. The picture was 50 people reading classic books, except the books had alternate titles like “The Adventures of Strawberry Finn” and “Pride and Prune Juice”. I wasn’t sure where to start so I sorted by color and clicked titles together. The challenge was fun.

Doing a puzzle is a process. All pieces are important. But you can’t see exactly where individual pieces fit without the big picture. And once you have the big picture, then you no longer see the individual pieces.

At The Village School, our big picture is that every hero who enters our doors is capable of changing the world. What are the individual puzzle pieces?

Obviously, there are a lot of puzzle pieces that make our community special. I’d like to highlight just one today: Squad Meeting.

Squad meetings happen at the beginning and end of each week. During the meeting, Squad Leaders check-in with the group and provide coaching or feedback. They ask reflection questions, like…

• What do you want to Start, Stop, and Continue?
• Which rubber band did you stretch this week: math or reading?
• What was one highlight of your week? One lowlight?

 Squads challenge each other and keep each other honest.

The meeting is an accountability puzzle piece and it is entirely learner-led.

These Squad Meetings happen rain or shine- even in a pandemic, our learners met virtually. They were flexible. One hero taught another hero how to use the screen share function. I met everyone’s pets at the Squad Leader weekly meeting.

Big picture- TVS heroes are independent learners. But their radical independence is built on interdependence within a community. And even during a pandemic, our heroes connect to make a pretty cool picture (just like puzzle pieces!)

Spark and ES Field Trip

Where can you climb a tower, pan for gems in a stream, and score the winning goal? The answer is Mason District Park!

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Yesterday, the Spark and Elementary Studios took a surprise field trip to the park. We enjoyed the spring sunshine with an afternoon of play time.

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Experts say that play is essential for children. And not just because it is fun.

Children develop critical skills through play. Yesterday, I saw our heroes improve physical coordination as they navigated the monkey bars and spinning lily pads. Heroes finding creative solutions to building bridges and forts. Older heroes playing and mentoring younger heroes. New friendships sprouting.

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The Village School is experience-driven and we strive to create meaningful opportunities both inside and out of the studio.

And sometimes you just need the perfect spot for play, like a park. We are lucky that it is right down the road!

ES Week 2: Session 5

If you are a Elementary Hero, the answer is both!

This week, the heroes began a 4-week course to becoming masters of math. This course is a series of launches and activities that emphasize important character traits for a hero (and for learning math). Character traits like…

1. Growth mindset: I’m not good at this yet…
2. “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast,” or persistence and perseverance are more important than being ‘smart’. 
3. Insight & Reflection: what tools work best for you? 

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The ES Heroes also show their creativity this week as they began Artistic Expression. This set of badges invites heroes to explore art, music, and theater. As a microschool, we are not an arts academy, but we can offer heroes an opportunity to cultivate their passions. This session, they can create an art portfolio, direct and perform in a play, or teach themselves piano.

Both programs compliment our character-based education. In a rapidly developing society, it is difficult to predict what knowledge and skills will be useful in the future. That’s why the best tool to develop for the future is yourself!

Our Heroes have been working on their Detective Quest. Part of that Quest is solving and then writing their own 2 minute mysteries. Can you figure out this one?

Part one: detective Wayne Kane drove through the city to the Microsoft headquarters. Earlier in the day, he received a very important call from Steve Ballmer, (the owner of Microsoft) that someone stole the plans for the first mass produced super computer. When he drove into the parking lot he saw someone waiting at the front door. He got out of his car and met the man at the door. He shook his hand and said, “Hello, I am detective Wayne Kane. I got your call.” “Hello Wayne. You can follow me into the room where it happened.” said the man waiting at the door. He led Wayne into the room. There was an open drawer that had a broken lock on the floor. There was also a computer on the desk. Other than that, there was a jar of paper clips on the desk, and a mini fridge on the right side. There was also some scattered papers on the floor. But oddly enough there were no keys.“What happened in here!?” said Wayne. “I wish I knew.” responded the man, “All I know is today I walked into my office, which is this one, and all this was on the floor.” “Was anyone else in here with you?” asked Wayne. “Not in here, but there were others in different rooms. “Did anyone act suspicious at all?” “Not really…” “There’s obviously something your not telling me. What is it.”

Session 5: Week 1

What a busy week in Elementary Studio!

Heroes assumed Detectives-in-Training status and began solving their first crime. They searched the scene and documented the evidence. 

They discovered fingerprints left on folders and learned how to lift off the prints. (They also enjoyed taking and identifying their own fingerprints!)

As always, Quest Badge requirements can be found on Journey Tracker. This Quest Badge is due by the end of Session 6.

In Writer’s Workshop, the Heroes will practice their technical writing this session. They will create 3 sets of instructions to be published in the TVS “Big Book of Instructions”. This will be a tool to help future generations of heroes!

On Tuesday, the Heroes crafted and baked by following instructions. They discovered that some instructions are much easier to follow than others!

On Thursday, they brainstormed the main steps of their instructions. They will write their 1st drafts next week.

The requirements for this Writer’s Workshop Badge can be found on Journey Tracker. This badge is due by the end of Session 5.

With the beginning of a new session, the heroes updated their badge plans. You can see their updated plans on Journey Tracker and feel free to ask your hero questions!

Session 4: Week 5

Travel is synonymous with flexibility. Heroes practiced it a lot on Friday when morning rain turned our schedule upside down.

We toured the Museum of Natural History and the heroes explored their passions. Geology (And the magnetic rock) was a particular favorite!

Post-lunch, the heroes went on an architectural tour of DC. They learned a lot about the buildings surrounding them and other things too… like navigating the complicated grid system of DC. Experiencing the natural consequences of jumping into a puddle (cold, wet feet) or forgetting your note cards (having to wing your presentation!) They came away with the old travelers’ adage: keep yourself warm, dry, and full of snacks.

These field trip days are special. If you had navigated cities as an elementary learner, what kind of traveler would you be today?