Engineering, Speech-Practicing, and Teamwork in ES

Week 22: February 3 – 7

Engineering, Speech-Practicing, and Teamwork in ES

The exhibition is next week! Pieces of the “puzzle” continue to come together as the heroes put forth loads of effort, focus, and collaboration. “How-to” speeches, their final Rube Goldberg machine, pursuing their session goals, and welcoming Dr. T took center stage this week. Be sure to listen to the audio interview with two heroes at the end of this post.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. T to Journey! Noticing that Dr. T did not have a bookshelf for his books, the heroes set to work building him a temporary bookshelf. Pretty soon, design “A” required some re-engineering, so the heroes collaborated to strengthen their first design.

Tackling those session goals! Grit = long-suffering perseverance and courage.

In preparation for the “How-to” speeches, the heroes have been creating their visual aids.

This Friday and next Monday, the heroes presented/will present their “How-to” speeches before their studio peers. Feedback from each hero for each hero will provide helpful guidance for making adjustments before giving the speeches again at the exhibition. The speeches given Friday certainly reflected the heroes’ hard work with drafting, editing, rehearsing, and collaborating on their speeches. Three more speeches to go.

How long does VHS tape measure? How much video space does this amount of tape hold? How does that compare with a DVD? The heroes were shocked to discover that VHS tape is about 1,410 feet long! Predictions, before unraveling, ranged from 4 feet to 20 feet. Turns out, two pulleys were found inside each VHS!

Skip-Bo Golf game proved to be a blast! The lowest points win at the end of the game instead of the highest, like most games. Similarly, 1 Corinthians 1:18-20 shows us that through the cross, Jesus changed the rules of the game of life. No longer does power, fame, beauty, or money win at the end of our lives. Christ’s death on the cross seemed like foolishness to the world, but instead, Christ’s death enabled us to be saved from death. There are many more passages in the Bible that tell how God “changed the rules of the game of life.” See if you can find more examples.

Each partner group designed and built their section of the Rube Goldberg machine. Now, the heroes are problem solving to join the three sections together into one continuous machine. As the machine becomes longer, more failures arise. A growth mindset will continue to progress the heroes towards their goal!

Listen to this interview with two ES heroes about the Rube Goldberg quest and their final machine for the exhibition.

Have you asked your hero:

• What session goals did you reach this week? What “big rock” priority goals do you have facing you for next week?
• What parts of your Rube Goldberg machine failed this week? What changes could you make to fix those trouble spots?
• How has the process been for you of connecting your Rube Goldberg machine to the other heroes’ machine(s)?
• If 1,410 feet of VHS tape holds 4-6 hours of video and a DVD holds about the same amount of video, what do you think video storage devices will look like in the future?
• What do you think about the change in the Aleks math program to have unlimited math quick table access?
• This is week two with the new adjustments related to tracking your goals in Journey Tracker. How have these changes benefited you during Core Skill time?
• Did you give your “How-to” speech on Friday? If so, what adjustments need to be made before you give it again at the exhibition? If not, how prepared do you feel to give your speech on Monday?

See you next week!