Week 3.5

Designing

This week was a busy one! We started this week by setting big goals during core skills and creating a plan to reach those goals! Each day at the end of core skills, we take some time to do a self check-in. Did we have the tools we needed to reach our goals? Did we choose the right environment for good focus? Did we support other heroes in reaching their goals, or did we distract them from their goals? These are important reflective questions that help us learn about ourselves as learners!

During project time this week, we spent time designing a studio t-shirt! The heroes all created a few different designs, then we held a voting session to pick out our favorite designs! The winner was a combination of Charlie’s tie-dye color scheme and Lola’s “I love Journey ELS” design! We can’t wait to see how these turn out!

We also held our first exhibition this week! The heroes showed how they engage with the Maker Play space, whether rolling in tubes, creating homes for grasshoppers, or building bunk beds, they continued to get creative with the supplies! The heroes also showed parents around the studio, highlighting their own desks, the library, and the silhouette game (did you guess right?!) It was fun and lighthearted. On our exhibition reflection day, the heroes claimed they felt great about their work. One particularly funny reflection was, “my mom saw that I was distracting heroes and that wasn’t so fun” – it’s all a learning process! Once you know it, you can notice it and grow!

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

We Journey Together

Week 1.5 Unifying

This past week in the ELS we spent time learning about The Hero’s Journey, and learning how to show grace for each other as we journey together this school year. As we spend more time growing as a team, we are crafting our hero contract to hold each other accountable. And, all the while, spending more time learning how to communicate, think critically, problem solve, and get creative!

Here are a few nuggets of gold from our week! (Pictures here!)

• We are in full swing of practicing our new procedures and man, do these heroes catch on quick! By Tuesday, the heroes were nestled in to their desired learning areas for core skills and focused for the entire time!
• This week in town hall meeting, Carter mentioned a desire to transition our space from tables to desks. He proposed that this would help keep the heroes organized, the cubbies clean, and help the heroes take better care of each other as they do not share work spaces throughout the day. The rest of the heroes obliged and now, the studio looks quite different, but still very Journey!
• The wind proved to be quite the obstacle during maker play! The heroes grew frustrated with materials blowing away or falling over, but persevered and found creative ways to overcome the wind obstacle!
• We began creating “play stories” after maker play to reflect about the time spent outside. These stories were so fun to hear as the heroes gave us access to their imaginations!
• Because we are a few sessions into maker play, the heroes hit a point of boredom. This boredom didn’t last long as the heroes were given time to get creative with their time! Soon, there was a discovery of new materials in the shed that were not noticed before and more creativity in the sand boxes!
• The Hero’s Journey poster looks a little different this year! The heroes who were at school on Friday spent time thinking critically about how they would illustrate and describe the different parts of the journey. This led to creative illustrations and short videos with QR codes in our room to help guide us in understanding what this hero’s journey is all about!

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend!

   The heroes have started their adventure in the first three days at EL studio. Thank you for the kindness that has showered over us as guides.  We count it a great privilege to be entrusted with your hero.  During the first days, the heroes have been experimenting with Montessori materials and beginning their core skills.

    They discussed the Hero’s Journey, how there is a call to action, accepting the challenge, facing their fears, and finding a treasure at the end.  The heroes drew a picture of that journey and these will be used to make a poster about the journey.  

   Wednesday they helped create the Journey Academy poster with their handprints,  and Thursday they painted a rock to add to Journey’s collection.  Look for both of these in the entrance and lobby.

    Friday the heroes took a stroll of discovery along the path around the Academy.  They spotted bones, fuzzy leaves, milkweed, and cactus. After the stroll, the heroes created a story about the things they saw and then drew pictures that matched the story. (These are the photos that were shared on Instagram)

  The heroes also played some games, including running to the side that matched their favorite things.  They also had a buddy day with the ES studio where they worshiped together and worked together during core skills.

   Next week on Monday the heroes will begin their discussion about the Hero’s Contract for the studio, and on Wednesday there will be a special ceremony to sign the contract,  it would be great for the heroes to be dressed up for that special day. 

Ms Denice