Nov 15-19 Exhibition Week!

Our final week of a session is a busy time! Eagles work to complete their Writer's Workshop, finish up Quest, practice the Exhibition schedule, prep the studio and auditorium, and finish the week with a  showcase of learning. 

 

Our week began with a new system and session tradition.  A few weeks ago Eagles expressed that the only thing unmeasured in our studio were character traits.  As a solution, Eagles chose to implement what Acton calls 360 Character Reviews.  Eagles were assigned 2 friends to anonymously review based on their hard work and kindness in the studio.  These reviews will be seen by Eagles when they return to Acton after the break.  Many are excited to see the feedback given by their peers and have asked many times when this will be available. 

  

In Writer's Workshop, Eagles completed their poetry unit by adding a visual art piece to accompany their poems.  Eagles were given the freedom to use various art supplies and to choose rather their words were a part of their art or simply represented in the piece. 

 

Eagles were faced with a repeating challenge this week; to accumulate a total amount of hard work time in each subject to earn seating freedom.  Last week, only 4 Eagles rose to the challenge.  This week, 6 Eagles stepped up and earned the freedom to sit anywhere in the studio during work time! I can only imagine the hard work they will accomplish by getting comfy in beanbags, sitting in rocker chairs, laying on the floor, and lounging on the couch. 

Thursday, the Quest Committee chose to completely revamp the schedule and have a "Build Day;" a day designated to finishing up work, setting up for Exhibition, and practicing their schedule. 

   

Friday's Exhibition started with a Badge Ceremony, awarding Eagles with Badges earned over the last 2 sessions. Eagles recieved a large paper badge, as well as a sticker to add to their Badge Plan on the wall. We had over 20 Badges to pass out and celebrate with family! 

The Eagles then showed off their hard work in Writer's Workshop and the poems they had created. 

   

Everyone then went down to the auditorium where visitors were given 3 Quest Bucks to buy lemonade and snack mix from the various companies.  All session long the Eagles worked with 3-4 peers to create a business strategy, learn how to best market their product and determine how to out perform their competitors.  Today, they got the chance to put everything they learned into action. 

     

The winning company, The Concession, finished Quest with 64 Quest Bucks! Their hardwork and success gave them a conversion of $64 to spend on something for the entire studio to enjoy! We can't wait to see what they choose! 

Eagles finished the Exhibition with a Question and Answer with parents.  Parents had the opportunity to ask a panel of Eagles various questions.  The Eagles were asked some tough questions about their choices throughout Quest, changes they would have made to their business, and reasons why they were successful. 

Thank you to all who joined us for the Exhibition, challenged the Eagles with tough questions, and gave honest feedback for them to consider. 

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving and well deserved break, we will see you back in the studio November 29th! 

November 8-12

 For their next step in the writing process, Eagles met with a Writing Buddy to revise their poems.  Writing Buddies are older peers invited into the studio to help Eagles make improvements.  As an older learner and often more experienced writer, Writing Buddies provide an additional perspective for our writers.  The learners loved having them in our studio and are excited to see more Writing Buddies next session! 

 

This week in Quest the Eagles reflected on their work throughout the session.  Eagles ranked themselves based on their participation, completion of challenges, and ability to focus during Quest time.  They then reflected on challenges and successes, as well as if they would choose to pursue entrepeneurship in the future.  After reflecting, the companies set to work on preparing for the Exhibition, where they will be selling lemonade and snacks to their visitors. 

 

 

 

Our Quest Committee has been hard at work the last few weeks preparing for the Exhibition.  Their job was to set the stage for the parents, create a schedule, make programs, assign jobs, work with the Emcee to create a script, and recieve approval from their fellow Eagles. 

  

To encourage hard work and increase productivity, the Eagles were challenged to earn Seating Freedom by completing 140 minutes of work in Language Arts and Math this week.  With the help of the programs, Eagles are tracking their work time each day in various programs to accumulate 140 minutes in both subjects.  This will require focus and defeating the monsters of distractions and resistance.   Only 4 Eagles earned their seating freedom next week, meaning they can choose where they sit in the studio. Congratulations on your hard work! It will be interesting to see how many friends are motivated by the reward this week! 

This week the Eagles decided to revamp their Studio Maintenance! Multiple times a week they were coming in to lost freedoms due to the Mess Monster being unhappy with they way they chose to leave their studio.  Their new Studio Maintenance is a boys vs girls challenge! Each group is given an area of the studio to clean and the cleanest area wins for the day.  The team with the least amount of points at the end of the week earns snack freedom and the chance to check areas the next week! The boys won this week and are pumped to have the freedom to eat snack at anytime! 

November 1-5

This week the Eagles learned all about cost!  They learned about the different costs associated with selling snack mix; such as the one-time costs of bowls and spoons, and the variable costs of ingredients.  The Eagles worked with their company to choose the various ingredients they wanted to include in their snack mix.  Then found how much it would cost them, as well as the amount of money they would need to break even.  Then set to work creating their product. 

      

On Friday, companies tested out their product, choices, and selling skills to see if they could make a profit.  Many learned last week that giving away free product or spending money on various items hurt their overall profit. This week was much more successful with 3 companies breaking even or making a profit.   

  

Congratulations to Company 1: Sus Lemons who won the Snack Standoff with a $3 profit!   

Poems are completed and Eagles are working to revise their pieces.  Our focus this session has been word choice.  Therefore, Eagles have been challenged to replace common words with interesting ones, use descriptive language, include metaphors, and be brave in using new words.  To earn credit for their work (a badge) each Eagle is completing a checklist showing examples of word choice in their poems. 

    

Watercolors have led to acrylics and our Eagles are learning how to properly use the materials.  This week they learned all about warm and cool colors, then were challenged to pain an animal using all warm or all cool colors. 

 

 In PE, our Eagles are being challenged to take over the role of PE Guide.  Each session they are given the opportunity to sign up with a partner. They lead their fellow Eagles in a warmup, workout, and game.  The rest of the group is challenged to respect their leading Eagles just as they would an adult.  

 

We ended our week with a boys vs. girls Studio Maintenance challenge. Each group was given a room and bathroom to clean.  Mrs. Ashley then served as the Manager to check for excellence once all Eagles had finished.  Congrats to the girls (with a score of 4 to 6, low score wins) for winning snack freedom on Monday!