Session 7 Week 6 in Review

Elementary Studio

And that's a wrap, folks! This week we participated in the last signature learning experiences, retrospectives, Exhibition, dress rehearsal, check-ins, and running partners for this school year!  But, there were some new beginnings as well. Our learners had the opportunity to meet each other in person, spend the day at our brick-and-mortar school (The Forest School), attend our commencement ceremony, and visit the Georgia Aquarium! Although this was our last synchronous week, it was eventful and work filled! Elementary learners participated in badge clearance meetings to help them understand the current progress of their badge plan, the last day to turn in work, and what needs to be done in order to be promoted to the next level. Congratulations to Emree for winning the Learn To Do Award for Session 7. Even though this was her first session, she jumped right into the Studio and took initiative to ask questions to her peers whenever she doesn’t understand something. She went above and beyond by creating a whiteboard at home that outlines her progress on her Badge Plan. She has shared this resource with the Studio, and it is an inspiration for her peers in how to be productive and efficient with one’s day. Shout out to Santino, Melody, and Aleem for taking advantage of Socratic launch day! Learners had the opportunity to facilitate their 2 Socratic launches on Thursday to help them get a little bit closer to completing their badge plans. Next week, learners will host After Action Reviews to showcase their journey from this school year. These have learners have developed such a strong bond with each from miles away! Farewell 2022-2023 school year, hello summertime! Until next year.“I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.” -Charles R. Swindoll

Middle School Studio

Session 7, our last session of the year, is a wrap! We had a lot to do in only 4 days this week including our end-of-session Retrospectives, our last week of Running Partners & Daily Check-ins, and our Session 7 Celebration. Congrats to the Middle School award winners: Alpha and Addison! Learners were actively submitting Challenge Docs & Badge evidence this week as they continue to prepare for After-Action Reviews, which will begin next week! Some of our learners will also be attending the in-person FSO Banquet & Commencement this weekend; we hope it’s a great time of celebration and community. We’ll meet again together as a whole school on Friday, June 2nd to celebrate together virtually - we hope to see you all there!The Nature Conservation Quest concluded this week with our final Exhibition of the year! The Dress Rehearsal on Monday was a bit bumpy, and learners had a bit of work to do to refine their projects and presentations. Tuesday rolled around, and Tanisha was our learner facilitator for the Exhibition. Everyone did a great job with their presentations; for some this was their 7th Exhibition of the year, and for others this was their very first Exhibition. Wednesday we looked over the Exhibition feedback and learners reflected on their growth throughout the year and what areas they can continue to improve in as they advance Studios.Our final Civ of the year was slightly anticlimactic, as we had no new challenges. Instead, learners were given the work time as a wrap-up day to complete any Civ challenges from the session or even from past Civ badges. They also went into breakout rooms as needed to review and approve each other’s Challenge Docs before turning them in. The time was well used and was a nice, calm way to end our Civ this session!This week in Story Arts was our live debate! There was nervous energy as learners logged on to Zoom in anticipation for their debates. Despite the nerves, our learners did a phenomenal job! We saw many excellent debates that had well formed arguments, offered plenty of evidence and examples to support their stance, and well prepared research for their rebuttals. After each debate team completed their debates, the other teams in the breakout room voted for which debater they felt presented the strongest debate overall (trying to keep their own bias aside!). A few learners were not prepared for the debate, which in itself was its own valuable learning moment. Ultimately, The Great Debate was a huge success, and Kat and I were very proud of the hard work our learners put into this experience!

High School Studio

It’s hard to believe that this is the final week of synchronous learning for the school year! The high school studio had an eventful and fun last week of the school year, despite how quickly it snuck up on us. Learners supported FSO’s first graduate, Nick, during his Mastery Credit Practicals on Monday and Tuesday morning. This was a great opportunity for learners to witness the practicals process, in preparation of their own future practicals.Learners wrapped up their Green Chemistry Quest with a dress rehearsal on Monday, and their Exhibition on Tuesday. Projects ranged from a heat powered turbine, natural botanical dyes, a bioplastic bag with seeds built in, an action plan for an animal shelter to be more Green, and more! Parents and guests remarked on the progress learners have shown with their presentations throughout the school year. On Wednesday morning, learners had a chance to review their feedback and make plans for what they want to work on next year to improve even further.Civilization time was spent reflecting on the Session 7 content, and finishing up any remaining challenge work. Our last Story Arts session of the year saw the learners taking their weeks of research and putting it into practice during their live debates! Congratulations again to all learners, and an extra shout out to the winners of the live debate.High School celebrated Carrington on Thursday morning, for being the Session 7 “Learn to Learn” winner. Then, to wrap up the school year, Kat awarded each learner with two superlatives, such as “Best Running Partner” or “Most Likely to break the silence during share outs”. It was a fun way to reminisce on the year, and celebrate each learner’s unique contributions to the studio. We will continue celebrating their specific accomplishments during each learner's After Action Reviews in the coming weeks. It’s been a fantastic year of learning and collaborating, and I wish all of the learners a fantastic summer full of both rest and adventure.