Is the Goal of Negotiations To Win Or To Compromise? - Year 4, Week 12
With only 2 weeks left of this session, our learners are completely immersed in our Negotiations Quest! With the Business Fair completed, our learners now focus on finalizing their work for the upcoming exhibition and applying the skills they have learnt this session.
spark studio
What does it take to create a successful launch with a challenge? One of our Spark learners was very interested and took the initiative to create her first launch. She chose to create volcanoes out of cardboard and bottles. Teams were created and the launch was underway. To make the volcanoes erupt it was decided to use baking soda, food coloring, vinegar and/or ginger ale. Each team gave their hypothesis. In the end, Team 3 decided to mix the vinegar and ginger ale together to create “the biggest” eruption. It was a success!!
A lower elementary hero joined us for a Read Aloud to read her book. She is both the author and illustrator. Perhaps she inspired a hero or two. Afterward she was kind enough to sign our copy of her book.
elementary studio
This week elementary heroes are knee deep in negotiations and learning that trial and error are a part of being successful. As we continue our Quest, we’ve learned that negotiations are not about being the winner, but compromising to create a win-win for both parties. Heroes are able to use the tool of compromise, and make it applicable throughout the school day. Lightning heroes have been negotiating with Spark heroes about ways to keep our playground clean, which becomes a win for the entire school.
During Civilization, heroes are studying Gilgamesh and Tall Tales. They have written and illustrated their own stories while learning about how tall tales tend to exaggerate the truth. Some questions we grappled with included: Is it ok to exaggerate? Is exaggeration a lie? How can we determine when something has been exaggerated? It’s been lots of fun hearing all of their tall tales.
Finally, this week in Storytelling we have continued our memoir journey. Heroes have been going through the peer editing process to prepare their stories to be sent for even more feedback from Graide Network. As we hear some of the memoirs our learners are writing, we are intrigued by the fascinating experiences that all of our heroes have lived through. What an inspiration these stories are!
middle school studio
How do musicians approach negotiating a deal with a record label? What's involved in the back and forth between a movie production company (like Marvel) and a studio (like Trilith)? In a real estate deal, how do the seller and their agent come to an agreement with the buyer and their agent?
We're on the final stretch of our Negotiations Quest and Middle School learners are stepping into simulations (like the ones mentioned above) to try out various negotiation skills and strategies. They may "win," "lose," or "draw" in the challenge, but each experience is a glimpse into real world negotiations.
To reflect on the simulations, experts come into the Studio to discuss what actually happened. What sort of the deal did the musician make and was it worth it? How did one of the largest movie studios in the world navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and satisfy its clients at the same time? What was the agreed upon price on that piece of real estate?
After learning how the deals went down in real life, learners reflect on their own strategies. What could they do differently next time to secure a better deal?
So, Middle Schoolers are becoming better negotiators by negotiating, then reflecting, strategizing, and trying it again.
That sounds a lot like learning.
high school studio
Immanuel Kant once stated, the pebbles of knowledge must be bound together by the submit of experience.
Have you ever thought about the experiences that you go through on a day-to-day, or month to month basis and how they shape and prepare us for the next experience? Heroes have been through 4 different negotiation types including salary, music, film production, marketing asking themselves the question of which is better in any negotiation, quality or quantity? Through these negotiations they continue to gain more knowledge that will be useful for the future!
Only two weeks left in the session, with multiple negotiations underway. Heroes have reported that the session's quest has been one of the best due to the number of experts they’ve been able to come in contact with and the feedback they’ve received from their negotiations!
This week for civilization heroes cover the topic of animal abuse. It came as a surprise to the group that there was so much to debate about, but when we dissected the topic neglect, abandonment, dogfighting, and animal hoarding all arose, the real opinions surfaced. Heroes then worked in groups to dissect Hammurabi's code and create a new version of Hammurabi‘s code in today’s time.
Next week we look forward to our last two negotiations, civilization, and battling it out to see who has the best persuasive essay. Also, please remember that next week Wednesday morning HS will be completing the CWRA exam. Please make sure your learner is at school during that time. If they are unable to attend please inform Tyler or Brittney.
-Onward
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