Session 3 Week 4 in Review

Elementary Studio

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin
Let me brag about my Elementary learners! This session they have really shown out! In the last session, I informed them that in each session I would step back even further to allow them the opportunity and space to step up. When I tell you they really stepped up and me, tremendously! They have been each other’s accountability partners, excellent Zoom co-hosts, leading share-outs, answering each other’s questions with a question, and the list keeps going! I am super excited about the upcoming sessions because I know this is only the beginning!During Civilization, we continued our journey in Africa. This week we discussed the colonization of Africa and folktales. Their first challenge was to imagine they lived in a particular place in Africa during 1880 as a farmer or merchant and someone from a different country, thousands of miles away from them, says that they are now in control! Learners wrote a diary entry expressing how they would feel in this situation. The learners really took this challenge to heart and spoke of real feelings they might develop. Their second challenge was to review different folktales featuring Anansi and the spider then create their own folktale! Some of their folktales were super creative!During Story Arts, learners began crafting their inspirational speeches! After reviewing the brainstorming chart they completed earlier this session, they began completing a speech organizer that helped them build on their brainstorming ideas. During share-outs, they verbally delivered their 3-5 minute speeches to the Studio. Following each speech, their peers provided specific and quality feedback using I like, I wish, I wonder.During Quest, Mr. Varlos (a former NYCPD officer) visited our Studio to share his expertise on paying attention to detail and making observations. Learners were able to use his wisdom in combination with their knowledge from the previous weeks to create their own mystery for our exhibition guest to solve next week! They were able to create mysteries such as an escape room, hidden code, unsolved crime, ciphers/secret codes, or something else! After attempting to solve each other’s mystery, they provided constructive criticism to help one another improve! We're looking forward to presenting these mysteries to our Exhibition guests on Tuesday!

Middle School Studio

Another week down, and one more to go to wrap up Session 3! This week learners have been busy working on their Exhibition projects, tying up loose ends on their Story Arts project, and dedicating time to making progress in various areas of their badge plans. Every week at our check-ins, learners are sharing progress and it’s been so great to see how much grit and determination they have to achieve their goals each week! We are also doing our best to practice giving ourselves grace during the rough weeks when we may not reach all of our goals, knowing that we can always try again the next week.Our Forensics Quest this week was packed full of work time for groups to continue collaborating on their Exhibition projects. They evaluated and analyzed evidence, wrote out strong claims supported by evidence, and put together their final presentations to present to the “jury” next week. We also had a visit from Mr. Varlos, a former NYCPD officer (and TFS dad) who shared his wisdom about crime scene investigation with our Studios, and answered learner’s burning questions about CSI in the real world! Mrs. Kat and I continue to be so proud of how our learners are growing and stretching themselves in the ways they are problem-solving, resolving conflict, and holding each other accountable within their teams! We’ve seen some of our learners really step up and take on the leadership role in their group, and it’s impressive to see how they lead with kindness and wisdom. We can’t wait for Dream Teams to see all of the learner’s hard work come to life to assist the Innocence Project in exonerating a man who served 15 years in prison.In Civ this week, learners continued learning about the Ming Dynasty in China, and completed a maker’s challenge based on what they’ve researched the past two weeks. Learners were given three choices for their maker’s challenge, and they unanimously chose to do Option 1: Design your own replica of a Chinese porcelain vase, plate, bowl, pitcher, or cup. Learners carefully studied these beautiful porcelain artifacts from the Ming Dynasty, and created their own replicas with unique twists.For Story Arts, our Studio continued their work to develop their very own YouTube channel. We watched a video of a popular YouTuber giving advice on filming videos using simple recording devices like a phone, and how to use household items to help set up a great recording space. Then, learners used the storyboards they wrote last week to help guide them through recording each individual shot they planned out. We discussed how some of the footage was rough, and had some mess-ups, but how we can use editing techniques next week to turn that raw footage into a beautiful finished video for their channels!

High School Studio

The fourth week of Session 3 saw our studio putting some finishing touches on our Signature Learning Experience challenges so that we could have strong Exhibition and Retrospectives next week. Mid-Action Reviews, which will take place during Session 4, were introduced during Morning Launch so that learners could begin thinking about when they want to schedule their MARs, and how to put together their presentations. We also discussed overall studio health during Circles and Town Hall, and finished the week during Friday’s Morning Launch discussing the real history of Thanksgiving.Our Forensics Quest sessions consisted of group work time; small groups are working on their Exhibition projects to present to the “jury” (parents and guests!), using a folder filled with case files and evidence. Learners are drawing on the various topics covered throughout the Session to come to their final arguments. We also had a guest visitor, Varlos, a retired NYPD police officer, come to the studio to share his insights on the realities of crime scene investigation.In Civilization, we focused in on strategies to resist and refute Conspiracy Theories, covering topics such as illusory pattern perception, confirmation bias, and falsifiability.We discussed when and why to attempt to argue against a conspiracy theory, and learners chose from a variety of maker challenge prompts to come up with plans of action to stop conspiracy theories in their tracks. Next week, we will have a postdoctoral research fellow, Ricky Green, who studies the psychology of conspiracy theories, visit the studio for a Q&A.The Story Arts Public Speaking expert, Joseph Sojourner, hosted a live event on Thursday, in which learners were able to ask questions about giving inspirational speeches, participate in a live challenge, and even get feedback on their own work. We had one learner submit her speech, and she was able to hear feedback from other schools, the experts at Story Arts, and her peers. Next week, learners will give their 3-5 minute speeches during the Story Arts studio time, to complete the badge. Overall, it was another productive week in the High School Studio.