Session 3 Week 5 in Review

Elementary Studio

What an awesome Session! Session 3 consisted of learners holding each other accountable, developing co-host skills on Zoom, working hard, and having fun! This session we implemented Read Aloud Mondays and the learners thoroughly enjoyed them! They were excited dive back into our book and sad to stop when our time elapsed. This break is well deserved but we'll definitely miss our studio members while we're away!Our Detectives Quest concluded with exhibition. During exhibition, learners presented their mysteries for our guests to solve! Some mysteries were more challenging than others but our guests never gave up! Following the mysteries, learners were able to read feedback provided by our guest on what they did well and how they could improve moving forward.We wrapped up Civilization by completing a Story of the World challenge. For this challenge, Elementary learners reflected on their civilization challenges throughout this session by answering a few questions that allowed them to think about the big picture. In Story Arts, learners added their final touches on their inspirational speeches. Then, they delivered them to the studio and their peers provided I like, I wish, I wonder feedback for them.

Middle School Studio

Just like that another session is under our belts! This last week of Session 3 was a busy one with Exhibition, two mini Exhibitions for learners who designed their own alternative Quests, two visiting experts, and learner-led launches! We worked hard, had some fun, and bonded more as a Studio through Circles and plenty of group challenges. Next week’s break is well deserved, and we hope everyone has a lovely time of rest and thankfulness!Our Forensics Quest wrapped up this week with a dress rehearsal on Monday, where learners got to practice their group presentations. Tuesday, our Middle and High School studios joined together for a fantastic Exhibition! After weeks of prep, each team presented their findings in a case that was taken on by The Innocence Project. They presented their evidence-based claims for Derrick Carson’s innocence to a live jury made up of parents, family members, and other guests. We ended our Exhibition by having each jury group share their verdict based on the presentations, and all juries unanimously agreed to exonerate Derrick Carson! A special thanks to Marcos and Rico for welcome guests and introducing our Quest & Exhibition!Civilization concluded with one final challenge in our Civilizations of the Middle Ages badge. Once again, learners were paired up to complete a small project that showcased the Majapahit Empire. Learners divided the topics and each contributed to the final project, which they uploaded to a shared Padlet (you view the projects here). Lastly, learners read other group’s projects and left feedback for them on something they liked, something they were wondering, and something they wished the group had done differently.The YouTube Creator badge for Story Arts concluded on Thursday with over an hour of work time for learners to edit their footage into a finished video. They then uploaded their videos to their YouTube channel where it can be viewed by audiences across the world. Editing a video is no easy task, but the learners eagerly got to work on turning their ideas into a beautifully finished story.

High School Studio

For the High School Studio, the last week of Session 3 was all about sharing work and giving and receiving feedback. Learners participated in our Retrospectives in place of our standard Morning Launches. On Monday, learners looked through their work and activities from Session 3 and chose a superlative work that demonstrated their ability to form social capital. Many learners noted that the group work they did in Quest provided them with new relationships with their peers. On Tuesday, learners did some reflective journaling on their experiences in Session 3, Wednesday saw learners working through the 360 Feedback process, and on Thursday, we had a studio celebration, which included giving individualized shout-outs to one another, and rewarding Andres with the Session 3 “Learn to Do” award.Our shared Forensics Quest with the Middle School Studio wrapped up with a bang this week! On Monday, learners practiced their presentations during our Dress Rehearsal, and worked out any group dynamic kinks before making their cases in front of the Exhibition “jury” (parents and Dream Team guests!). They were able to use the formative rubric to give themselves feedback on their presentations, with enough time to make changes to polish up their arguments and visual aids. Learners took on the role of The Innocence Project and did an incredible job sifting through a large folder of forensic evidence to make a case for exoneration of an accused suspect. Parents and guests gave fantastic feedback to the learners on their presentation and group skills, and left us guides with a lot to think about in terms of when and how to incorporate further group work into the curriculum.Our Story Arts Public Speaking curriculum ended with our speech delivery day; learners practiced their inspirational and informative speech skills in the studio, and we heard from learners on a wide variety of topics, from exercise and nutrition, to the Ukraine War, classical music, the wealth gap, and beyond. After each speech, peer feedback was shared, and learners were left with ideas on how to improve their speech content or presentation.The Conspiracy Theories Civilization unit ended up being one of the most popular and enjoyable civilization units so far this year. This week, learners took the time to edit and turn in their three challenges: common conspiracy theories (which was a group challenge), the psychology of conspiracy theories, and how to refute and resist conspiracy theories. Then, learners shared their work for each challenge while their peers asked questions and shared feedback. As a guide, I’ve noticed that the quality of learner feedback has improved over the course of the past few sessions; learners are sharing more actionable and specific feedback with one another. Overall, the work produced this session is truly special, and I hope that learners enjoy a restful break before jumping into Session 4.