Debug. Sprint 2 Week 2

 


def learning:                   #define learning
   for t in range(life): debug  #for time in life: debug (figure it out)

One might think that programming is about creating cool stuff using code. A nerd writing lines of code and then boom… a killer app! But any programmer worth its salt will tell you that debugging—locating and correcting code errors in a computer program—is key to production, and can make up 50% of a programmer’s time.

This is no different in the life of an Acton Academy. And there’s plenty of debugging, both literally and figuratively this week. Literally, Eagles stuck it out and debugged each line of code, all because I want to tell my friends: “Check out this game I made!” Figuratively, Eagles debugged by taking the courage to correct and orientate themselves forward. Their algorithm? The Hero’s Journey!

Highlights:

  • Eagles debugging their life on a Hero’s Journey
  • Experiments in the Community
  • Going deeper in Programming Quest
  • Friday Fun: Board Games
  • Info Session

Eagles debugging their life on a Hero’s Journey

I’m going to start with a story that touched me this week.

Yes, we had the usual Monday of setting SMART Goals, Tuesday & Thursday Sports, Friday reflection and all the hard work that led to Friday fun. Circle Times, Launches, Huddles, Character Callouts, Eagle Bucks, etc. But an Eagle’s life is not defined by those terms. They are defined by overcoming key challenges in their lives—the abyss in the Hero’s Journey.

Life is going to throw you curveballs, hard times, and disappointments. The most important question is “What are you going to do about it?”

Do you wait for somebody first, or go right in?

A 7-year-old Eagle was struggling and had a hard time in school. She felt like a victim after a series of events and conflicts.

“Core Skills is stressful!”
“I don’t want to come to school again!”

In a typical private school, the parent will call the teacher, seeking and expecting intervention. But at Acton Academy, the Eagles take charge of their learning. We coach and empower each Eagle to lead a Journey Meeting. Journey Meetings are meetings that an Eagle update their parents about his learning progress, share ups and downs, and identify areas of support. The Guide, and sometimes an older peer, sit in to encourage and support. Yes, the Eagle is the driver of his own learning. Not the parent, not his friends, and certainly not the Guide.

Back to the 7-year-old Eagle. She took the courage to come back to school the next day. She shared her concerns and sought advice from one of the studio leaders.

“Why not you try doing this. Spend 30 minutes doing some of the computer challenges, take a break, spend 30 minutes away from the computer, like reading a book. Then, go back to the computer.”

An aha moment on how to balance screen time! Later, she continued her conflict resolution process with few other Eagles.

Yes, her mom did contact Ms. Caryn. Instead of having “that emergency meeting”, we opted for a Journey Meeting. So, besides resolving all the issues above, our 7-year-old Eagle prepared for the Journey Meeting—she reflected her progress so far and sharpened her goals forward. At the Journey Meeting, the Eagle gave her parents updates, and surprisingly, resolved her challenges within a day.

“I have no problems. I figured it out!”

A Hero, overcoming the abyss, goes through transformation, atonement and return with a gift. A gift of growth, a gift of courage, and a gift of love. It doesn’t end there because a hero is ready for the next call to adventure!

***

Well, not all Hero’s Journey is that dramatic. Sometimes, the Hero’s Journey might not be all about ups and down. It can be reflected in small doses.

Our youngest Eagle, for no particular reason, decided to review and organize his folders and portfolios. It prompted few other Eagles to do the same.

“I have done so much. Look look!” — Sharing with the other eagles.

He felt particularly proud of himself and was grateful for the one year’s journey at ActonKL.

“‘I love Acton! I want to be here till Launchpad and help Ms. Caryn guide!”

Launchpad is the term for high school at Acton Academy.

Experiments in the Community

This week saw some interesting experiments on self-governance: reflecting on Eagle Bucks, adapting to bad weather, and helping each other in completing their SMART goals.

Reflecting on Eagle Bucks

We had seen snarky behaviors in the usage of Eagle Bucks among the Elementary School (ES) studio. During this week’s Town hall, the ES Eagles discussed this issue.

“Let’s try to give stars to each other to encourage good behavior. Because fining hasn’t worked too well…”

We will see how it goes. It is a challenge to balance between focusing on yourself vs. others and being warm-hearted vs. tough-minded. There is no right answer. The only way to is to test out, reflect, test it again with fresh eyes.

For the Middle School (MS) Eagles. Few odd things happened this week.

Adapting to Bad Weather

The MS Eagles couldn’t do their weekly running due to the unbending rain on Tuesday. The alternative—they did the 7-minute workout challenge.

They challenged to do three sets.

”Next time we do 7”.

Eagles, I like your attitude :))

Let’s meditate

For no particular reason, one MS Eagle decided to take a pause. He sat on the floor.

“Let’s do Meditation”

For no particular reason, few others joined in.

“Relax your body. Breathe in… breathe out…”

For no particular reason, you might as well meditate right now. Close your eyes… relax your mind and watch your breathing. Breathe in… breathe out 😛

Helping Each Other

One might think that ActonKL is a rather free and easy place. The reality is far from that. Eagles have pressure based on the SMART goals that they set themselves, and Friday Fun qualifying challenge set by the Guides. This environment challenges every Eagle to balance their own and team’s work because it’s just more meaningful to have Friday Fun together.

This week, Eagles who finished stood up naturally to assist others. And this happened across studios!

Going deeper in Programming Quest

Entering Week 2, the Eagles got deeper into their Programming Quest. The MS Eagles released a retro game review website, while the ES Eagles pushed themselves hard into the plugged code.org activities. Oh yes, those crazy unplugged activities, organized by the MS Eagles. Finally, there were plenty of discussions about programming and the world we lived in.

Retro Game Review

The MS Eagles had been testing out retro games. This week, they wrote reviews and published it to the public! Here’s the page!

“What is great about retro games? They are free!”

ES Programming on fire

Many MS Eagles held back their progress due to the retro games review deadline.

Unsuspectedly, some ES Eagles caught up with the MS Eagles. “We are faster than the MS!!” — ES Eagles checking their progress on the big screen multiple times a day.

code.org live progress!

学如逆水行舟,不进则退
Study is like rowing upstream: no advance is to drop back. (Chinese proverb)

Unplugged sangat seronok

Yes, this is what Ms. Caryn said. Sangat seronok means very fun in Bahasa Malaysia. While we are an English medium learning community and an American school, our Guides grew up in multi-lingual Malaysian environments. So, we try to cultivate a touch of that in ActonKL. A bit of Chinese here, a bit of Malay there, sometimes a bit of Spanish too.

Anyways, back to unplugged sangat seronok.

Seronok menyusun. Stacking cups programming.

Eagles have to figure out how to give code consisting of turn & steps to create an algorithm to create this cup stack!

Seronok menjalan maze. Going through a maze.

maze designed and created by a team of MS Eagles

Eagles, navigate your way through this minefield by programming your “robots”!

Giving instructions to the robots through the maze. There are MS cops to ensure only robot instructions are allowed!

 “I want to be a robot. Program me!”

Seronok Robot.

The programs and unplugged coding continued through break time…

“Chuckybot, turn on and make a funny face.” All sorts of instructions from each other filled the studios with laughter and code.

Discussions about Programming and How it Affects Us

The Eagles dug deeper into various programming topic, ranging from efficient algorithms to programming in Entertainment.

A classic Computer Science algorithm challenge: Tower of Hanoi. How many steps to transfer the rings from the 1st pole to the last pole?

The Eagles discussed how has programming impacted them, and explored this topic particularly in the field of entertainment. They went through each area one-by-one: music, games, tv/movies, art and so on. They shared examples, stories, and had to think out of the box given the broadness and not-so-obvious character of the topic.

One MS Eagle quoted:

“There is no information online on how programming has changed the movie industry.”

Well, they also learned how to search on Google. The world wide web is a complicated jungle out there!

There were many moments of realization:

“Wow how would the world look like without programming. Everything is done using computers now.”

Friday Fun: Board Games

The highlight of the week is the Friday Fun. The Eagles deserved it. What better way to end the week with sharing your favorite games with your friends!

Carrom! Here’s how you lay out the board.

Friendships are forged through moments like this 🙂

Until I start building houses and hotels, and start collecting rent :P. Monopoly Malaysia version.

The truth is that not all Eagles get to play. Two Eagles did not complete the qualifying challenges and had to sit out. Tough, but necessary.

Info Session

On Friday, we ended school early to pave way for an Info Session at 2.00pm. As usual, a significant part of the Info Session is run by the Eagles.

The Eagles were excited. They were literally fighting for roles to help out at Info Session.

“Can we please help?”
“So we will have new Eagles? We must show good examples!”
“Me me me! Why can’t I do greeting/ registration/ tour guide?”

We thanked the Parents and Eagles who helped us to give prospective families insights about life at Acton Academy. Thank you to the ten families who came too.

It had been a week of excitement, hard work, challenges, and fun. Next week, the Eagles will be writing their Exhibition project pitch. It might get tougher. Hang on. Debug. You will transform.

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