Weekly Updates
Preschool / Spark Studio (PS) Update
Natural Consequences
Let me tell you a story about natural consequences.
The PS Eagles use materials to learn Math concepts. These tools are displayed in trays on shelves in the studio. At work time, each Eagle is assigned to different materials that will challenge their work level. After completing work with the materials, the Eagles are expected to tidy up, rearrange the materials to their original state and return them to their places on the shelves.
There is one particular material that is always left in a mess in its tray. The tray itself is returned to its assigned space, but the materials on the tray are always in disarray.
Fast forward 2 Sprints laters, 2 Eagles decided to tidy up this particular material. They arranged the number cards into their categories and sizes. Kudos to them! Another 2 Eagles followed their good example and did the same for another similar set of materials and kudos goes to them too!
Why did these Eagles decide to tidy up after 2 long Sprints? They finally got fed up of the frustration of spending so much time sifting through untidy piles in search of a particular number. It affected their enjoyment of the work, their work points and resulted in unachieved work goals. The frustration had built up to a point where a handful of Eagles decided, “We HAVE to do something about this”. They stood up and said, “Let’s clean up!”
Subsequently, the other Eagles realised how much better it was when the material was organised properly and they cooperated and arranged them back properly upon work completion. It took a handful of initiators to set something right.
This scenario is not without some setting up, stepping back and trusting in the process from the Guides. It’s a beautiful (although hair-tearing) process.
Happy Birthday Azalea!
Azalea celebrated her 6th birthday as a beautiful fairy and shared delicious cheese tarts with her friends. May your magic continue to change things for the better, Azalea!
Elementary Studio (ES) Update
Empathy: A Wrinkled Heart
The Eagles were shown this powerful visual portraying the effect of unkind words or behaviours on the emotional heart. The activity was a simple but poignant reminder to be empathetic towards others and to watch our words and actions.
The Eagles realised that some damage, once done, cannot be undone: “Oh … maybe I can keep my wrinkled heart between big thick books to smooth out my heart … but I do not think so because there are fine lines …”.
Quest – Climate Change
Apsara and Jared led this week’s quest into climate change. The Eagles agreed that it was something important to talk about and affect change in. “Our planet is warming. If we do not act now, all the animals, including humans, will die.” They realised that it’s not an option to consider, but: “It is a need! I think all of us have to act now to prevent climate change!”
Writer’s Workshop
This Sprint, the challenge is to write a research paper into something that piques the ES Eagle’s curiosity. Talk of cats, flooring, science, and rocks flew around the studio during last week’s brainstorming session and the Eagles finally captured 4 main ideas about their chosen topic that they wanted to focus on.
This week, the Eagles moved into the planning stage of the paper. An Eagle acknowledged that: “It is important to plan my writing so that I don’t get confused.” They used a (K)now (W)ant (L)earn table to note down what they already know about their topic, what they want to explore further, and left a column to fill in what they will learn along the way. This will allow them to systematically tunnel deeper into their chosen topic.
Many interesting questions were posed: “Did you know that the Earth’s atmosphere can trap and reflect greenhouse gases? That’s what keeps us warm!” These fascinating questions fired the Eagles up for the next stage of the process – research.
Xania’s Birthday Celebration
Happy Birthday to Xania! Keep growing in light, love and curiosity! Xania shared her delicious homemade cake with her friends to celebrate another year of growth.
Fun Friday – Water Balloon Fight!
After a hard week of project and writer’s workshop work, the Eagles who successfully set and achieved balanced SMART goals as well as completed the weekly reflection were rewarded with a wet and wild afternoon of water balloon fights. This reward was a hit: “Can we have this as Fun Friday again?”
The list of requirements for Fun Friday were set early on in the week so that they Eagles were fully aware of the expectations and could plan accordingly. Almost all of them qualified, so good job, ES Eagles!
Middle Studio (MS) Update
Collaboration Time
To increase Intentionality, Squad Leaders Dhanya and Aqeesha asserted the no working in Chillax during Collaboration Time rule. They also rearranged the seating of both Squads, and there were immediate results! Congratulations MS Studio!
Observation Skills
The MS Eagles truly enjoyed playing detective to uncover what killed the subject of the painting “Chatterton”. This gave them the opportunity to hone their observational skills as ActonKL doctors in training.
Haidan deduced that, “Chatterton died of drug overdose. The open window shows that he might have opened it to vomit outside – that’s how they threw refuse in the 18th century – out the window.”
Aqeesha challenged Ra’ees, “He looks so young, so I don’t agree with Ra’ees’ opinion that he died of a heart attack.”
The Eagles went all out to deduce the cause of death using only visual clues and they all agreed that this was the most fun and interactive Huddle of the entire week.
Townhall Meeting – Can you Beat the Medical Games?
Two medical games – Septris and Sicko – were set as challenges to the MS Eagles to see how they would fare under pressure. During the Townhall Meeting the general feedback was that the games were too challenging and they didn’t see the point in them. Morris shared: “I felt like I was just pushing buttons at random.” Hou Yienn lamented: “In my first game, I killed 4 of my patients!”
Mr. Daniel assured the MS Eagles that these games were, indeed, challenging, but the objective was not to intimidate them. Rather, it was to illustrate the real world stresses of the medical world. If too much time is taken to find a cure, the patient deteriorates and dies. If the wrong treatment is given, the patient might also die.
The MS Eagles realigned with the objectives of the games and went for a 4th round on Friday. Aqueesha scored 12,800 points in Septris, the top score of the Studio.
Occam’s Razor
Sometimes the MS Eagles are introduced to non-challenge games like Occam’s Razor. There are 4 ways to play this card game. The Eagles played the ‘Spoons’ version in which they match the Symptom, Test, and ‘Clincher’ cards to the Illness Cards. Not all the Eagles were interested in this game, but Andre won the final round.
The MS Eagles are starting to see a pattern in how doctors in the real world diagnose illnesses and disease. The games played this week certainly put them on a steep learning curve but they were very eye-opening and interesting and bore real-world value for the Eagles.
Challenge Leadership
Andre took over as P.E. manager this week and he put the MS Eagles through a gruelling round of HIIT. It was tough, even if it was only for beginners! Andre recorded every Eagle’s heart rate before and after the whole workout to compare this week’s fitness level to last week’s.
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An Acton parent shared this anecdote that highlights the different ways that children’s curiosity can manifest:
My Eagle and I recently visited the annual MATRADE Art Expo and there was so much thought-provoking artwork there. I was enthralled. Then I turned around and … was horrified. My Eagle was trying to peep UNDER an installation art piece and was about to lift it up to see better. I swallowed my natural instinct to shriek and grab her hand and allowed the natural consequence of her being told off by the artist to unfold.
I held off until we had left the exhibition, then asked her why she felt it was a good idea to touch the art pieces. She looked at me innocently and said, “I wanted to see how it was made.”
How could I be angry? A child’s natural curiosity took over her common sense … and isn’t that what we’re trying to nurture? That insatiable sense of curiosity in the world? The adult’s job, I think, is to guide our Eagles to navigate the world with common sense and respect for others while still maintaining that insatiable curiosity that will drive them to explore and discover and create wonderful things. Then again … did Einstein care a whit for your rules and conventions?