School starts again!
A parent walked up to us and told us a story. “My son woke up, packed his bag and excitedly waited at the door to go to school — meanwhile my daughter was crying her lungs out and didn’t want to go to school. My son comes to Acton, and my daughter does not”.
It didn’t take long for them to start playing again. It looks like they really did miss school.
Circle time started, and an Eagle even got ready early, sat down in the circle and waited for the circle to begin.
After the circle, the Eagles easily transitioned the core skills time. Looks like good habits are here to stay!
Talking about good habits, the elementary school studio now has a peace corner — where children to find some peace! Some kids are already using the peace corner to calm themselves — and they do it on their own, some even used a timer.
It’s also the animation sprint! Where for the next six weeks, the Eagles are exploring on all things animation. Here’s a sample of some of their work very early work.
https://sites.google.com/actonkl.org/aq2018/home
It’ll be super interesting to see the difference between what they produce this week and what they will be producing in week 6.
Meanwhile, for PE, some of the elementary school kids practiced so much during the holidays, they didn’t even have to look at the TV screen for instructions!
Meanwhile, upstairs, the middle schoolers discussed the traits of an Eagle to see which were the main traits that we all have. They’ve decided that the main traits are courage, respect, honesty and (of course) a sense of humor. The Eagles then agreed to work on the service to others and introspection traits.
In this year, the theme is “Who motivates a Hero?”
Every year, we have an Overarching Question. It is the question that makes us think, ponder, and meditate on the most important homework: Life itself. This year’s Overarching question is: What motivates a Hero?
Motivation is one of the most elusive puzzles of being human. Dan Pink said that there are three pieces in this puzzle: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. What does that mean for Acton Academy?
To start of with—we make sure Acton Academy is a place where Eagles want to come to. We make it fun; we empower Eagles to create and share memories in a safe space where they can be themselves. In fact, a middle school Eagle said during the holidays, “I couldn’t wait to get back to school” because he has so much fun in school. But is having fun enough?
No sane parent will be willing to fork out their hard-earned money if their child is just having fun. There needs to be preparation, education and deep learning. The realist will argue that education must result in a child earning enough income so that the education is an investment. But you can’t force learning. The goal of a learning institution is to inspire learning. Being motivated and doing it, it should feel like being in flow. That’s the goal we try to achieve in Acton Academy every day. It is the hardest work in progress, more than quest planning, equipping Eagles in launches, or finding their next apprenticeship. We even have a system for it. Though still imperfect.
Over this whole sprint, week by week we will unveil how we help heroes stay motivated to learn.
Oh, and it’s also Akash’s birthday! Happy birthday Akash!
It’s also Andre’s birthday, where he was treated to super delicious pancakes by his studio mates.
In the next couple of weeks we’ll be coming up with an “A day in the life of an Acton Eagle” video, and we are also preparing a spiffy new website. Stay tuned!
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