There's truly never a dull moment on campus. Our week kicked off with a surprise visitor on Tuesday morning...a local volunteer river-keeper! His organization typically comes down once per year to clean up the riverfront, but after taking a quick morning stroll through the area he realized it had already been done! He was thrilled to hear about our Waterkeeper Wednesdays, and how much pride and purpose the children get from caring for the river. He gave them an A+....the first and likely only grade anyone will get at Acton Academy Nanaimo! We'll take it ;)
On Tuesday morning we read "Negative Cat" by Sophie Blackall, a sweet story about a young boy with a love for cats and fear of reading aloud after being made fun of by some of his peers. Some of our heroes courageously shared stories about times they were made fun of in the past and how that affected their feelings of self worth and their learning journey. We then revisited our studio contract, in particular our promise to use only words of kindness, encouragement, and truth. It was heartwarming to see this play out during Flow Zone time; whereas beforehand I had witnessed no reading aloud from our selection of Bob Books, after this story I saw one brave soul sit down and read aloud and proud.....pauses, stumbles, and all. There was no mocking, no sneers, just sweet subtle smiles from the other learners in studio.
We got a real treat for show and tell this week when one of the children brought out his violin! Everyone wanted to get a close look, try holding the instrument, and very quickly were requesting a performance. They lined up their chairs and watched in awe as their studiomate shared his passion and talent.
On Wednesday we reached a major milestone....the first ringing of The Bell! A very special and sacred event, reserved for learners who've accomplished a major body of work (ie: completion of a handwriting book, a math unit, reaching the final level of the Writing Game, etc.) One of our youngest learners had been working diligently through her handwriting book, completed every page with excellence, and was so excited to celebrate her accomplishment. It was really heartwarming to see the other children clamour around her, big smiles on their faces, clapping their hands and offering up congratulations. Moving her avatar along the Handwriting Journey Map was icing on the cake. This was very motivating for her studiomates and quickly thereafter another one of our youngest sat down with determination in her eyes and really applied herself. She could not be distracted or dissuaded from her mission! By next day, she had completed her handwriting book and was ready to ring the bell herself.
Fall is definitely in the air and we west coasters know the rain is coming, so we try to take advantage of these beautiful autumn days whenever possible! This week we brought out the sidewalk chalk and one of our heroes drew out a life-sized snakes and ladders board, along with a hop-scotch obstacle course. As always, our campus companions, Ziggy and Luna, were happy to be part of the action!
Relationships are an integral ingredient to the secret sauce of Acton Academy. Without great trust, mutual respect, and a commitment to upholding excellence, this model will not work. As such, we spend a lot of time talking about relationships, conflict resolution, and how to "show up" for the tribe. This week we were introduced to symbiotic relationships in nature via this short video. We learned the differences between parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism and where we may have seen each type of relationship play out in studio life. As a group, the learners agreed we want to nurture and strive for a mutualistic relationship with our studiomates, and then brainstormed examples of what this might look like. We also explored the concept of empathy through a studio favourite, Mojo! We learned that our actions can impact how others feel and were introduced to "The Maze"; a place we can become trapped in when feeling a powerful emotion (such as nervousness or anger). Once in The Maze, we're blocked from seeing how others around us are feeling and can be mean to our friends without realizing it. Thankfully Mojo gave us the secret to staying out of The Maze; when we feel ourselves becoming overcome by these powerful emotions, take a moment to stop, breathe, and put yourself in the shoes of those around you. It also helped us to recognize when one of our friends might be trapped in The Maze, and to have empathy for what they're feeling without judgement.
On Thursday we read the mesmerizing and mystical book, "Du Iz Tak?" by Carson Ellis. This beautifully illustrated and brilliantly written tale had the whole room in giggles and all eyes were twinkling with wonder. It's a wonderful example of the power of illustration to convey a story, and was an invitation to the learners to create their own stories during our Writer's Workshop, whether they're able to write words or full sentences yet or not.
On Friday morning we read the book "Gratitude is my Super Power" before taking a moment to reflect on the things we're thankful for in our gratitude journals. We then settled into our Flow Zone work while our very own Handyman Mills and Max got materials prepped to build our Buddy Bench! This is something we've been talking about as a group since we first learned of the Buddy Bench, and everyone was excited to lend a hand. Each hero had a chance to hammer in dowels and nails, putting their own mark on this one-of-a-kind bench that will be used for years to come as a symbol to others that one might need a friend.
Friday afternoon came, and with big hugs and waves goodbye we sailed off into our weekends. And, as always happens at the end of each week as I watch the last car pull away, I found myself in a state of semi-disbelief. Disbelief this is actually happening, that this dream is our reality, that I get to spend my days with these incredible souls who are teaching me so much....and I tally up the many things I'm grateful for.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
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