Our first few weeks have been busy and filled with so much laughter.
The learners have been challenged each and every day – not with the pressure of testing for the Florida FAST test, as public schoolers have been experiencing – but with the struggle of practicing empathy, clear communication, conflict negotiation, overcoming the feeling of defeat, bouncing back from mistakes, and building a team where everyone belongs.
We have had launches on apologies, peace table, A.N.T.S (automatic negative thoughts), personal boundaries, growth mindset, character call-outs, guardrails, studio contract, challenge zone donut, feedback, and the hero’s journey.
Our walls, once bare, are filled with posters marking their progress and everything that we have covered in the past 3 weeks.
A fly on the wall would have overheard such comments FROM THE LEARNERS as:
- “I didn’t think I could do this but I didn’t give up.”
- “This isn’t easy but I’m going to keep on going.”
- “___ looks sad, can I go and help him feel better?”
- “___ is showing us her emotions. I call that bravery.”
- “I need to talk with her, because I want to make sure we understand each other.”
Hospital staff that I have worked with haven’t used such supportive and insightful words with each other – the learners have made their studio is truly an inspiring place to be.
As we enter into our fourth week of the session, we will focus on clarifying the guide role in the studio with our 3 Bs before G game. With the start of core skills, we will introduce SMART goals and the 3 monsters game.
