Exhibition State of Mind

(Year 3, Week 31)

On Monday, the heroes kicked off launch with the following instructions:

Good morning heroes! On the board you will see a problem. You have four minutes to solve it, good luck!

Problem: 9–3/1/3+1/1x=

As the four minutes ticked on, some of the heroes were rightfully frustrated, while others silently worked trying to solve the equation. After the timer ran out, the guide walked back in and asked them to write down two specific answers.

Write down the emotion you felt when asked to solve the problem.

On a scale of one to five, what was your attitude when faced with this problem, one being the worst, five being the best.

Once they were finished, the guide hit the play button on the following video:

Carol Dweck dives into the theory behind, ‘not yet.’ Explaining the science behind a fixed and growth mindset when presented with tough challenges. Dweck goes onto show that it isn’t the matter of finding the solution to a problem but the mindset when approached with said problem.

After the video, the guide asked,

“If you feel comfortable, please raise your hand if you felt instantly frustrated, annoyed, mad or had any feeling you associate with negativity when you were asked to solve the problem.”

Most of the heroes raised their hands. The discussion got very real, very quickly. With the heroes admitting to ways in which they carry a fixed mindset, like all people do. One of the resounding reasons was just feeling defeated when faced with a huge challenge. They talked about how they compared themselves and sometimes would just rather not even try. Of course, this situation was in relation to math. However, the heroes got deep and shared ways in their every day life that they had a fixed mindset. From how they treated others all the way down to negative self-talk. They also supported one another when they were open and honest. Bonding them and showing each other that they weren’t alone in their feelings.

At closing, the heroes were challenged to notice ways in which fixed mindset came creeping into their home lives. They were then challenged to do three things before they reacted with a ‘negative’ feeling.

1. Is what I am about to think or say true?
2. Is what I am about to think or say kind?
3. Is what I am about to think or say helpful?

The heroes felt a little weird repeating it at first, but then latched on. They discovered that they could in fact, stop, breathe, think then respond. Being kind to themselves and others.

Self-Evaluations

During Quest’s launch, the heroes were asked to share in what ways they felt they were a strong group member during quest and the ways in which they could improve.

A few of the heroes talked about how they did a good job with time management. They specified that they were able to help keep their team members on task and were able to delegate strong roles within their group to their individual team members. Another hero brought up that she did a good job developing their script for the entrance. She explained that she really enjoyed doing the writing in her group especially since her team members wanted to focus more on the challenges. Many of the heroes agreed they had strong communication with one another and attribute that to learning how to work together over the past year.

When asked what they could individually improve on, a unanimous response was focus. Many of the heroes talked about how they didn’t exactly hold themselves accountable which in turn made it harder on their group members. They were honest and vulnerable and explained in depth what they could have done to keep themselves accountable. They spoke highly of their group members and even applauded some who were able to really pull their quest rooms together.

At the end of the launch, the heroes were handed evaluation forms and were asked to evaluate themselves and their partners in the most honest form. For the next twenty minutes the studio was in a dead silence as they answered questions and filled in numbers. At the end of the evaluation the heroes asked if they could be told what they were rated by their members and asked to schedule meetings with the excellence committee to go over how they could improve.

Exhibition

It was the first exhibition in the new studio. They were able to finish Quest and Writer’s Workshop in just four short weeks. Emotions were running high on exhibition day, with heroes running from one end of the studio to the other setting up tables and rooms.

The exhibition squad was set and they were tasked with set up and crafting the MC script. They ran through practice after practice during the day. Asking the fellow heroes to be fake parents and to act as if they were in real exhibition. There were some minor mis communications, but come time for the parents to walk in the door, they felt ready.

Exhibition started with the MC welcoming the families. He wanted to welcome them in the MS studio so there was ample room for people to see and stretch out. Then the families were asked to go and look at the Writer’s Workshop stories and animations. The heroes wanted the parents to look at a few stories then cast a vote on their favorite. They decided to set a 20 minute timer so they could allow the most time for their escape rooms.

When it was time for Quest to start, there were small giggles heard throughout the studio. They were so excited for their families and friends to try and get out of their escape rooms. The heroes had worked hard for four weeks and exclaimed that it was one of their favorites sessions, mainly because they were going to get to watch their parents try to get out of the rooms they had built entirely from their imagination.

Many of the families were able to escape in ten minutes! Some took a bit longer, which delighted the heroes. They wanted it to be challenging but not too hard that they wouldn’t be able to escape. They were really excited to watch them through the windows and then ask their parents what they thought of their hard work. They wanted realistic reviews and the parents were able to give them just that.

Friday Fun

Friday fun day is always a highlight of the session. The heroes were so excited to celebrate the session together, outside. However, before the fun could start, they had to do a little reflecting.

The heroes gathered around after town hall and discussed how they felt exhibition was. There were things they loved and things they would like to improve on. First, they really loved how hard some of them worked on their quest rooms, a few of the heroes even wore costumes to really get into the role. They also liked how they put Writer’s Workshop and Quest into separate areas. They also agreed that they loved how their parents were the guinea pigs for their quest. They would love to create future events where their parents can finish tasks.

For the areas of improvement, they would have liked to have created a schedule for the parents. They also discussed how they wanted to let their parents go in multiple rooms, however, they thought it was going to take too long. They also want to spend more time working on gaining more focus during the session so they can put on a world class exhibition for the future.

Overall, they rated their exhibition a 4 out of 5 and wrote down the ways they will work to improve. Their self-awareness and dedication to bettering themselves was something to be admired.

Wrap-Up

A ton of work goes into the final week of the session. They worked through tying up loose ends. Battling sickness and getting through their miscommunications. All in all, the heroes were in need of some much needed fun. Friday afternoon a hero brought his bounce house and the heroes went wild. They played outside for almost three hours, making crafts in the Creator’s Space and sipping on gatorade freezer pops. they even stretched their imagination to build some homemade archery gear. They laughed and played together late into the afternoon and let all of the jitters from the week subside. The community they have built and continue to improve could simply be described as pure joy.