Fail Early, Cheaply, and Often

(Year 5, Week 17)

Like all mornings, Monday kicked off with a question by council, “studio maintenance leaders, are we in a world class studio ready for learning?”

“No, we need 10 minutes to clean up. The floors from quest need to be cleaned.”

Last Friday the heroes enjoyed a paper mache project, but some heroes ended up with a flour and water mixture that covered tables and walls. Lots of flour made it’s way to floor as well, and the bowls containing the mixtures were left out in the kitchen.

90 minutes later the heroes finally circled up for the morning discussion.

The guide share with the heroes about the real world consequences for not treating the studio with respect and how a lack of care during quest can lead to real damage to the studio.

“This afternoon the quest challenge contains red Jell-O, which can stain the carpets. Are we ready to be responsible for that type of challenge, or are we not ready yet?”

After some discussion, the heroes made the decision that they weren’t ready, which meant quest was cancelled. Instead, the heroes had the choice to continue core skills, play board games, or catch up on quest challenges that did not include messy resources.

Dissection

On Wednesday the heroes had a lengthy discussion, debating whether they were ready or not to try again with something that could damage the studio if treated casually.

Several heroes argued the studio was not ready and they had not yet proven they had learned what they needed to, while others made the argument they had cleaned up the mess for an hour and a half and were ready to try again with some clear guardrails.

A final vote revealed the heroes would try again, and with new guardrails in place, they dissected “guts” of different creatures, learning about food webs and various creatures and what they consume.

At the end, they rated the studio cleanliness during quest at an average of 5, sharing examples of taking care of the materials and immediately attending to messes. It was a powerful experience for the learners to reason through, and an opportunity to fail early, cheaply, and often.

On Friday, they dissected real sea creatures!

Among the sea creatures were crayfish, starfish, squid, fish, and even a shark!

It was quite challenging to dissect the creatures, but several groups found lots of different animal parts, including the heart, lungs, and even an ink bladder!

George Washington Badge of Leadership

This week, one of the fifth year heroes was greenlighted to give the morning launch; something the studio looks forward to seeing more of.

The discussion leader opened with a question about the rules of engagement, then launched the day with a discussion about the promise to “treat my mind and body with respect.”

At the end, she received a rating from her peers and warm/cool feedback. Someone shared, “I’d never thought about rice being healthy or not. Thanks for making me think of something I never had thought about.”

So much learning in this “small” experience. Asking challenging questions without bias, listening to others and challenging them to think, leading a community to think more clearly and make better decisions. I can’t imagine young people more prepared to lead and change the world than these young people. 3 cheers for this courageous hero!

Writer’s Workshop

Hercules worked hard so he could return to Mount Olympus, but decides not to at the end. Here’s a clip:

After watching, the heroes discussed a few thought provoking questions:

Does his choice stay on earth make it a bad ending or not?

Which was more important for Hercules, to return to Mount Olympus or to become a hero?

How did he change?

How does your hero change in your story?

At the end of the day, the heroes discussed a final question:

How have you changed on your journey?

This writer’s workshop has been tied to the hero’s journey, and the heroes have had a few meaningful opportunities to reflect on their own journey in the process.

Community of Editors

As the final part of the writing process before creating a handwritten final copy, the heroes spent time editing each others work for basic grammar and punctuation. They had a blast watching this video about the importance of commas:

Wrap Up

At Heroes Academy we often say we give children freedom. That may not be totally true. It might be better said that at Heroes Academy we give children the chance to be responsible. It’s their ability to prove they are responsible that truly grants them freedom. Freedom, then, is not necessarily free at Heroes Academy, but rather comes with great responsibility. Step into the studio for a day and you’ll see a group of young people learning through experience, some ready for great freedoms, some still learning, each on a hero’s journey.