Under The Sea Adventures
(Year 5, Week 14)
SMART Goals
This session the heroes kicked off the week watching this video of Richie Robinson, and a discussion about independence, heroic mindset, and goal setting:
The heroes then revisited a core idea in the studios, SMART Goals.
In the studio, the heroes set each day as they set out to learn different, real world skills like reading, writing, math, and typing. This session, the heroes were challenged to look further down the road, creating SMART goals for the entire session.
Many heroes challenged themselves to focus on areas they have been resisting, setting lofty goals they hope will advance them on their hero’s journey. They have reflected and will continue to discuss in launches and closes, the value of goal setting as they tackle difficult learning challenges in the studio.
One interesting discussion circled around the following question after watching this video about the youngest formula 3 racer in the world:
Is it more important that a goal is big/tough or that it is achievable?
Tribal Growth
This week the heroes also engaged in a discussion about the health of the tribe and what areas of improvement would make the studio more world class. The questions posed are a framework the studio uses to diagnose areas of improvement and create a Tribal SMART goal together.
The framework questions are as follows:
Which area of our tribe needs most improvement?
- Energy
- Intentionality
- Civility
- Excellence
When is this most prevalent?
- Before the Day
- 8:30am Launch
- Silent Core Skills
- Collaborative Core Skills
- Reflections
- Lunch
- 12:30 Launch
- Quest/Writer’s Workshop
- Studio Maintenance
- Close
What would be most helpful?
- Increase accountability
- Increase fun
- Increase clarity and expectations
- Something else?
What tool or data will we use to Measure?
- 360 reviews
- Weekly Points
- Quest
- Sharing Examples
- Badges
- Culture Map
- Hero Bucks
- Something else?
What should be our SMART goal?
This session the heroes decided the following as a tribal growth area of focus: Intentionality>during collaboration>Most helpful to Increase clarity and expectations (then accountability)>Tracking hero buck warnings and hero buck losses.
They have not yet created a SMART goal, but are tracking and reflecting until they are more clear on what they’d like their goal to be.
Under the Sea Adventures (Writer’s Workshop)
This session the heroes are creating Science-based fiction stories that take place under the sea.
The heroes will be using Pixar storytelling frameworks centered around the hero’s journey to create their stories and develop their characters. This weeks challenges included finding ideas and creating a story spine using this hero’s journey framework:
- Once upon a time there was…
- Everyday…
- One day…
- Because of that…
- Because of that…
- Because of that…
- Until finally…
- Ever since then …
While the writers will have lots of tools to equip them in writing their stories, there are a few constraints:
- Your story will be inspired by marine science and the main character must be a sea creature.
- Your story must have ten facts about marine science weaved into it.
So far a few of the stories include an octopus who wants to drive, a fish that longs to fly, a sea horse that wants to be a fashion designer, and a blob fish that wants to become president.
Marine Science Quest
If you were a NASA explorer, would you rather explore the deep space, or the deep ocean? Did you the majority of life on Earth is aquatic? Did you know that less than five per cent of the planet’s oceans have been explored?
This session the heroes are diving deep into one of earth’s greatest mysteries, the ocean.
Each week the heroes will explore a new area of the ocean, including the deep ocean, coral reefs, and life underwater. This week, they took on challenges related to waves, currents, and the Coriolis effect, among other things.
At the end of the session the heroes who complete all their challenges have been invited to create exhibits for customers at the Aquarium in Boise.
Traditions
There are many traditions at Heroes Academy, but one Discovery studio tradition that is loved by all is the celebration of birthdays. With a candle lit, the heroes pass the candle and share a word they believe describes the birthday hero. The birthday hero then makes a wish, blows out the candle, and is honored with the opportunity to close out the day.
Wrap Up
The energy of a new year is often shadowed by spent energy of the holidays. While many of the heroes are adjusting to being back in the studio, there is a good hum of energy and learning. One highlight worth noting is the many opportunities an observer would hear heroes encouraging each other to not have a victim mindset, but a heroic mindset.
