We have made it to round 2 of our Chess Tournament! In preparation for the tournament, one of the launches was about how to accept failure. We watched a Pixar short film called Gerri’s Chess Game; Gerri’s unique losing approach stirred up a good discussion about what is more satisfying and why:
Playing Chess with someone you know you will lose against or someone you know you will win against?
Playing Chess against the same learners you always play against, or someone new?
winning a tournament game by forfeit or losing a tough-played tournament game?
Choosing to forfeit a game yourself when it gets complicated or finishing it through when you know you will lose?
This week we listened to After the Fall, a story about how Humpty Dumpty got back up again. The learners had a great discussion about why getting up again after failing is hard: Is it the fear of other people laughing at you for failing, is it the fear that you will never be able to succeed, or something else?
We are making our way through the Civilization book; this week, we read the beginning of Chapter 8: “The Great Dynasties of China”. The learners debated whether or not It is ethical for emperors to require citizens to work on civil service projects that benefit their nation, such as the Grand Canal in China. Some learners prefer to work on civilization by themselves and they get to choose many interesting topics for research such as wars, famous explorers, important kings or queens, and much more.
During this whole session for PE, the learners have played many renditions of the game tag. This week one of the learners chose to lead PE and introduce the game Capture the Flag. Another two learners created a workout routine as an alternative option for PE.
Every Friday afternoon, the learners have team-building activities that they do together with their squads. This week the challenge was to build a tower that could hold weight from a specific set of given materials. While the focus is on making the tower, there is also a focus on cooperation and communication. The activity is timed, and then the learners rate themselves on their teamwork and final product.
