Discovery Year 8. Session 1. Week 1.
Welcome back, Discoverers!
Week 1: Building Towards Excellence
What a first week! Discoverers jumped into the new school year by immediately becoming part of a larger team, working alongside Explorers on an ambitious challenge: creating a one-take lip dub to “High Hopes” by Panic! At the Disco. Every learner has a role in front of the camera, and because the entire video must be completed in a single take, there is very little room for error. The lip dub they create will be submitted to the annual Acton Lip Dub Competition, and the real learning has been happening in the process of trying to make something excellent.
Throughout the week, Discoverers and Explorers have been thinking about excellence. What does excellence look like, and how do you know when you’ve reached it? The Discoverer/Explorer team has been determined to improve their work. They watch, critique, identify what isn't working, make adjustments, and try again. Rather than becoming discouraged when something doesn't go according to plan, they are increasingly energized by the opportunity to get better. It has been a wonderful early example of what it means to take ownership of a product and refuse to settle for “good enough.”
At the same time, Discoverers have been building the relationships and systems that will make our studio community strong. We have played games like Strike-a-Pose Name Game, Bibbity-Bop-Bop-Bop Name Game, and Chocolate River; tackled challenges like the Human Knot; and begun equipping the studio with the systems we will rely on all year. This week, learners have been considering community promises, building their studio maintenance systems, establishing good habits in reading, and practicing character call-outs—noticing and naming the positive qualities they see in one another.
The first week has been about much more than learning routines. Discoverers are beginning to learn what kind of community they want to create, what it means to contribute to a team, and what happens when a group cares deeply about doing something well. We are off to a strong start.
Thank you, Discovery, for your energy and commitment to excellence!