My favorite quote this week from an Eagle:
“It’s really hard to explain to my friends who attend other schools that I work harder and get more done than they do, yet I never have homework. They just don’t get it.”
Another favorite from an Eagle parent following the debate:
“The debates on the porch were amazing! I was a speech major at UT and never participated in a debate—how can that be?
When my friends ask me about Acton, I tell that that my middle schooler very simply goes to college!”
Work hard; play hard. That was this session’s motto.
Yesterday we worked hard, with the Hero’s Motivation Debate and Personal Learning Plan Exhibition. Today, when the Eagles arrived we announced a surprise: We were all invited to ride the train downtown to see Gravity, a hauntingly beautiful new movie about space, with award winning cinematography.
A perfect prelude for Session 4, when we’d be studying the motivational effects of “feeling small” – standing on the edge of the universe as we build rockets, versus “feeling big” as we explore a microscopic world and perform chemistry experiments.
There was a twist with today’s trip, however. The Eagles paid for the outing, popcorn, lunch and drinks with the Eagle Bucks they’d accumulated during the semester.
A “well earned” celebration indeed.
The big day finally arrives…Freud vs Jung; Machiavelli vs Victor Frankl; Plato vs Carol Dweck. Some of the world’s foremost experts in motivation stand toe to toe, debating which theory best describes human behavior.
Tension was high with last minute preparations.
The opening: rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first. The Opener has two minutes “in the box” minimum to begin; three maximum. The Challenger follows. Each then has two minutes to rebut and another one minute to close.
The pace was fast; the barbs sharp. Allegations of logical fallacies were as thick as the ethos; pathos and logos. But in the end, only one Motivation Hero would be the winner for each pair.
After the debates, each Eagle has two minutes to show his or her Personal Learning Plan, an electronic portfolio that describes an individualized learning plan for the year – created by the Eagle.
Parents and visitors then tour the studio looking at writing samples and displays of individual work.
Who won? It would be easy to every Eagle, because there was so much learning. But at Acton Academy, just as in the real world, not everyone gets a trophy. Failure is just too big a part of learning to ignore.
In the debrief, the question was asked: Do we want to equip and inspire successful Eagles or Eagles who succeed and fail? The Eagles unanimously supported the latter, and firmly rejected the idea that everyone should win an award. Our Eagles know they are preparing for the real world.
In the debrief, Eagles describe three kinds of failures:
The first type of failure is noble; you can’t ask for more. The second is a learning opportunity. The third happens and should be acknowledged, but never excused.
Today was Dress Rehearsal Day.
Eagles formed in groups of six. Each debating pair faced off, one by one. Rock, paper scissors to decide who would start. The Opener had two minutes minimum; three minutes maximum “in the box;” then the Challenger followed.
Rebuttals came next; each side allowed two minutes to spot logical fallacies or attack with logos, ethos or pathos. Finally, one minute each to close, with the Challenger going last.
All of this captured on video, for later debriefing.
Some Eagles had too little material, and had to stand “in the box” (a taped area on the floor) until the minimum time expired, a reminder of what would happen on Thursday if you didn’t have enough to say. Some had too much material, and would have to pare.
Each Eagle received a critique; first warm critiques of praise; then cool critiques with advice of how to improve.
Then it was time to download and review the video. All getting ready for Thursday’s Debates and Personal Learning Plan presentations.
Soon “standing in the box” would be all too real, in front of a live audience.