Tej Acton Academy

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Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

After finding out what the Hero’s Journey is, our learners were asked the following question at the beginning of this week: What does it take to be a hero? After watching this video about children of different ages saving lives and protecting other people, they were quick to answer that one does not actually need superpowers in order to perform heroic acts. In turn, this brilliant point opened up to a broader conversation about what they – individually and collectively – are capable of doing to change the world. 

In an effort to continue highlighting the extraordinary in ordinary people, Ms. Shah and I decided to create something called “the Hero Wall.” Each week, our learners will focus on one hero whose contributions and achievements changed the world in some way, shape, or form. Then, they will in turn present and share the information to the tribe (and hopefully everyone else they know!) at the end of the week. For their first project, the children began researching the famous inventor Thomas Edison, and what surprised us the most was that they were more intrigued about the fact that a famous person like Edison had a disability (he was completely deaf in one ear) than the fact that he invented the lightbulb. Upon asking what heroic qualities Edison possessed, they promptly answered, “He never gave up.” This kind of mindset is one that most definitely left an impression on the children, and we will make it our goal to motivate them to keep trying even when times get tough. Moreover, the learners went above and beyond the requirements for this task and decided to make their own slideshow about Edison on Google Slides. Their typing, researching, and reading skills were all put to the test with this challenge, and it would be an understatement to say that they did an incredible job! 

Throughout the week, the learners also began having PE, or physical education, on Tuesday and Thursday. From running around on the playground to playing soccer and even working up a sweat while dancing to a Kidz Bop Dance Along video, they became more and more excited about the various ways to stay healthy, active, and happy. Young learners learn best when they truly enjoy what they are doing, and combining our learners’ love for dance and music turned out to be a great workout experience for all of us. 

During free time, the children put all of their efforts towards arts and crafts as they wanted to put their own creative touch on the studio, and seeing them wanting to leave their own stamp on this space was truly amazing to witness. In addition to these fun activities, the learners also participated in discussions regarding rules and regulations for our studio. Towards the beginning of the week, we introduced the Contract Game which allows the learners to brainstorm rules that they believe they should follow while in our studio. Respecting one another, being kind to everyone, and giving their all at Tej Acton Academy were the most prominent themes among each of their ideas. Over the course of these next few weeks, they will be revising and testing out these rules before eventually adding them to the final version, which is called the Community Contract. Having six to eight year olds create a contract is probably not something you would typically expect this age group to be doing at school, but our learners continue to grow and mature in so many ways on their own. This was especially evident today when during a Launch discussion on ‘Freedom and Responsibility’ they were asked what they would do if they saw a food fight happen in their school. They responded with these answers: “I would start cleaning so that other people would see what I was doing and follow” and “I would stop them from throwing food.” These answers not only show their understanding as to why it is important to have rules and be responsible, but also how much care and concern they share for the wellbeing of other people. And if you ask me, I think Thomas Edison would find these qualities to be quite heroic, too. 

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