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Our Quest is moving into the interviewing stage--that is, interviewing each other for a job, as well as getting some professionals in so that we can interview them for an hour. Carter Vaughan was the first to make contact with an IT person from UVa, and he agreed to come in.

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This Quest has been full throttle since Day 1!  The students have been eager to explore what is possible with silent movement, sound effects, and theme music.  We began with giving prompts and they explored and created various short scenes and gave feedback on what worked and what they really liked. We looked at how theme music worked and explored different music concepts as a group on kazoo, stringed instruments, and various percussion.  They created a slew of draft themes and then honed in on four that stood out. Parallel to this exploration we guided them in crafting a simple storyline of five scenes. We discussed possible paths to take and voted on a schedule that worked. We have had to guide them in creating structure such as creating a physical score for them to use to document their ideas and conducting the score. It has felt very much a partnership between us and the students and they are proud of what they have accomplished. We are halfway through filming the scenes and then we will show the film with live orchestration-something none of us have done before!

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5th and 6th graders began by choosing a new movement to learn. The movements were supposed to be something they could not currently do, but could work towards accomplishing during the trimester. Several students had a difficult time choosing a movement. Most have worked hard to practice, push through a plateau in learning the movement, and continue their work. Several students seemed to lose motivation when they were not making enough progress and we have been working on ways to keep everyone engaged.

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Our 5/6 Fab Lab is not going quite as I had hoped. I was imagining that the students would embrace the opportunity to engage in challenges, given that they chose this offering, and that has not necessarily been the case. Which makes it hard to take our imagined final step of *student-created* challenges. The motivation is not there! I find myself wondering what I can do to engage the kids in a meaningful way.

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A collaboration with Sarah built around The Graveyard Book. We had a lot of interest, so wound up splitting group between art & tech based on an initial brainstorming session. The big challenge for us is that the ideas the students had did not match their ability to make it happen, the patience to do some self-directed learning or the ability to pivot on their ideas

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*My goal moving forward: PERSISTENCE
We asked the students to pick a movement or skill that they wanted to learn. Examples included juggling, handstands, and doing a kick-flip on a skateboard. We have begun each class with a movement warm-up. Students have used youtube, consulted with each other, and consulted with their teachers in order to master their movement. Each student has a notebook that he/she uses to keep track of progress, write notes, reflect, etc. Recently, I have been feeling a bit frustrated that the majority of the students are not taking ownership of practicing their movements outside of class. I have felt like I have been working harder to help them than most of the students are working themselves to master their movements.

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Students are using art and computer science tools to transform the library into a haunted cemetery for an upcoming family event, inspired by The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The group is exploring physical computing and creating engaging projects through code. Students are working to develop their independence and growth mindset as they work with new and challenging tech tools
. This week we will begin setting up projects in the library to stage for the event, which takes place next Tuesday.

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We started by looking around for student writing competitions (how the girls defined becoming published) and found several categories of interest with Scholastic. Since then we have started each class with writing prompts, reading work to each other for feedback, and then working individually on "competition projects." The girls have been surprisingly creative and we've talked through where some of their ideas have come from, and settled on a shorthand of "wanting drama" when they decide they want to add violence of gory plot lines.

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It has been fun. Kids are building with materials from nature...miniature forts that fairies could live in. Cool structures made of hot glued sticks and leaves and acorns and moss and rocks. One has a beautiful miniature campfire and smores set up...three tiny baskets filled with marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. I thought this FABLab would be all girls but it is about half boys and they have been having just as much fun. It has been a time of creative fantasy play/building...problem solving how to do things with found materials. The room has felt calm and peaceful...no stress. Kids have been busy from start to finish each time we've had a FABLab session.

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Can we put Community Service in our 5-8 Schedule

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Can we put Community Service in our 5-8 Schedule

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Well, apparently not.

This Quest has been a bit of a struggle, in part because of the strong personalities of the students involved. We have done research into the not-for-profit organizations in our area and reached out to many of them. Unfortunately, we discovered that most volunteer opportunities are not really open to children younger than 14, or not available to groups larger than 4-6 individuals. This has been eye-opening for the students who were complaining about our Bellair Farms experience, but has left us unsure about what we can accomplish in the weeks that remain.

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Students have developed the menu for their lunch. They struggled initially with collaboration in the larger group. In the smaller groups (which they chose) they are working better together and learning the components of the meal. There has been disappointment in the larger group with the finalized menu.

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Students are building and testing their critical thinking and media literacy skills as they navigate the world of news (online, print, TV, radio, etc.). They are learning to read, watch, and listen critically and to take the time to rethink and ask questions instead of taking information at face value. The class is practicing fact checking and evaluating sources together. Today, they decided that their info was too important to keep to themselves, so they're planning a presentation to share what they've learned with the rest of the middle school.

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Each week, students have enjoyed a guest speaker who chats about the topic of balance and inspirations for attaining balance. After the guest presents their area of interest, the students spend the rest of the time exploring that topic and how they could use it to achieve balance in their lives. Guests have been: Mark Cave sharing Italian life, language and culture; VRC sharing mindfulness practices; Monty sharing mindful lettering practice; Barb Venerus sharing collage making; Kayla Carter sharing nature walks; and Esther Lezama sharing Latin dance.

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7th and 8th Grade Students

We started by asking students where they see art and how it affects them. Then we asked them how we could use art to improve our community. The students decided to paint representations of the 6 core values. The idea is that we are going to enlarge the paintings and print them on large moveable panels to be mounted around our campus.
The students have designed and painted several pictures for the core values. They then started to create some small affirmative messages to place around campus.
We also had guest speakers who are community artists come and speak to our students.

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Fifth and sixth grade students in the fairies FabLab have decided to go different directions in their exploration of fairies. Students are drawing, building, collecting materials from nature, and making fairy clothes. It is beautiful to see the creativity and collaboration in this FabLab. I have also enjoyed seeing how calm and focused the students are in this FabLab. It really seems like it has been a good moment for students to make choices for themselves and work with others.

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We started the trimester by dissecting broken appliances -- weed-eaters, toasters, microwaves, etc. From the initial exploration, the students decided they would take our remaining pieces of equipment and build something new: a boat and two go-carts. The students created original designs, met with reps from Martin's Hardware, bought supplies, visited Joe Browning's wood shop, and now we've started building.
Here are the big skills we are seeing (or trying to support): project management, time management, and -- to put simply -- executive functioning. The boys have ideas, but they struggle with slowing down to plan what they will need, how it will work, and the order they will need to take in their design.

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We have explored so many different themes involving the intersection of technology and health. Some of the most valuable discussions have come organically and tangentially. The most exciting moments are when a student makes a connection with either their own health or school life. Some of the most exiting comments/questions: "Does someone have to win the game?" "I think there is a link between happy and healthy" "Can I turn this data into a spreadsheet?". Challenges: Some days they love EVERYTHING, some days they want to do nothing.

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7th and 8th graders began by brainstorming places in our community that display works of art, and discussing how this art impacts their day / mood / perspective. They decided to collaborate on a project that might influence the school community, and chose to represent the 6 Core Values though art, to be displayed in one of the middle school stairwells. Our plan is to take a field trip to downtown Charlottesville and walk to the IX Park, The Bridge, and the downtown mall in order to find examples of, and discuss public works of art. We've brainstormed about how our own perspective changes the way in which we interpret and perceive art, and students have expanded their view of the role of public art and how they have the opportunity to impact others through the arts.

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Our students have made amazing progress learning pearling, knitting, and finger weaving. Knitted and woven items have made their way out of the questroom, as students knit headbands and other fun items for friends, especially among the seventh-grade students.

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This quest started with students learning to fold some basic origami pieces. They then branched off and started making stop-motion videos based on their origami creations (inspired by Kubo and the Two Strings). As students started wrapping up their video projects we have changed our focus a bit, and now students are working on creating GIANT origami pieces. We are finding that getting our giant origami pieces to stand is more of a challenge than we had intended. Students are developing their engineering skills as they work to get their pieces to stand upright unsupported.

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Students are working individually or in small groups to learn about various topics including how to evade dangerous animals, a baking challenge, the battle of Dunkirk, building a hamster house, making a stop-motion video, and Odell Beckham. Each student or group has chosen an audience to teach and a method of presentation or final product. All groups have progressed at widely varying rates and levels of accomplishment, ranging from one group which has put together their lesson and presented it to their 2nd grade class to another group that is now working on their second day of the same lesson (they changed their idea four times). Students have needed a good deal of direction.

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Experimenting with running a FLL team during 7/8 Quest because we have not been able find a time those grades to practice & they wanted a team. There are 8 7th graders with a variety of experience levels, but all strong-willed. I take a very hands-off approach to coaching, so the team spends quite a bit of time negotiating what they want to accomplish and who will do what. They came up with a motto of Collaboration leads to innovation, so I feel they are beginning to understand that they need each other.

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Students have been working on refining their ideas and prepping for what might develop in the Quests they lead next trimester. They have pitched their ideas several times to the group and received feedback from their peers and have adapted their ideas as a result. Questions they are thinking about: What will be difficult for me? What type of faculty support do I need? How do I allow for student choice to direct the class and yet plan ahead? Jack will be leading a game design Quest, Whitley will be leading an upscaling jeans Quest, Andrew will be leading a sport injury Quest, Cam will be leading a community service Quest.

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How do we set the stage for the US Runway Show?

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How do we set the stage for the US Runway Show?