Orange Band: Human, Weeks 13 & 14

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!Towards the end of expression, everything really comes together. That date on the calendar is no longer an idea of the future.IT'S NEXT WEEK.IT'S TOMORROW.IT'S IN AN HOUR.Coming back from Kid Classroom Week, the kiddos were really ready to get some adult guidance back. Huh, who woulda thought?So, on Monday morning, we hit the ground running.All week we chugged along on assembling our body parts and working on our presentations.We split into two groups: working on the stand for our body model, and working on our presentations. For our presentations, we thought about what information we should include, and the kiddos decided their presentations should touch on: their research, their process, and what they learned. I went through my documentation photos with each Orange Bander, letting them choose the pictures they'd like to include in their slides. Then, they could write either: notes on the research, process and findings, or captions for their pictures.Then, on Thursday, we couldn't prepare anymore. It was time to present! In the caption for each photo, I included an excerpt from each kiddos' journal entry. This week, they thought about something they particularly enjoyed this year.For weeks, on our weekly trips to the Treat Commons Garden for Class Meeting, there has been an ice cream man ringing his bell and driving the kiddos totally insane. So, I promised one Orange Bander who particularly enjoyed our time at the garden that we would do something special for our last Class Meeting. We decided to make treats, because we couldn't count on the ice cream man being there. We looked through recipes, and Isaac decided to make horchata popsicles--yum! So, on Tuesday we soaked rice, almonds and cinnamon, then on Wednesday we blenderized them and strained the slurry through cheesecloth, poured the sweet milk into big ice cube trays. Boom, popsicles! We kept our project under wraps, and made it to the garden with a delicious surprise for everyone.With no new entries in our journal, we didn't need to talk through any conflicts. Instead, we shared appreciations and lots of positivity for each other. We talked about why Class Meeting worked so well for us this year. Kiddos appreciated the addition of the journal, so that we could keep a record of problems and solutions, and the structure of Thich Nhat Hahn's Flowering Waters meditation for our weekly meetings. They noticed how we approached problems when people had had a chance to cool off, so that we didn't speak to each other with anger, and other members of the band could share advice to help solve problems. Each kiddo has even asked for a copy of the journal, as they said, to have a record of the year and resource for solving problems in the future.Next week, we'll have a few awesome field trips, show off our assembled human body model at Expo Night, spend a playful day at the beach with the whole school, reflect on our year, and look ahead to next year. Expect a post full of pictures for our last week of school!