A DAY AT BRAMBLEWOOD
You arrive at 9:30 in the morning and your mentor calls everyone to the crew meeting. You connect with all your friends and go over the schedule for the day. Today there is a current event discussion led by a classmate, but other days you may discuss a piece of literature or a quote.
After crew meeting, it is time for your Socratic Discussion. Today you are discussing excerpts from Hamlet that bring up topics like how much control we have over our positive and negative thoughts, and what true wisdom and wit are.
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The rest of the morning is dedicated to one of your big projects. Right now you are working on a proposal for a treehouse at Bramblewood. Last week you made prototypes out of cardboard, and today you are starting your final model out of wood. First you give and receive feedback on your cardboard models and decide on a plan for the whole-class model. It's hard making decisions together, but you are getting so much better at it! Once you decide what jobs everyone will do, you get to work and the time flies by.
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At 12:00 you clean up the classroom. Everyone knows their jobs and it doesn't take long - especially when you are excited to get outside for lunch and recess! You eat outside with all your friends and then play gaga ball and explore the woods, saying hi to the chickens on the way.
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At about 1:00 you head back to class, where you have a writing workshop and math circle. You are learning how to write a letter today, which will support your history project in the future. Every other week you have either book club or a math circle, which is a challenge that can be worked on either solo or collaboratively, seeking to understand deeply and stretch our brains. You might not love math homework, but this math is fun! ​​
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Before you know it, the clock says 1:45 and it's time to clean up and come back to your crew circle. You reflect on how the day went, how well teams worked together, and any ways you want to improve next time. It's hard to leave, but you know you'll see your crew again tomorrow!
**This day is more typical for our Explorers class. See the links below to view a few of our actual teacher write-ups from last year for various levels, knowing that structure slightly shifts from year to year!
