A DAY AT BRAMBLEWOOD

You arrive at 9:30 in the morning and jump right into your Core Learning. You previously set goals with your parents for subjects like math and language arts, so you spend the next hour working that plan. 

After a while, 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. 

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The rest of the morning is filled with workshops run by mentors or small-group work. This morning  your mentor is running a writing workshop (about how to write emails so you can email an expert for your big afternoon project!) and then another parent is coming in to teach art. Some days you get to focus on a personal project goal you set - maybe making a video or writing a play!

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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 goats and chickens on the way.

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At about 1:00 you head back to class, where you have another Socratic-style discussion, this time about some of our core character traits that help with leadership and friendship, or skills like brainstorming and teamwork. 

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Now it's time for your big project! 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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Before you know it, the clock says 2:30 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!