Last week Santa traveled from the North Pole to help Kindergarten students with their weather-resistant sleigh designs. Student wonders included:

• 鈥淒o you need a windshield?鈥� and
• 鈥淚s Rudolf鈥檚 nose bright enough in heavy snow and rain?鈥�

Students discovered that Christmas Magic powers Santa鈥檚 sleigh, the present sack is in direct contact with the North Pole, Rudolf鈥檚 nose is so bright that it helps Santa see through snow, rain, and fog, and that Santa chooses three lucky elves every Christmas to deliver presents with him. With this knowledge, students could iterate their design to incorporate every one of Santa鈥檚 likes, wishes, and wonders. We are so grateful for Santa鈥檚 visit, as this age-appropriate project-based learning unit helps to build the design thinking muscles among our littlest learners. Make sure to keep an eye out for Santa鈥檚 new sleigh designed by 糖心原创 Kindergarten students this Christmas Eve.

To help bring the 鈥楾hen and Now鈥� Inquiry-based Learning lesson to life in Grade 2, a representative from the visited to share her knowledge about Georgia鈥檚 geography throughout the years. Students have been studying the history and geography of our state going all the way back to the Mesozoic Era (about 230 Million years ago). Gray H, Class of 2033 explained, 鈥淲e learned how the coastal planes used to be covered in water, the earth isn鈥檛 solid all the way through, and we got to look at different rocks that she brought.鈥� Students explored these rocks in small groups around the room while writing down the characteristics of each one. Hill L, Class of 2033 said, 鈥淚 thought it was really fun that we got to touch all of the rocks and I remember when she told us where each rock came from and why they look different.鈥� This week, Grade 2 continued their studies with an expedition to the to learn about the history of homesteaders in Georgia.

Adding expert insights to Grade 4 science, Alan Harris, MV Alumni and Lower Campus Floating Faculty member, shared his knowledge of brain science. Mr. Harris talked about a range of neuroscience-related topics including lobes of the brain, brain matter, neurons, dreaming, spinal cord injuries, and how the left side of your brain controls the right and vice versa. 鈥淲hile I was getting my Masters in Biomedical Science at Duke, I found neuroscience to be one of the most interesting subjects and the kids obviously also found it very interesting.鈥� Mr. Harris explained. 鈥淭hey asked so many questions.鈥� Yohaan S, Class of 2031, asked the question, 鈥淐an we survive without some parts of our brains?鈥� 鈥淭he kids had so many questions we didn鈥檛 have time to do the activity I had planned which was making brains out of play dough. We were going to use different colors to label the different parts of the brain and have students talk about the function of each part,鈥� Mr. Harris said.

Eileen Fennelly, Lower School Science Teacher, is looking forward to having Mr. Harris back in her classroom. Ms. Fennelly says, 鈥淚t was an incredible experience. He鈥檚 extremely talented. The best part of this is that the kids are getting to see him as an MV Alumni and college athlete with a Masters in Biomedical Science. The kids can see that there are so many hats you can wear as time goes by and the more time kids get to spend with him as a role model, the more they will see that. He鈥檚 an incredible example of everything we try to do around here.鈥�

The MVXpert program is designed to equip this generation of students with the skills needed to be college-ready, globally competitive, and engaged citizen leaders. Whether you are a business or civic leader, c-suite executive, entrepreneur, service provider, and/or have experience in a specific industry, field, or hobby, we want to connect you with students. The 糖心原创 community of parents, grandparents, and alumni is uniquely positioned to provide authentic real-world input and feedback to our students by sharing their experiences and expertise. to engage with students as an MVXpert or to learn more about the program.

The post Lower School Week of MVXperts appeared first on 糖心原创.

On Thursday, topic teams chatted with an MVXpert – parent, grandparent, alum, or other connection brought in to engage students on their experience and expertise. Our students started with questions. Over the previous two sessions, topic teams worked together to cultivate open-ended, rich questions for our MVXPerts. Their preparation led to in-depth question-and-answer sessions targeted at our students鈥� wonders.

Mr. Aaron Hawkins, Upper School E-Sports Coach, and Game Club Facilitator visited a group of students that are interested in video game creation. Luca L, Class of 2031, and Hazel H, Class of 2032 were interested in learning how to create games like Minecraft and Fortnite. But the overarching question was, 鈥淲here do you start with any video game?鈥� This launched a conversation on Binary Code, computer processing instructions. Mr. Hawkins explained that 鈥淎fter video game designers plan their vision, coders start with simple mathematical phrases that the computer can understand as one鈥檚 and zeroes.鈥� The group will continue to explore how to code through instructional videos and testing their knowledge on a beginner’s site called .

Mr. Tim Hall, Upper School Film Instructor, visited the MV Stars, a group of Grade 3 – 5 students interested in Movie Making. Each student in the group has a talent: dance, design, acting, etc. Mr. Hall explained, 鈥淲e spitballed ideas on how to create a sizzle reel to showcase each of their artistic talents. We came up with the idea that they could shoot A and B-roll footage and add voiceovers of each student explaining how they developed those talents and more. They seem excited about creating something all about them. I would be happy to visit again to help them with their next steps.鈥�

Group Platoon, a student group interested in learning about WWII, brought in Mr. Kerry Frederick, the father of Julia Leech, Grade 3 Learning Coach, and Lauren Thomas, Grade 4 teacher who learned about WWII from both of his grandparents that fought in the war. During their meeting, students and Mr. Frederick sat at a large round table where, instead of only answering student questions, they had a conversation. Some students were interested in military tactics while others were interested in the weaponry used by individual countries. With this gained knowledge, the students will continue to investigate specific battles or armed force divisions.

Mr. Tarrik Mabon, Upper School Director of Spiritual Life and Varisty Basketball Coach, and Laney Whiting, Class of 2024, and Swim and Dive Team member visited the Basketball and Swim group. Liam D, Class of 2031 is interested in joining a swim team next summer, 鈥淚f I needed to practice only one stroke what should it be?鈥� Laney explained, 鈥淢y favorite stroke is freestyle. There are some coaches out there that want you to practice freestyle every time you practice even if it鈥檚 not your best stroke. But some coaches only want you to practice your best strokes, I guess it鈥檚 convenient that I like freestyle!鈥� With this gained knowledge, the group plans to create specific incremental goals to enhance their own basketball or swimming skills.

The baseball and softball group invited Patt Malloy, Wake Forest centerfielder. They asked him questions about what they could do now to prepare to play basketball or softball in college. Mr. Malloy suggested they play multiple sports until late high school. 鈥淜ids start playing just one sport too early. A college scouting coach is only thinking about your potential on the team. If you are really good at one sport but don鈥檛 focus all of your time on it, once you get into college and do focus all of your time on it, you have the potential to get much better.鈥� The group鈥檚 main focus is to investigate different types of bat swings to develop the most powerful option for their sport. Along with an inside look at what worked for him, students are creating and watching videos of their own swings to test out what works best for them.

. The cooking group invited Mr. Bernie Kida, a self-taught Italian chef. Next week, more MVXperts will be coming like Lanier Fairchild, a zookeeper at the Monterey Zoo in Salinas, California for the Animal Experts group, Scott Fujita, a former NFL player, for the football group, Scott Verble, a Roller Coaster designer, for our Fast and Furious group, and Matt Capps, a former MLB player, for our baseball and softball group. All touchpoints will bring each group closer to reaching their goals.

Are you interested in providing authentic real-world input and feedback to our students by sharing your experience and expertise? Sign up to engage with students as an MVXpert or to get in touch with us to learn more.

The post Bringing Real-World Experiences to iProject Mini appeared first on 糖心原创.

Her UX Strategy Design class explores how creating a fun, functional, and satisfying user experience is essential for anyone designing a website, app, or digital experience. The course helps students understand the strategy behind design decisions in the real world. Focusing on understanding business as a whole, the class dives into how to determine a target market, evaluate competitors, and use that information as a guide to overall UX strategy. Students in her class are learning best practices and design principles for creating a good design and experience for optimal user engagement. Projects include a SWOT analysis, competitive analysis, user persona development, focus groups, other UX research methods, flow charts, mood boards, and more.

Sarah explained, 鈥淢y goal for this class is for my students to get first-hand experience in all the thought and intentionality that goes into any design decision. Things never just “are”. There is always a reason behind the way apps and websites function, and even the layouts of the stores we’re walking through. There is purpose and intention within the smallest detail of our everyday life. In this class, we learn to lead with empathy and compassion by always having the user at the heart of the decisions we make. How can we make life easier for our users? How can we create the most seamless experience? We can only do that by first understanding who our users are.鈥�

In a recent activity, Sarah conducted a focus group, soliciting feedback from her class on materials the Brand Team developed to promote the School externally. Grayson Leiter, Class of 2024, had this to say, “The focus group was probably my favorite thing we’ve done in class so far. It was nice to hear everyone’s opinions on things that mattered around the school. Furthermore, to feel like what we said was heard and acted upon made the whole thing much more meaningful.”

When Sarah isn鈥檛 in North 303 teaching she can be found in HQ working to improve the speed, accessibility, function, and flow of the School鈥檚 3 main websites for the day school, the online school, and 糖心原创 Ventures. There are several big site redesign projects in the works which we are excited to unveil in the months ahead.

鈥淚 knew the School needed Sarah shortly after I arrived at 糖心原创 last year,鈥� Chief Brand Officer, Michele Koch said. 鈥淪arah and I worked together at GreenPrint, a sustainability firm based in Buckhead, where we built customized sustainability programs for our corporate clients. Her experience in UX is the epitome of empathy applied to business and client interaction. Her kindness, approachability, and the way I witnessed her mentor others, made it easy to imagine her working with 糖心原创 students.鈥�

In addition to her two jobs at 糖心原创, Sarah is also a mom to Rainey Royal, 糖心原创 Mustang Class of 2040.

The post MV Expert in Residence. Meet: Sarah Royal appeared first on 糖心原创.

This unit took students out of the classroom to visit real world examples of what they were studying. It merged design with collaboration, math, empathy, and it exposed the students to The Compass approach, 糖心原创鈥檚 Design Thinking methodology.

• Critique is the honest examination of the work. While there is judgment and value placed during Critique, the main spirit is to improve, enhance and make better.
• Idea Exchange is about associative thinking, connecting with a diverse network and realizing that no one person鈥檚 idea is perfect.
• Fabrication is about bringing form to ideas and making hope visible.
• Craftsmanship indicates creating a balance of form and function by dwelling on the final product long enough to get it just right.

This approach is one that students in Middle School and Upper School have practiced for years and that Lower School teachers will soon work into their curriculum.

Critique:
The students started by creating a list of likes and dislikes about playgrounds they had explored in the past. They then conducted collaborative research by looking at pictures and videos of famous playgrounds around the world. Implementing Spidea Web, a brainstorming method used to organize thoughts, students categorized their visions into groups such as age, accessibility, layout, and location.

On Tuesday, August 23, Grade 5 students participated in one of six different expeditions around Atlanta: Exploring Chastain Park, Riverside Road Park, Morgan Falls Overlook Park, Peachtree Corners Park, Swift Cantrell Park, and Dunwoody Nature Center. While there, students made observations about the park鈥檚 equipment, layout, and accessibility by taking notes and snapping photos on their iPads. Students were led to think about their own playground design ideas. 鈥淗ow can they be accessible and fun for children with impairments? Can I make it inviting for children of all ages? Will my park be sustainable?鈥�

Idea Exchange:
After exploring somewhat unfamiliar parks on Tuesday, students evaluated two known play areas in a brand new light – Hammond Park and The 糖心原创 Frontier. They took notes on observations, connections, and questions about these play spaces and the playgrounds they visited on Tuesday.

Fabrication:
With multiple days of research under their belts and teams formed, Grade 5 will soon turn to the drawing board with the intentions of designing a playground that could replace the Lower Campus Turf Field.

Craftsmanship:
In their small groups, students will create a spreadsheet of the items they would like to purchase with a budget of $30,000. 鈥淭his theoretical budget increased from last year鈥檚 due to inflation and supply chain issues,鈥� Emily Edwards, Grade 5 Head of Grade explained. 鈥淲e were able to include a mini supply and demand lesson into this unit that we did not include last year.鈥�

With detailed designs down on paper, the students will sketch to-scale models with the help of MVXpert and Landscape Architect, Jeff Allen. And finally create a larger scale drawing with the intention of presenting their design journey to the class.

The post Grade 5, 2 Weeks, 6 Expeditions, The Best Playground PBL Ever appeared first on 糖心原创.