This week, learners worked and played together in a deeper way as we continued our team building activities and began more academic activities in our morning core skills/guided learning block.
We capped off the week with the Challenge Donut, a visual metaphor that helps young heroes describe when a task challenges and stretches, but not to the point of being counterproductive. The inner Comfort Zone describes a goal so easy it’s uninspiring and even boring. Growth does not happen in the Comfort Zone. The outer Panic Zone describes a goal so far beyond current abilities that a sense of being overwhelmed prevents growth. The middle Challenge Zone is where the maximum learning takes place.
Learners of all ages were challenged to articulate examples of activities that are in their Comfort Zone, Challenge Zone, and Panic Zone, as well as how they would dial down the Panic Zone to get back into the Challenge Zone.
“Playing with my toys at home is in my Comfort Zone.”
“Doing a cartwheel for the first time (challenge zone).”
“Staying outside in the hot sun (challenge zone).”
“I would be in my Panic Zone if I climbed too high in the tree to be able to get down. Then I would take a breath and look for the right branch to get me a little lower.”
And of course, we celebrated by having donuts!
Next up--FLOW, for it is in this middle challenge zone that our learners are most likely to experience it.
