Today the 6th graders started their day by learning about the anxiety-reducing technique called square-breathing, or box breathing. They tried it out and then talked about how they might personalize the calming strategy. 

Students were then introduced to some new features on their digital Book Creator Portfolios and then tested them out by anonymously creating a circle map about some of their interests. The class then tried to match their classmates to the circle maps as a game.

Before heading to lunch, the students were introduced to Choice Time, a variation of Free Choice from last year. For the first few weeks of Choice Time, the students will be introduced to a handful of different choice options each week so that they understand the options available to them. After the introductory period, students will be able to choose from a limited section of learning activities and creative expression choices to pursue for 20-30 minutes most weeks of GATE. This week's choices were from the game shelf: Rubik's Race, Rush Hour, Boggle, Bananagrams, O! Euclid, Yahtzee, Proof!, Story Cubes, a 1000-piece puzzle, or a US states puzzle.

In the afternoon, we got started with our wisdom study. Students started by generating a personal KWL Chart where they listed what the think they already Know about wisdom and what they Wonder about wisdom. They then picked their favorite items and added them to a class list that we will continue to analyze throughout our study. After that, each student was assigned a quote about wisdom. They then "table texted" with a tablemate or two and discussed their thoughts on the quote. During this work, students identified where they thought they were in their understanding of the concept of wisdom using the terms Surface, Deep, and Transfer. There are terms we will be using throughout the year to help students gain clarity and take ownership in their learning.