What a physical week! By which I mean, we did a lot of physics! We’re still exploring simple machines and this week was all about inclined planes. The class calculated the mechanical advantage of various inclined planes and compared the calculated mechanical advantage to the measured mechanical advantage. This was some of the most detailed physics work we’ve done this year, and it was great seeing them rise to the challenge. We’re continuing this work with pulleys next week, so I’m excited to see how they do!

We also started a new round of Battle of the Books this week, and I loved seeing the team spirit the class displayed. They did a much better job discussing their expectations and caring for the younger members of their team, while still focusing on winning and doing their best. They have until after break to read their books, but I am already seeing people annotating, discussing, and diving into their books. We are going to continue meeting and practicing, so good luck to all our competitors!

A final highlight from the week was diving into our new project: Greek pottery. As part of our exploration, the class is creating their own baked pottery. They are researching the kinds of pottery, the artistic styles of representation, and what scene they want to represent. They are then aligning the kind of pottery to the scene they are representing. We are also going to do a lot of math, like measuring the volume of the pottery and the percent change in weight when it is baked. This is going to be a big project and I’m excited to see what they create.

This was a sprint of a week, even though it was only 3 and a half days. The biggest piece of the week was devoted to finishing Agamemnon. This was an incredibly challenging read, something I didn’t read until I was much older, but the class really took to it. They were quick to understand the connections and themes of the play, especially compared to the Homer selections we read before. They did well analyzing quotes from the play, updating character maps to include new information, and compare characters across works. Doing that level of analysis on this challenging of material was really incredible.

Another highlight of the week was our experience at Leadership Day. The class did a great job taking part in their group activities, presenting their plans for service projects to the entire group, and enjoying some historical presentations. The best part was definitely hearing our speaker, who was both deeply inspirational as well as educational. I was proud of their respect, focus, and curiosity throughout the entire experience, especially considering it was on zoom. I can’t wait to experience it in person with the 6th graders!

A final piece I want to highlight is the continuing grammar work the class is doing. I will be honest, I hated grammar as a student. It seemed so arbitrary and confusing, but the class seems so much more at ease. They are doing a great job learning how to conjugate verbs, how to punctuate complex sentences, and even the reasoning behind these tasks. We’re going to be practicing how to use this in revising their written work next week, which should be a great opportunity to put these skills to the test. I’m excited to see their writing continue to improve!

Keep up the great work everyone!

This was an exciting week, full of opportunities for us to shine. The highlights were definitely on Friday, as our classes went to both the Scholastic Trivia Bowl and the Hellenic Trivia Bowl. This was our second time at the Trivia Bowl and we’re steadily improving, netting another victory in round 4 and a tie in round 2 (which we lost in a heartbreaking tiebreaker). The Hellenic Bowl was a wild ride and I can’t wait to see how we improve over time. I also want to highlight the work and preparation the class went through, as well as the respect and honor they showed at each event. We received compliments on both our knowledge and decorum, which really highlights the impeccable character of our students. Great Job, everyone!

Another fun highlight this week was our work with the water clocks. As you’ll recall, the class built and measured their water clocks last week. This week, the class analyzed the clocks they designed, taking a host of measurements, graphing them, then finding how the rate (depicted as slope) changed over time. This was great not only because it involved a lot of challenging math concepts, but it was math that they could SEE and understand. While we’ve worked with slope before, putting it in the context of a process they carefully observed really cemented their understanding of the concept. The ability to have projects that hit multiple aspects of the curriculum at the same time (science, history, and math in this case) is a core feature of the progressive education that really challenges the class to do their best.

Finally, the class tackled Agamemnon, a play by Aeschylus. This is a challenging play, one I didn’t read until I was in college, so we are taking it VERY carefully, but the class was immediately able to connect it to both the events that preceded it in the Iliad as well as the themes it mirrors in the Odyssey. The class is taking on some very challenging material, but the conversations we have as a result are really demonstrating how deeply they are studying the texts. I am continually impressed by their curiosity, persistence, and ability. Keep up the hard work, everyone!

Happy Weekend everyone, hope you have a great one. This week the class was deeply invested in creating a water clock. We started the week by learning a bit about the science and history behind them, which multiple students said was a welcome addition to the science work. Following that, the class was tasked with creating a water clock that would be accurate over multiple trials, have 3 or more time measurements, and measure at least an hour. The designs varied and the class worked hard annotating their research. In the end, everyone managed to create and test their designs. This is great, as we will then use it to study some mathematical relationships in the upcoming week. This kind of sprawling, complex, historical science research is such a great way for students to expand their knowledge and skills!

Another way the class pushed themselves this week was our grammar work. While some pieces of grammar are annoyingly obtuse, modifiers are a topic that intuitively makes sense, and the class had great success fixing them. As an example, the class pointed out how the sentence “She put a helmet on her head that was too big” seems to imply that it is the head that was too big, not the helmet. This kind of social knowledge is critical to help them communicate their ideas but requires explicit practice and awareness, which ultimately becomes instinctive. I am excited to see their writing improve after this work.

A final highlight from the week was our reading of the original Iliad. Unlike the abridged version we’ve been reading, this week we tackled selections from the Fagles translation of the original. I expected this to be a struggle, but the students took to it quickly. They were quick to connect their prior knowledge to the text we were reading and appreciated the deeper understanding they gained. I was deeply impressed by their persistence and curiosity, as it was not unusual for us to take 40 minutes to read a 3 page selection. The ability to read that deeply is a skill and one that will be important for them as they move into more challenging texts. Great job everyone!

This was a brilliant week, at least partly because we used mirrors and lenses to explore how the James Webb Telescope helps scientists explore the beginnings of the universe. After reading about the science behind it, the class built their own reflectors and experimented with the nuances of aligning multiple lenses. This was a great experience, not only because it required some intricate teamwork, but because it showed the class some foundational optics principles. I heard multiple students reflecting on how the light behaved when reflecting on different substances and how they would design mirrors to help capture even more light. It was wonderful seeing the class take a lesson and really internalize its principles.

Another shining moment this week was our Socratic Seminars around the first half of the Children’s Homer, which was mainly based on the Iliad. This was a challenging read, but the class really rose to the challenge. Whether it was reflecting on what it means to be a hero, the voices we don’t hear in the story, and even counterfactuals about how the story MIGHT have gone, it was an incredible conversation. The questions were everything from their submitted questions, discussion questions from various study guides, and even some college level questions I pulled in. The class is really grappling with some challenging material, and I could not be more proud of them.

A final piece of the week I wanted to highlight was our work around Black History Month. While we have been focused on Ancient Greece, the class was also interested in hearing about some of the leading African American voices in our history. They created mini-biographies of everyone from physicists to entertainers to politicians and put them on display for the entire school. There were even some students that suggested adding additional biographies to provide an even richer picture of Black History month. This ability to focus on both the historical and the political aspects of the world around them is just part of becoming a well rounded and educated individual. I am excited to keep pushing them to expand their horizons.

Great job this week everyone!

Hi everyone, hope you enjoyed both the winter break and the 3 day weekend! It’s good we had a bit of a break, we really hit the ground running. Here’s a couple of highlights from the first week back.

The biggest news is definitely the launch of our Ancient Greek exploration. This is our big exploration unit and it has been wonderful seeing the class exploring it in their own ways. We have people exploring everything from the military tactics of Alexander the Great to the toys children played with 2,000 years ago. The class will be doing research and creating unique ways to display their knowledge, which I can’t wait to update you on individually. The ability to explore their own interests, challenge themselves to be rigorous in it, and then present it to their peers is one of the best part of Plato Academy and I can’t wait to see what they create.

Another highlight of the week back was our Battle of the Books. Over the break, everyone had a choice which book to read and then competed in a competition around those books. The air of intense concentration was palpable on Friday and their work was clearly on display, as the scores were high all around. We had multiple questions that everyone got right and the finalists for both books scored over 90%. I’m anticipating a tight finale on Tuesday, so good luck to our competitors.

Finally, I want to shout out to the entire class for the work they did on the math this week. We came back in with a bang, working on algebra, function tables, and operations with negative numbers. We worked as a class, in small groups, and individually; in the end the class averaged a 95% on the quiz on Friday and NO ONE got more than one wrong on the quiz. For a trickier concept on the week back, this is exactly the kind of mastery I want to see. Great job everyone!

Hi everyone, I hope you’re starting your holiday break off well and you have a blast! I wanted to give a few last updates before you get on your way. The biggest news was obviously the holiday program on Friday at the Des Plaines Theater. I cannot express how proud I am of the class and their performance. This was a great opportunity not only for the class to get comfortable performing, but we also did a deep dive into the characters and their motivations. This really showcased that class’s ability to parse the meaning of a text beyond just the literal words on the page. I think you can see the results of that study in the performance and I am so thrilled y’all got to experience it with the class.

Another awesome bit of the week was wrapping up our space unit. This was some VERY challenging math, a selection of wild science fiction, and a lot of science readings. Debriefing this week was a blast, as I got to see how they approached the vast array of subjects they were studying and how they chose to present it. We will be diving into a new topic when we return, so I’m glad we were able to wrap this one up before heading out on break.

Finally, I want to highlight some opportunities for the class to stay sharp over break. First and foremost, we will be doing solo Battle of the Books when we get back, so each student received their choice of Fish in a Tree or Project Mulberry, so I wish them happy reading and I’m excited to see who wins when we get back! The class should also shoot for about 200 minutes of math over the break, just so they can stay sharp and be ready to dive back in January. If you have any questions about this, let me know!

Thanks for all the holiday wishes y’all, hope you have a great time creating some lovely memories!

Howdy everyone, wanted to share a few updates from our week and let you know what we’ve been working on. First and foremost, I have to shout out the incredible work the class has been doing with Ms. Anna. During her time with the class, Ms. Anna has been working with the class on solving Rubik’s cubes. This is one of those activities that initially seems like a fun game, until you start analyzing the algorithms required, learning the precision of language used to communicate your strategies, and master the conceptual processing required to solve the cube. All of this combined with the competitive spirit that has the kids practicing at recess and having impromptu races creates an incredible atmosphere in the classroom.

Another highlight from the week was the class continuing to work on their science research project. We revisited the library, which let the class check out any resources they needed to wrap up their research. It’s been wonderful to see the ways the information they are acquiring has enriched everything from our math projects to our readings. The end of this mini-unit will be coming up this week, so I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

The last thing of note from the week was our holiday activities. We’ve been hard at work practicing our skit and our songs, as well as writing the transitions for the program. The class has definitely risen to the challenge of the season and I am excited for all of you to celebrate with us. We also had a great time at the holiday market and it was wonderful to see the kids picking out presents (but I won’t tell you what they bought, no spoilers). Please make sure to stay healthy in this last push, as we’ve had a number of absences and I really don’t want an illness to derail our celebrations. Rest up and stay healthy everyone!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Break and is ready to rock and roll. This is the big push to Winter Break and we are GOING. The biggest update has been our work on the skit for the Winter Program. We are performing the Grinch and it is going great! Check with your child about their role, any costumes they may need, and also maybe help them practice their lines. We are going to be practicing A LOT in the next few weeks and can’t wait to perform it for all of you!

Another fun part of the holiday prep was making our ornaments to be hung on the Christmas tree in the square. We had a blast making ornaments together and decorating them with LEO STRONG. I hope you had a chance to join us or swing by and check out the tree. I know the school posted some pics of the entire crew on the Facebook page, so make sure to check that out too.

While we’ve had some fun, we are also hitting the ground running on the academic material. In addition to the 1,800 year old science fiction story we read, our space unit has also been giving us a lot of math work. We’ve done astronomical geometry, done ratios and scales for lunar studies, and even did some algebra word problems to challenge us even more. It has been great having our math work connected to everyone’s independent studies, and I can’t wait to see the challenges we take on next week.

Stay focused everyone, we’ve got a lot to do, but it is going to all be worth it!

This was a marathon week but it was such a delight seeing all of you and getting a chance for the students to talk about the incredible work they’ve done. That has to be the biggest highlight of the week, seeing them assemble their portfolios, polishing their presentations, and then being able to share it with you. I am so proud of the work they have done and can’t wait to push it even harder next term.

This was also a great week for the class to show their skills in a competition for Battle of the Books. The class was divided into groups that each had to read over a thousand pages, review their readings, and then compete head to head on very tricky questions about the books. The Ghost Busters ended up snagging the win, but it ended up coming down to a sudden death tiebreaker that was incredibly tense. We will be doing this again in the spring, so I can’t wait to see how they up their game for the next round. Great job everybody!

The last piece that really stood out this week was our science experiment about electricity. We approached this thoughtfully, going from an informative video, mastering the vocabulary involved, and then ultimately building our own battery. This was a blast and really helped them gain a better understanding for the topic as a whole. We will be circling back around to this topic and taking it deeper, but I’m thrilled with the foundation we have laid for this topic.