It is Thursday and Monday is coming.

No, it is not Easter. I am busy cross referencing every student in Grade 6 and 7, praying I haven’t messed up a student’s allocation for their X-Block 5 Module.

Cooking can only take 12, so can Cookie and Cupcake Decorating, Maker Taker can take 6, Design Thinking 12… that’s 43 accounted for. Only about 100 more students to place.

Carefully I check my module list and ensure my numbers are correct and any changes I made have also been made to the spreadsheet that tracks and assigns students to their new X-Block learning scheduled to start on Monday afternoon.

Red Cross Babysitting, Horsemanship 2, Watercolour, Hiking, Cooperative Games, Service, Cooking, Design Thinking, Maker Taker, Cupcake and Cookie Decorating, Book Club… I know I’m close to having it figured out.

One hundred fifty-eight students assigned and accounted for! Hooray!

What If?

Last spring was “dream time” for our middle school staff. In doing so, we were intentional about looking at BC’s new curriculum and being strategic in implementing new and revamped requirements in Health, Career and Applied Design, Skills and Technology. We looked ahead to the new school year and shared “what ifs” coming from our deep hopes and what we felt were needs for our students in regards to living in Christian community.

And, from this, X-Block was born.

X-Block: a block in which all Grade 6 and 7 students explore different aspects of skills and design. We separated our year into six, four and five week segments. To top it off, we then separated our students into six Fit Teams, which are subdivided into Fit Frat Groups, and Fit Core Groups with whom we aim to have them work with during their Service module, and compete with during intramurals.

Confused yet? Me too! Yet, somehow, by the grace of God, it has all worked out.

Teachers have allowed their passions to drive some seriously cool explorations. Green Screen, Sign Design, Song Writing, Billy Carts, Cooperative Games, just to name a few. Parents and community members have stepped up to lead modules in Watercolour, String Art, Mixed Media, Hip Hop, First Aid, Strategy Games, and Wilderness Survival.

Organized Chaos

The excitement, mayhem, and hustle and bustle of Monday afternoons is exhilarating and exhausting. Students are running to get to their exploration, while other students are meeting in the grade 6 hallway to meet their driver for service learning. After 10 minutes of what appears to be extreme chaos, order and learning is underway. And at the end of the day it is so worth it when kids walk through the door and announce, “This was the best one yet,” knowing full well, they said pretty much the same thing after the previous X-Block!

It’s Thursday. Phew! All the kids have a place that fit within their top five choices. Now to get them where they need to be. Mini-bus is booked, some parent volunteers are confirmed for driving to some of the 10 locations for service projects. One service project has no options…but thankfully, a grandparent may be to the rescue!

Here’s hoping…. After all, Monday’s coming!