When I got back in the room this afternoon after our play performance, I found that my cheeks hurt. I had been smiling pretty hard. The Herons had worked very hard on their production and today I saw all of that work pay off. It wasn't just that they had memorized their lines and everyone was in the right place at the right time. They were really a team up there. As unexpected things happened they were able to respond creatively and quickly – and they had fun while they worked. The teamwork had been developed over weeks of rehearsal as they built the trust to critique each other and make each other stronger. They learned to depend on each other.
After the applause, we got a chance to reflect and we listed the habits of mind we demonstrated during the process of writing and performing the play. Every single habit was present from the innovation they used creating props to the flexibility they showed when a donut went flying the wrong direction.
In the first paragraph I said "their" production and the choice of the pronoun was purposeful. This play was theirs. They ran their own rehearsals. They figured out which props they needed. They found their costumes (and gave me post-it note reminders to bring my rubber chicken and coon skin cap). They should be very proud of their work.
The Rookery 
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