The studio assesses a system it asked for - and the guide doesn't get a vote. Roles rotate, nominated by peers rather than assigned. Then the first full Lip Dub run, which is supposed to be bad, and the only real failure would be not getting through it once.
By 3:15 today the studio has decided the fate of its own schedule system and has run the entire Lip Dub twice, badly, with a written list of what broke.
If they vote to narrow their own freedom, that stands. Self-imposed limits are worth ten times imposed ones.
The guide named nobody. A nomination that can't be refused without explanation isn't a nomination.
However rough. Run two visibly better than run one, and the studio can name why.
Standard rhythm. Thinking Puzzle up by the cubbies.
Standard rhythm.
Talking points, not a script. Hit these in your own words - the studio can tell the difference, and the ones that land are the ones you actually mean.
The opener (2 min):
"Yesterday you ran your own day. Today you decide whether that stays."
"I want to be honest about something: I don't get a vote today. If you decide to give some of it back, that's a real decision and I'll take it."
The core (12 min) - prepping the argument, not making it:
Learners have their planning sheets from yesterday. Three minutes of silent writing before Town Hall, answering two questions:
Name the distinction hard, because it's the whole Town Hall: "If you didn't do your work because you chose not to, that's not a reason to change the rules for everybody. If you couldn't do your work because the system made it impossible, that is."
The close (6 min) - naming what's at stake this afternoon:
"Quest today is the first time we run the whole Lip Dub start to finish. Song, choreography, camera, one take, no stopping."
Then set the expectation deliberately low and mean it: "It is going to be bad. First runs are always bad. The only thing that would actually be a problem today is if we don't get through it once."
Then the thing that gives today its edge: "And you should know - we film it for real tomorrow. Not next week. Tomorrow afternoon. So everything you find out this afternoon is everything you get."
Standard rhythm.
Standard rhythm. Week 5 note: math sits inside schedule ownership now, so the block may move - what doesn't move is that it happens and the PWG opens first.
Standard rhythm.
Standard rhythm.
Five minutes, standing, planning sheets physically in hand. One question, asked exactly this way: "Who is currently off their plan?" Hands up - yours first if it's true. Each hand says what they did instead and what they're changing this afternoon, then writes it on the sheet.
It is a navigation check, not a confession. "Being off your plan isn't the problem. Not noticing is the problem.say this exactly" By today, hands going up should feel ordinary. If they have stopped, the tone slipped on Monday or Tuesday.
Full version - why it exists, and what to watch for → · costs 5 min off the 11:20 block, so Town Hall #5 runs 11:25–12:00
Learner-led. Fourth different leader of the quest - check the Town Hall leaders list before you ask, and if the obvious candidate has already led one, the answer is no.
Agenda:
The roles board has been running quietly since Week 2 and may not have been heavily used - that's fine and it stays fine. This is the natural point to rotate it, and the move that matters is who does the asking.
The leader asks one question: "Is there anyone here you'd like to see take a role this week?" Learners nominate each other. A nomination is an invitation, not an appointment - the person named can say no with no explanation required, and that has to be said out loud before the first nomination.
Being told by a peer that they'd be good at something lands completely differently from being told it by a guide. That's the entire reason this happens at Town Hall rather than in a one-to-one. If nobody nominates anybody, move on without comment - the board has never been the point.
Standard rhythm.
Wednesday's unplugged slot. Physical books, class-voted title.
Not to produce a good take. To find out what the studio doesn't know yet - where the gaps are, where the camera outruns everyone, which section nobody has actually learned. A first run that reveals ten problems is a complete success. The only failure mode today is not getting through it once.
Setup (10 min):
Run one (10 min including a stop):
The fix list (10 min):
Whole studio, standing where they finished. One question: "What broke?" Take every answer and write it on the board. Don't solve any of them yet - the list is the artifact.
Run two (15 min):
Fix the top three from the list only. Run it again. It will be visibly better, and that visible improvement is worth more to morale than anything you could say.
Close (5 min):
Compare the two out loud - specifically, not generally. "Run one, the middle section had a six-second hole. Run two, it didn't." Then: "That's what a run-through is for. And it's the only one we get - tomorrow is the real thing."
Carry forward: Keep today's footage - it becomes the comparison on Friday, and seeing Wednesday next to Thursday is what makes the improvement visible.
Tonight, guide: watch it with a notepad and pull out three specific fixes. Tomorrow morning's launch needs them, and "it was a bit messy" is not a fix.
Note the time: if the ten minutes have been handed back, this block runs 1:50–2:50.
Standard rhythm. Camera and props away properly - establish now that the kit is part of maintenance, because next week it matters.
If the ten minutes have been handed back (see W5D1) - this block is 2:50–3:00 and Quest ran to 2:50.
Callouts for anyone who nominated someone else for a role, and for whoever kept going during the run when their section fell apart around them. Continuing when it's going badly is the exact skill this week teaches.
One question: "What broke that you're glad broke today?" Same question as the boat dry test in Week 3 - say so, and let them notice the echo.
Send-off by name.
Talking points for this week's email. Drop these into an AI assistant along with two or three live notes from your actual week - a name, a moment, something that surprised you - and it'll give you a draft in your own voice. The specifics are what make it land; the structure below is just the scaffolding.
The draft underneath is an example of the shape and the tone, not a template to send as-is. A parent who gets the same email as every other parent can tell.
Subject: They reviewed their own system today
Hi families,
Town Hall today reviewed the schedule-ownership experiment - the studio assessing a system it had asked for. I told them at launch that I didn't get a vote, and I didn't take one. The ground rule they worked to was a good one: is this my problem or the system's problem? Those are different, and only the second is a reason to change the rules for everybody.
Leadership roles also rotated. The change worth mentioning is that learners nominated each other rather than me assigning anyone, and anyone named could decline without giving a reason. Being told by a peer that you'd be good at something lands very differently from being told it by an adult.
Then we ran the entire Lip Dub for the first time, start to finish, one take. It was a mess, which is exactly what a first run is for. We wrote down everything that broke, fixed the top three, and ran it again - noticeably better. Nothing filmed today goes anywhere - it was a rehearsal. We film for real tomorrow afternoon.
- [your name]