Why we need creative confidence In 2012, IDEO founder and longtime Stanford professor David Kelley took the TED stage in Long Beach and shared a deeply personal story. It was the tale of his own cancer diagnosis, of finding a lump in his neck and being told he had a 40% chance of survival. This was clearly a sobering moment, but he wasn’t sharing the story to seek our sympathy. Rather, he wanted to talk about his resulting epiphany. “While you’re waiting for your turn to get the gamma rays, you think of a lot of things,” he said drily. “I thought a lot about: ‘What was I put on earth to do? His conclusion: “The thing I most wanted to do was to help as many people as possible regain the creative confidence they lost along their way.” Innovation is scary. The main thing that seems to work is to have a bunch of experiments where people dig in. So how do you embed innovation in an organization? The first thing a client doesn’t want to hear is that it’s probably a 10-year process. At Stanford, it’s clean. So what next?
Starting From Scratch: A Public School Built on Dreams of Students and Parents Getty District public schools have a bad reputation for being static and slow to change. But a public school district near San Diego is proving that collaboration between motivated teachers, engaged parents ready for a change and progressive leaders can lead to a dramatically different way of approaching public education. Poway Unified School District’s student population is steadily growing as families move into new housing developments popping up nearby. All last year five teachers and two administrators researched school models, drew on business practices and used design thinking principles to combine the most inspiring practices into a new school. “The really unique thing about the school is the fact that it really involved parents, asking them to help design what the school would be like,” Collins said. “They wanted students to really like and enjoy school,” said Megan Power, one of the five teachers who designed the school. The afternoon is what Power calls “deep dive time.”
The Elephant and the Rider Every now and then I come across a metaphor that really sticks and helps me think differently about something I see every day. The metaphor helps me look at these situations with a new lens, and, as a result, think, feel, and act more effectively. I’ve heard of several ways to think about our thinking. I’ve heard of the left-brain and right-brain. I’ve heard of the emotional side and the rational side. This time, the metaphor is the Elephant and the Rider. In the book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard , Dan Heath and Chip Heath write about the Elephant and the Rider. The Two Systems: The Emotional and the Rational Side Our brain has two systems at work – an emotional side and a rational side. “The conventional wisdom in psychology, in fact, is that the brain has two independent systems at work at all times. The Planner and the Doer Modern behavior economists think of the two systems as the Planner and the Doer. The Elephant and the Rider Metaphor Photo by Swami Stream.
Designing Professional Learning The Designing Professional Learning report provides a snapshot of the key elements involved in creating effective and engaging professional learning in a globally dispersed market. Whether you are developing professional learning from scratch, enhancing an existing program or evaluating professional learning for yourself or others, the Designing Professional Learning report provides detailed guidance on how to configure and/or evaluate your own context-specific model/s. Following analysis of a broad range of professional learning activities, a Learning Design Anatomy was developed to provide a framework for understanding the elements of effective professional learning. Each learning design element is framed by a detailed series of questions that challenge users to refine and clarify aims, intended learning outcomes and the most effective ways in which to engage—taking into consideration the unique context for learning. Designing Professional Learning report 778KB PDF International Partners
A Brilliant Question Not Essential There is a difference between essential questions and brilliant questions. While essential questions touch upon the most important issues of life, they are rarely brilliant. Essential questions touch our hearts and souls. They are central to our lives. They help to define what it means to be human. Most important thought during our lives will center on such essential questions. What does it mean to be a good friend? In contrast with essential questions, brilliant questions are important for their power to unlock mysteries and open doors. What will it take to win her heart? Brilliant questions may also be essential, but they almost always deal with strategy and change of some sort. A Vivid Example In studying important figures from history we might ask the essential question, "What kind of person was Joan of Arc or Matthew Flinders?" But all this gathering may not bring us to the heart of the matter. Here is where the brilliant question comes into play. Where did Joan go wrong?
Interview: Elizabeth Green, Author Of 'Building A Better Teacher' Teacher effectiveness is a hot topic in education circles right now. How do you measure it, and how can you improve it? What type of teachers should schools keep, and who should they let go? Elizabeth Green says that it's not, as some people assume, a question of personality or charisma. Great teachers are not born, they're made, she says — and there's much more to teaching than being "good" or "bad" at it. Her book, Building a Better Teacher, explores teaching as a craft and shows just how complicated that craft can be. Green studied teaching methods in both American and Japanese classrooms over the span of six years. Interview Highlights On teaching math in the United States versus in Japan One of the differences is the number of problems in a single class period. On the importance of mentorship Another thing that holds our country back is that we have this culture of privacy around teaching. Elizabeth Green is the cofounder of Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news site that covers education.
Many, Many Examples Of Essential Questions by Terry Heick Essential questions are, as Grant Wiggins defined, ‘essential’ in the sense of signaling genuine, important and necessarily-ongoing inquiries.” These are grapple-worthy, substantive questions that not only require wrestling with, but are worth wrestling with–that could lead students to some critical insight in a 40/40/40-rule sense of the term. I collected the following set of questions through the course of creating units of study, most of them from the Greece Central School District in New York. Or maybe I’ll make a separate page for them entirely. See also 8 Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions Many, Many Examples Of Essential Questions Decisions, Actions, and Consequences What is the relationship between decisions and consequences? Social Justice What is social justice? Culture: Values, Beliefs & Rituals How do individuals develop values and beliefs? Adversity, Conflict, and Change How does conflict lead to change? Utopia and Dystopia Chaos and Order Creation Sources
50 Questions To Help Students Think About What They Think - TeachThought contributed by Lisa Chesser Using the right questions creates powerful, sometimes multiple answers and discussions. Aristotle said that he asked questions in response to other people’s views, while Socrates focused on disciplined questioning to get to the truth of the matter. Ultimately questions spark imagination, conjure emotions, and create more questions. The questions asked by a teacher or professor are sometimes more glaringly valuable than the information transferred to the students. Those questions spark a thought, which leads to a fiercely independent search for information. If students are the ones gathering that information then they’re the ones learning it and student-driven learning cements lessons into the students’ minds making any lesson more powerful with this strategy. The questions are unrestricted and open the mind up to unfettered thought, perfect for innovation and understanding. See also our 28 Critical Thinking Question Stems For Classroom Use Logical Questions 1.
Design Thinking – The New Innovation Strategy – Leader In U Today we are living and doing business in complex modern technology driven environment. There are various types of complexities, in different forms and faces, and in this volatile environment, business need to experiment with different approaches to thrive. They not only need to understand the complex technologies but also make sense to start using the same for their benefit. We are seeing a massive transformation across the business world – where they are applying the principles of design to the way people work. They are investing in design to get to the top of the trend to deliver more value to their customers. How Design is playing a critical role in modern business environment? Although Design is most often used to describe an object or end result, Design in its most effective form is a process, an action, a verb not a noun. Have you seen your newspaper? Let’s talk little more about the foundation of Design Thinking: Integrate your thinking – think ‘HOW’ Be ready for some bumps
An Exercise in Design Thinking: Step 1: Discovery Browsing the “printable backpacking checklist” search results, I ran into two common themes: They’re either all super rigid, bloated and overly exhaustive, or they’re not actually printable. For example, many are weighed down with various bright colors/artwork (increased ink usage) or they’re not formatted to print in any sort of logical/economical way. The top Google result features a tiny text link to a downloadable PDF, but you’d have to adhere to one person’s specific packing ideology, i.e. a somehow vague, yet specific “2/2.5 lbs of food per day”. Addressing the Problems: Taking a page from IDEO’s Field Guide to Human-Centered Design, I framed out my design challenge. Considering My Packing Method: In thinking about what I usually pack, and how, I noted that we keep all of our supplies in organized bins. I began to flesh out the concept, affixing my four core challenge components, with possible solutions. Step 2: Content Creating the actual List (component 1.)
How to Apply Design Thinking in Class, Step By Step By Anne Stevens For educators ready to try the idea of design thinking, you’ll be glad to know it does not require extensive transformation of your classroom. That said, it can be a transformative experience for all involved. Here, we try to answer your questions about integrating different components of a design learning experience into familiar, pre-existing scenarios that play out in every school. Can my classroom become a space of possibility? For students, the best classroom experience is a space of possibility. It can be challenging to transition a traditional classroom into a space of possibility. But in a classroom that is a space of possibility, the students have agency, and the products and processes can be moving targets. Can I run a design thinking classroom on Tuesdays from 1-3pm? You can run a flexible studio space in your classroom for a certain part of the day. I am not a designer. The first place to seek the curriculum is in your classroom’s daily activities.
Design Thinking – John Spencer Every day, I ask my kids, “What did you make in school today?” Too often, they can’t give me an answer. But on the days that they do, their eyes light up and they passionately describe their projects. I want to see schools transform into bastions of creativity and wonder. But here’s the thing: this is hard to pull off. This is what I love about design thinking. This is why A.J. Every Child Is a Maker I believe that every classroom should be filled with creativity and wonder. I realize that school can be busy. We can do better. I am convinced that creative thinking is as vital as math or reading or writing. I believe all students deserve the opportunity to be their best creative selves, both in and out of school. I have a crazy belief that all people are naturally creative. What Is Design Thinking? The term “design thinking” is often attached to maker spaces and STEM labs. Design thinking is a flexible process for getting the most out of the creative process. A.J. Part Two: The LAUNCH Cycle
Hacking the Classroom: Beyond Design Thinking Design Thinking is trending is some educational circles. Edutopia recently ran a design thinking for educators workshop and I attended two great workshops at SXSWedu 2013 on Design Thinking: Design Thinking is a great skill for students to acquire as part of their education. But it is one process like the problem-solving model or the scientific method. Design Thinking Design thinking is an approach to learning that includes considering real-world problems, research, analysis, conceiving original ideas, lots of experimentation, and sometimes building things by hand ( As a further explanation of this process, here is an exercise by the d.School about how to re-design a wallet using the design process. Here is another take on the design thinking process as applied to learning within a community setting: “What does it take to create education in this age of imagination?” Problems with Design Thinking
8 Tips and Tricks to Redesign Your Classroom Remake Your Class is a 3-part video series that covers how one educator transformed his classroom with the help of his students, some community volunteers, and design experts. Editor's Note: Author David Bill is a designer and educator who consulted with The Third Teacher+ on the Remake Your Class project highlighted in the videos below. The tips in this post go along with the companion video. We are excited by the simplicity (and low price tag!) If you're thinking of completing your own classroom remake project, good for you. The tips below can be used for smaller scale remakes right way. Whether you are looking to reorganize one corner or redesign the entire room, here are eight tips that may help you throughout the process. 1. Students are your primary users and should be at the center of such a remake process. Create Visual Inspiration Ask parents, colleagues or friends to donate a variety of appropriate magazines. Students Define Pain Points 10x10x10 Student Helpers 2. Word Association