Please join us for a weekly conversation about design thinking in K12 education. We will have a variety of moderators with a wide range and depth of design thinking experiences. Each week, we will connect the dots to the design thinking methodology and how it can and will play a bigger role in today’s K12 educational arena.
Welcome to #dtk12chat! I’m Ela—using my mod spot tonight to bring in Kathy Fritz @creatombuilder author of the new book The Ultimate Project Planning Guide to Design Thinking in the Classroom. We co-wrote these questions.
Let’s explore using design thinking in projects together!
#dtk12chat A1. I’m Ela from Cambridge, MA. A major home project that’s taken over the living room: our Totoro movie family costume (my husband, me, and my 7-year-old are the 3 Totoros; my 5 year old, whose idea this was, is Catbus; her teacher jumped in to be Mei!)
A0: Jill from MN; currently finishing a 4th gr turtle art 3D printing project inspired by @joshburker; 5th gr papel picado art on laser, 1st gr soil art, to name a few! #dtk12chat
Welcome to #dtk12chat! I’m Ela—using my mod spot tonight to bring in Kathy Fritz @creatombuilder author of the new book The Ultimate Project Planning Guide to Design Thinking in the Classroom. We co-wrote these questions.
Let’s explore using design thinking in projects together!
Trevor from the DC suburbs. I'm currently trying to figure out how I can incorporate design thinking in to my concept based 10th grade English curriculum. #dtk12chat
Also if you aren't following @MrAleoSays & connecting with him, you are missing out on some powerful fierce opportunity to bring serious purpose & powerful meaning to your classroom -- not just in ELA #dtk12chat#elachat#sschat#edchat
Trevor from the DC suburbs. I'm currently trying to figure out how I can incorporate design thinking in to my concept based 10th grade English curriculum. #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A1. I’m Ela from Cambridge, MA. A major home project that’s taken over the living room: our Totoro movie family costume (my husband, me, and my 7-year-old are the 3 Totoros; my 5 year old, whose idea this was, is Catbus; her teacher jumped in to be Mei!)
A0 Kenneth Drew Gordon of rather suburban Boston here. #dtk12chat Current project: trying like hell to get people to converse with themselves and others about values!
Hi Trevor, you have the right person here with you–@WickedDecent is an English teacher turned #designthinking who's done wonders bringing them together, in his classroom, in his co-authored book Intention, and in projects like this: https://t.co/mnumDlZy06. #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A1. Designing a moment. Example: a presentation (whether what they’re presenting had any DT’ing in it not). Who’s the audience, what are they experiencing as they come to this, what matters most to them, what ways could I share this, what's a way to try it first…etc.
People are trying--and failing--to bolt ethics onto their designs and discussions of tech. #dtk12chat They need to make reflection a real and regular part of their lives. https://t.co/Czv4iaxrDF
Beyond the intro, what are other "projects" in your classroom that might involve a "a quick snapshot of empathy, ideas, prototype, test" as you described? #dtk12chat
mostly to loosen up the thinking. For many their 1st experience at building something for someone else so we reflect heavily on the empathy step #dtk12chat
A1 Minimum DT experience: my manila folder joy challenge; 25 minute flashlab -- how might we bring joy to another using a manila folder & 4 paperclips; HMW (possibilities) bring joy (emotion/condition) to another (user) using folder & paperclips (constraints) #dtk12chat
Still happy to see some more Q1 answers, but here's #dtk12chat Q2.
How does design thinking help you structure/scaffold projects? Please include any DT tools you use for doing this!
I find with coaching teachers I've had issues with them doing design challenge simulations. They've done many of them before and just want to plan projects. Do you have any suggestions? #dtk12chat
A1: Minimum DT experience? Not sure…I guess it’s those “design a shoe/wallet/backpack” type experiences that are just a run-thru of the process. #dtk12chat
I LOVED getting to experience this with you first hand a couple years ago. It was incredible how powerful the experience was, and how effectively it conveyed design thinking. If you've written it up somewhere, can you share the link with #dtk12chat?
A1: The shortest I do is around a hour. Gift giving. Morning routine. Backpack redesign. Why rush something if you want people to understand it? #dtk12chat
Interesting question! I tend to jump to wanting to plan projects myself. One idea would be to focus on the skills & mindsets. I used @WickedDecent and @amyburvall@IntentionBook to inspire staff last spring #dtk12chat
In reply to
@CREATOMbuilder, @stanforddschool, @WickedDecent, @amyburvall, @IntentionBook
I learned about it from @Ed_by_design; got 2 new sets this year and running an afterschool class for grades 3-5 with it right now. I love it! #dtk12chat
In reply to
@ElaBenUr, @stanforddschool, @extraordinaires, @audreyoclair, @Ed_by_design
A2 DT process for provides a workflow for organizing #PBL and #STEAM projects. Tools: experience & idea mapping, paper prototypes, co-creating with teachers, process journal/blog kwl/affinity charts
#dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A2. It both slows students down (to understand the people and challenge more) and speed them up (to start trying stuff). I—and soon they—can structure their work to when they need to, as @IDEO says, “think to build” build “build to think.”
Depends on if it’s exposure or training to understand the process. I usually stop after each step and summarize what we did and why we did it. #dtk12chat
A2: I'm on a pretty big kick lately where I try and use narrative to contextualize student's learning experience. Is there any room to turn the DT workflow itself in to a story of sorts? One that empowers both the creators and users? #dtk12chat
A2: I'm working this year on blending our #engineering design process into DT projects; it helps that my K-5 students are all familiar and comfortable with similar steps #dtk12chat
A2: We’re working to connect Thinking Routines (Ron Ritchhart, Harvard’s Project Zero) with Design Thinking mindsets so teachers see DT as not just a project. #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat Q2: Design Thinking helps me scaffold skills by beginning with free creation time, small challenges, iterations, and independent passion projects. Each allowing time for inspiration using @TEDTalks or articles on innovative thinking. And, time for learning new tools.
I LOVE this! Our narratives reflect—and shape—our perspective so powerfully. Design can be such a story of agency and inclusion. Interestingly I've found that the arc of design thinking is similar to the arc of many forms of storytelling, and even of business pitching! #dtk12chat
Interesting question! I tend to jump to wanting to plan projects myself. One idea would be to focus on the skills & mindsets. I used @WickedDecent and @amyburvall@IntentionBook to inspire staff last spring #dtk12chat
In reply to
@CREATOMbuilder, @stanforddschool, @WickedDecent, @amyburvall, @IntentionBook
I've yet to try it myself, but I think prototyping a new system would be more up teacher's ally... a new system for cleaning up, putting away recess equipment, turning in homework... etc #dtk12chat
In reply to
@teacherdarden, @CREATOMbuilder, @stanforddschool
We are lucky to be engaging in a multi-year learning journey with @ronritchhart to develop cultures of thinking, so it’s a great connection to make between the routines and DT #dtk12chat
In reply to
@ElaBenUr, @ProjectZeroHGSE, @RonRitchhart
In addition to building #designthinking challenges students to lead w #empathy & a need finding lens; shifts from "what do I have to do?" to "how might I help solve this problem?" -- we increase intentionality & purpose while making #dtk12chat#makered#pblchat
#dtk12chat A2. It both slows students down (to understand the people and challenge more) and speed them up (to start trying stuff). I—and soon they—can structure their work to when they need to, as @IDEO says, “think to build” build “build to think.”
We’ve created exploratory cards for teachers to use that have small move experiences which can tie into multiple content areas. We can connect in DM if you want to chat more #dtk12chat
Yay! I'm a huge fan of his too since learning about him in my "technology and culture" class at MIT, and since he writes about Star Wars :) I also co-teach with a psychologist whose focus is the impact of our narratives on us. #dtk12chat
A3 I have teachers crowdsource project ideas and encourage mixing up DT steps to suit their project standards and outcomes. At a minimum I like teachers to have three components: a who-empathy, why-thinking, what-standard, and a how-product #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A3. I structure the first 1-2 iterations within a big project; then for future iterations students evolve their own observations, principles, ideas and experiments as they wish—and share how (e.g. whatever erratic order :) those all evolved at the end of the iteration
A3 I have teachers crowdsource project ideas and encourage mixing up DT steps to suit their project standards and outcomes. At a minimum I like teachers to have three components: a who-empathy, why-thinking, what-standard, and a how-product #dtk12chat
yes, so every 4th gr 3D print is unique based on repeating pattern of 2 regular polygons they chose to combine to create a radial design; similar in other projects> same constraints, same materials, same goal, different solutions to same prob #dtk12chat
And now for our penultimate #dtk12chat question, Q4. Everyone's favorite...failure!
What was your most epic project fail, and how did it inform your approach to future projects?
A4. I didn’t get enough information from the head of a grade school on what she meant by intentional learning before a workshop. Better interview process and providing more time to absorb information at the workshop #dtk12chat
A2: Building fluency w/ tools is really the move we're pushing for right now! The @ideo deck is great, as is the @IDEOorg Design Kit travel pack! @jeanneliedtka's DFG field book is great. @QualityLearning's toolkit is INCREDIBLE & is where I got my start as a teacher! #dtk12chat
Still happy to see some more Q1 answers, but here's #dtk12chat Q2.
How does design thinking help you structure/scaffold projects? Please include any DT tools you use for doing this!
#dtk12chat A4. Both in my professional design days, and in my teaching, team challenges (between the “internal” team or with their “client”) have caused the project to fail; I’ve learned the hard way to make sure DT is used early and often on those, too!
A4: Failure from projects helps students see that teachers try and fail too but that we can still learn from trying, if nothing else it inspires me to keep trying new things #dtk12chat
thought of that, @SpheroEdu are pretty heavy, would have to drop it from pretty high up to get 'chute to deploy; maybe we could test it out on a ball the same dimensions & weight first #dtk12chat
In reply to
@CREATOMbuilder, @SpheroEdu, @SpheroEdu
A4: We partnered w/ a district to help them reimagine & redesign their school cultures - no small task! We had a bunch of planning/optimism bias & some difficulties just scaling the support & creating infrastructure. School-university partnerships = growing pains! 📈#dtk12chat
And now for our penultimate #dtk12chat question, Q4. Everyone's favorite...failure!
What was your most epic project fail, and how did it inform your approach to future projects?
