Design Thinking our school courtyard

Holy wow, I never actually published this! We're now 6 months into construction, and it's floating along excellently! I have a great view out my classroom window and none of my walls are being impacted by the construction... best of both worlds. Some of my poor colleagues...

--------------------- Written back in February 2014 ------------------------

We're breaking ground this summer on a huge new addition, which is particularly tough for a small campus in a tight residential area!  We don't have huge tracts of land.  Much is already set in stone by our architects, but our central campus courtyard will undergo a great renovation, including removing a small central building we call "The Cabin." This opens up exciting opportunities to redesign to better meet our community's needs!

Four colleagues and I led a fun all-faculty meeting to practice using the design thinking mindset in re-thinking this beautiful space on our campus.  You can find our slide deck for the activity here.

(1) We started with a great energizer - Zip Zap Zoom!  The whole faculty gathered in the paved area of the existing courtyard, and we had a rousing laughing game for about 5 minutes.

(2) We distributed mini white boards and dry-erase markers, and invited everyone to spend some time wandering the courtyard recording personal observations: What is important and special about this place?  What are the feelings we want this place to elicit?  What could be added to keep these feelings?  Our colleagues wandered - some in small groups and some independently - and shared stories from the courtyard and feelings about the different features.  I noticed some benches in a low-elevation area of our courtyard for the first time!

(3) We came back inside to the learning commons and gathered at small-group tables to share those observations and brainstorm.  Everyone wrote out their thoughts - one per post-it note - and shared them on a group butcher paper sheet.

Brainstorming and Sharing

(4) Finally, each teacher received a modified drawing of the plans for the new space, showing the new building outlines, the large older trees, and a few existing features.  For the remainder of the faculty meeting, my colleagues drew, colored, and sculpted with Play-dough.

Drawing and Sculpting

(5) We're still in the share, prototype, refine phases now... All of the teachers' drawings are on display in the treehouse (the teachers' lounge... no, it's not really a treehouse), and we have both post-it notes and sticky dots on hand for everyone to comment on each other's brilliant ideas.  In a few weeks, some ideas with a lot of traction will be delivered to our architects.

Teacher designs on display

What about the kids?

Well, of course the kids are participating too!  Our faculty meeting was intended both to gather teacher input AND as a model for teachers to lead their students through re-thinking the courtyard.  Many classes have already spent time observing and brainstorming, and a few have created drawings.  Each class - 3-year-old preschoolers through 14-year-old 8th graders - will deliver their favorite ideas to the student council, who will also choose a few ideas to deliver to the architects.

7th and 2nd grade buddies brainstorming

Design Thinking in the Content-Areas

Wednesday, 11/20/2013 at 6pm PST, I will be hosting the weekly #dtk12chat.  I'm hoping to lead a conversation about curriculum-focused design thinking.  That is - design thinking prompts and projects focused on academic content goals.

I feel I've developed some personally solid understanding of design thinking overall, and we have some great babysteps in place incorporating design thinking into things like service learning, classroom spaces, special events... nice school/community projects like that.  Our design thinking committee today even did the d.school Crash Course together, but instead of focusing on "the gift giving experience," teachers redesigned pain points for each other ranging from aspects of our student applicant visits to classroom transitions to course reflections.  I'm not saying we're experts, but we're well on our way towards deep implementation of these ideas at a sort of systemic level!  (*pats self and colleagues on back*)

Yes, and...

I'm still not sure how to apply design thinking *in my science classroom!*

I've long been a proponent of project-based learning (PBL). I'm super excited about #makered, and my kids have been building and engineering towards academic purposes since I started teaching. (Couple of serious throw-back links in there...)  And I will continue using project-based learning, engineering, and "making" in my classroom while incorporating babysteps of design thinking, through bits and pieces of awesome new brainstorming/ideation techniques, fabulous positive critical feedback scaffolds, and structures for iterations that I've been learning while learning about design thinking.

Yes, and...

What does fully-fledged design thinking look like in the content context?  How do I create a design thinking prompt that will also lead students towards critical content understanding?

The critical jump from engineering-design PBL to Design Thinking seems to be empathy... My students can learn excellent content through a project to design and build a boat that will hold X weight and travel Y distance, but does the user matter in that case?  My colleague Santosh is leading a fabulous design engineering exercise right now in which kids are designing devices to burn a chip and measure the heat produced... it can't be "design thinking" because there's no user for whom to probe needs, right?

Now, I'm not saying that every single project *must* be design thinking!  I'm wondering... how and where can I bring more empathy into my content-focused courses, and create prompts and scaffold experiences that go deeply into design thinking like those service learning design projects and classroom environment re-design projects that we're diving into?

For example:

• Kim Saxe describes this incredible project in 6th grade Health classes that involve redesigning aspects of health care experiences.
• St. Marten's Episcopal in New Orleans just posted to #dtk12chat this beautiful Spanish class design thinking content project in which students are investigating illegal organ trade.
• Heather Pang's incredible monuments-to-great-American-women project has many beautiful elements of design thinking for her social studies content (although I don't know if Heather herself would call it design thinking.)
• An awesome physical education teacher I met this weekend at EdCampPSWA (Puget Sound Washington) has a new plan to have his students create healthy-for-life exercise games with MakeyMakey as final projects.
• Project Ventura at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders is an incredible ongoing engineering design project with clear end users - definitely design thinking, though I don't think I've ever heard them define it as design thinking.

So, in tomorrow's #dtk12chat, I'm hoping to collaborate with other participants to pull out (1) how we're already using elements of design thinking in our academic content-focused pursuits, (2) examples of fully-fledged deep design thinking projects in those areas, and (3) maybe piece together some philosophies and tips for developing new prompts to support more design thinking in the content areas.

Yep, that's the idea.  We'll see how it goes...

Introducing Design Thinking to School Faculty

On Wednesday, I was part of a facilitation team leading a 3-hour workshop for our whole school's faculty and staff (about 100 people) introducing Design Thinking.  It was wildly successful!

If you so desire, you can read our "lesson plan" here: Intro to DT Lesson Plan
You can also find our slide deck here: Intro to DT Deck

Huge, giant, enormous, unending thanks to Mary Cantwell at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School, Jennifer Chan of Exhibit Change, and Ellen Deutscher at d.school for their input and support in developing our plan, and to my colleague and co-conspirator Shaye' Whitmer for co-facilitating with me!

Highlights:

- Our version of Jenn's Oreo exercise to highlight divergent experience was a huge hit, and participants shared some hilariously divergent methods for eating Oreos.  Milk was sorely missed!

- We were quite proud of the final "HMW" offered to participants, and one of my brand-new-to-DT co-facilitators did an awesome job explaining our facilitator group first round of Empathize/Define to get to that "HMW"!

From: Let's reconsider and redesign our experience with food... To:
How Might We support keeping energy positive and healthy throughout the school day?

- Groups interviewing each other, sharing stories, and re-defining the problem statement led to a huge wealth of different areas of focus, almost NONE of which had a focus on food at all!

- Brainstorming butcher paper sheets were wild, colorful, and groups really got WAAAY outside the box in their thinking! (There wasn't as much "visual" as we hoped, and more "written words" than expected, but...)

- As soon as we released groups for prototyping, groups dashed to the materials tables to pick up construction items!  Paper plates, pipe cleaners, Pringles containers, construction paper, and more!

- Team-to-team sharing after the first round of prototyping was positive, people utilized Greg Bamford's "I like, I wish, What if?" feedback scaffold, and groups actually reformed following that first sharing!  Two pairs of groups merged (from 4 groups to 2), and one group split in half (from 1 group to 2).

- (When I was asked for "permission" for these changes to happen, my first instinct was to clench up and wonder whether that was "okay," but we totally rolled with it!  Look at me... all flexible-like!)

The Final Products, delivered in one 1 minute elevator speeches!

1.) creating a new position in the school: The Recharge Coach!
2.) creating personal "mood meters" for everyone to self-monitor their energy levels
3.) creating mini-sensory-control chairs, including headphones and scent masks, for breaks
4.) implementing "UnTime" for everyone to pursue their own passions (Howdy, #GeniusHour!)
5.) creating a new committee: EDG@E (Experience Design Group @ Evergreen !)
6.) three different groups designed
7.) relaxation, play, and snack spaces
8.) into our upcoming building project!
9.) every staff and student keeping a "Smile File" to access when feeling down/stressed
10.) re-structuring the school day to include early-start/early-end options and late-start/late-end options.

I'm madly in love with the variety of solutions from huge new spaces to school organizational changes to small implement-it-tomorrow ideas.

I'm still working on typing up everyone's answers to the final reflections questions, especially "What do you NEED to move forward with Design Thinking?" and will add those soon.  There are lots of requests for a committee to support teachers in implementing ideas in their classrooms, as well as requests for ways to use design thinking in decision-making processes within the school!

Next Friday (yes, on the third day of school), we'll be presenting Design Thinking to our school Board of Trustees, and will present these outcomes as well as give the Trustees some playful experiences of their own.

Ideation and Brainstorming: #dtk12chat IV

I missed most of tonight's #dtk12chat, being instead stuck in traffic.  But the topic was incredibly important to me... How do we support the ideation and brainstorming phases of Design Thinking?  In between deeply understanding the problem and testing out some solutions, how do we support students in thinking bravely, creatively, radically, and *big* about every potential idea and element that can lead towards a solution?  Reading back through the conversation, here are the bits that jumped out for me...

Biggest take-aways:

• Ideation is big and risky, and requires a safe environment, including and especially for quieter introverts, but also for "but my first idea is awesome!" loud kids (*ahem*)
• Ideation requires separating your thinking from "And what will the logistics of the final product be?"... instead, just get EVERY little idea out on the table!

Lots of great resource links (highlighted) as well as very concrete ideas shared below!

Chapters:
- Q1 was "Why ideate?"
- This drew out a question re: difference between ideation and brainstorming.
- Followed by a conversation about setting up the learning environment for safe ideation, risk-taking.
- Q2 was "How do you set the stage for ideation?"
- Q3 was "What challenges do you encounter, and how to you overcome them?"
- This led to a conversation about teachers and admins doing DT together in PD!
- Q4 was "Top tip for getting ideation flowing, thinking beyond simple/obvious?"
- This led to a final brief conversation about "fitting it in" and integrating DT as mindset rather than a "unit"

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Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher4h

People still joining, but let's get started... Q1: Why ideate? #dtk12chat

• Lisa Palmieri, Ph.D. ‏@Learn21Tech4h
  A1: ideation helps students formulate and connect ideas! #dtk12chat
• David Saunders ‏@DesignSaunders4h
  A1: to ideate is to start the process - to identify possibility, sequence and causality - it's the 1st of many steps #dtk12chat
• Dr. Lee-Anne Gray ‏@DrLeeAnneG4h
  A1: Ideation brings people together and inspires conscious evolution. #dtk12chat
• ellen deutscher ‏@lndeutsch4h
  A1--Ideation allows 4 quantity of ideas & encouraging wild ideas that can bring u to new, innnovative places #dtk12chat
• WickedDecentLearning ‏@WickedDecent4h
  A1: Ideation uncovers remote possibilities & fosters slow hunches #dtk12chat
• James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr4h
  A1: We ideate to promote the fluid creation of possibilities in a risk-free and non-judgemental setting. #dtk12chat
  
  
  Kami Thordarson ‏@kamithor4h
  @jimtiffinjr Difficult for kids. That suspending judgment and reaching for something beyond what's cool with their peers. #dtk12chat
  
  
• Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU4h
  A1 ideate to dig deep go beyond the surface find connection & meaning… Also, ideate to grow attachment #dtk12chat
• Shaye Whitmer ‏@swhitmer_edu4h
  ideation is way for students to have their voices heard and to apply it to a project where they are vested. #dtk12chat
• Bonnie Jeansonne ‏@_Ms_J4h

  A1=Ideation= to download paradigms & push pass them. Our brains like to categorize early. Ideation can/ should be uncomfortable.#DTK12CHAT
• Bonnie Jeansonne ‏@_Ms_J4h
  A1= Ideation should democratize sharing rather than favour 'the loud', the confident, the few. #DTk12chat

How Might We...?

This evening was the second #dtk12chat, a twitter chat dedicated to discussing the application of design thinking in k-12 educational settings.  As I describe in my reflections on the first #dtk12chat, I'm still sort of a design thinking noob, and don't totally "get" it.  I'm learning to more deeply understand the process and mindset at the core of design thinking, rather than the steps of DesignThinking^TM.

While last week's chat was about defining terms and establishing common groups, the topic of tonight's chat was how to get *started* in design thinking.  I was completely overwhelmed immediately, so this isn't going to even come close to a summary of tweets, but rather a simpler organization of ideas.  (The chat started out with rounds of virtual hugs and welcomes, since this group is so enthusiastic about working together to bang on these ideas!)

---------------

Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h

Q1: Start with Questions: Where do you start with design thinking? #dtk12chat

• Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher3h
  A1: Helpful for me to "jump in" and experience design thinking with others. Hard to understand until you see in action #dtk12chat
• David Jakes ‏@djakes3h
  A1 A piece I wrote that describes my process, "Developing the Design Mind" http://davidjakes.me/?p=467  #dtk12chat
• Daniel Scibienski ‏@danielscib3h
  @scitechyEDU A1 movement supports creation of ideas, post-its all over classroom walls helps w/ brainstorming, sets up sharing #dtk12chat
• James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h
  A1 We start at the elementary level, and emphasize DT at a way of approaching problems. #dtk12chat
• Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h
  A1) We have a back-to-school intro-to-dt plan, & want to start w tchrs sharing needs, and small groups picking 1 to deeply probe #dtk12chat
• Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h
  Q1: At this point, Im digging deeper in my framing of questions (thx @jennzia @jscottsanchez) & looking towards more impact #dtk12chat
• James Campbell ‏@TheRealJamCam3h
  A1 This year my plan will be to start day one w/DT allow students to assist with the design of the course. implement Ss ideas #dtk12chat
• Bonnie Jeansonne ‏@_Ms_J3h
  A1: Maybe start with building questions that are What if... Why is that.. How might we... Keep a running a log? #dtk12chat

allie pasquier ‏@bakersastros3h

It seems that questions are a BIG piece of starting with design thinking. #dtk12chat

Daniel Scibienski ‏@danielscib3h

@am_gallagher @scitechyedu Photos of a walking brainstorm I did w/ ELLs @ writing (scroll down). http://workshop99.tumblr.com/  #dtk12chat

Trey Boden ‏@treyboden3h

@TheRealJamCam I do this with my Digital Media course: HMW design a digital media course for middle schoolers. Whole DEEP process #dtk12chat

• James Campbell ‏@TheRealJamCam3h
  @treyboden my thought HMW create W History class that allows student interest/voice to develop the topics of conversation #dtk12chat

Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h

@_Ms_J reminds me of our use of visible thinking routines to get started See Think Wonder 4 example #dtk12chat

Jennifer Chan (Jenn) ‏@jennzia3h

@danielscib @scitechyEDU when ideas and generating are visual, it makes it easier to build together and to share ownership #dtk12chat

Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h

Q1 Where do you start? Taking a cue from @boadams1 Take a walk have students and yourself do observational journals to Discover #dtk12chat

• Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h
  @am_gallagher @boadams1 here is a blog post inspited our future nature walk http://itsaboutlearning.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/fsbl-yesand-dtk12-mvpschool/ … #dtk12chat
• NicoleDalesio ‏@magrelacanela3h
  @scitechyEDU @am_gallagher @boadams1 We take photo walks as our observational journals. #dtk12chat

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(Several tweets summarizing Jim Tiffin's awesome DT/MakerEd combo project with tiny makers!)

James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h

@am_gallagher @treyboden ...for instance, the Kindergarteners had to create a throwing game for Nursery students.... #dtk12chat

James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h

@am_gallagher @treyboden ...the K's had to imagine what would work best for the N's, not for K's. This was the empathy element. #dtk12chat

James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h

@scitechyEDU @am_gallagher @treyboden DT was integrated into #makered project. The K's were making LED throwies for a PE class. #dtk12chat

James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h

@scitechyEDU @am_gallagher @treyboden Ks knew the game was for the Ns, so they kept asking themselves ?s from a N point-of-view #dtk12chat

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(Everyone leading me through a deeper level of understanding the "empathy" bit... The idea is to get *outside* yourself and probe another person's needs.)

Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h

In DesignThinking, can "client" be yourself? I have X problem, probe myself (maybe w peer help), then to prototyping & iteration? #dtk12chat

• James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h
  @LindseyOwn For sure! #dtk12chat
• Matt Arguello ‏@Matt_Arguello3h
  @LindseyOwn I think that seems difficult, but still possible. Having an external perspective is important. #dtk12chat
• Alexandra Fiorillo ‏@alexfiorillo2h
  @LindseyOwn Absolutely!! We practice the methodology on each other in the office all the time. Eg: I want to eat healthier lunches regularly
• Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h
  @LindseyOwn I think looking 2wards others who might B having the problem will make it a better setup Outside perspective #dtk12chat
• Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h
  @am_gallagher @scitechyEDU So kids cld use dt to help design sol'ns to each others' probs? I redesign YOUR at-home homework spot? #dtk12chat
• Matt Arguello ‏@Matt_Arguello3h
  @LindseyOwn @am_gallagher @scitechyEDU Great idea. Or redesign another grade's classroom :-) #dtk12chat
• Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h
  @LindseyOwn @am_gallagher #dtk12chat exactly go2 each other & interview learn abt their user, discover a problem and focus needfinding

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Trey Boden ‏@treyboden3h

Flash Round: Best HMW statements you have used/seen/experienced/hope to use... GO! #dtk12chat

• Jennifer Chan (Jenn) ‏@jennzia3h
  HMW design environments to facilitate inclusive learning? #dtk12chat
• Jennifer Chan (Jenn) ‏@jennzia3h
  HMW design the places where learning happens? #dtk12chat
  
  
  (Jennifer Chan (Jenn) ‏@jennzia3h
  @treyboden @WickedDecent here's some eye candy http://beautifullearningspaces.tumblr.com/  #EdDesign @_EdDesign #dtk12chat)
  
  
• Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h
  HMW build more inclusive empathetic communities? from @_Ms_J & HMW design a digital media course? from @treyboden #dtk12chat
• Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU3h
  @LindseyOwn HMW… design a living mural that personifies our grade (who we are right now? Or HMW… (who will we become)? #dtk12chat #art
• allie pasquier ‏@bakersastros3h
  @treyboden HMW create spaces for high/low energy? HMW create personal spaces, small group spaces, and community spaces? #dtk12chat
• James Campbell ‏@TheRealJamCam3h
  A4 HMW create a learning environment that allows for student interest/voice and covers the necessary curriculum? #dtk12chat
• Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h
  @chrisandres003 @treyboden HMW design ongoing way throughout the year to share ourselves & establish/maintain strong community? #dtk12chat
• chris andres ‏@chrisandres0033h
  @LindseyOwn @treyboden Yes and serve others #dtk12chat

Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h

So start teachers:"HMW solve some snag in tching routine?" Start kids:"HMW org for a great school yr?" then progress from there?

Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h

Hard to keep track of different scales of DT... content classes for kids, school level for kids, teachers, community... Range! #dtk12chat

• James Tiffin Jr. ‏@JimTiffinJr3h
  @LindseyOwn & that's important for folks to know. DT isn't a stdnt thing or an IDEO thing. It's applicable in nearly any setting #dtk12chat

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(Lindsey Own ‏@LindseyOwn3h

@Matt_Arguello @WickedDecent @treyboden How about y'all three do a here's-what-dt-looks-like-in-my-classroom session together??? #dtk12chat #sxswedu)

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Of course, "topics for future conversations" came up! Really just the one though... but it's a big'un!

1.) HMW embrace the ambiguity of the DT process? (As well as teach and support that ambiguity for our learning colleagues.)

Jennifer Chan (Jenn) ‏@jennzia3h

@am_gallagher @danielscib @scitechyEDU the "messiness" is embracing the complexity & ambiguity, both physically & mentally #dtk12chat

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher3h

@jennzia @danielscib @scitechyEDU super hard for some to embrace. Could prob have an entire chat on strategies to help #dtk12chat

Jennifer Chan (Jenn) ‏@jennzia3h

@am_gallagher @danielscib @scitechyEDU I like as a session for future discussion. HMW we embrace ambiguity of the DT process? #dtk12chat

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If you made it all the way to the end, I'd love for you to let me know... What can I do to make this chunking more useful to others?  Going through the process of blogging is useful to *me,* but I can't tell whether it's even parse-able to anyone else.  Can you see the conversation chunking?  Would it help to have headers or some kind of other organizational structure?  (I'm trying to get my school colleagues into twitter, so would like to create a few resources to show them my own learning.)