Mission Project Revised

Source: Creative Commons, Flickr, Ken Lund

Any person who has grown up in California, remembers the sugar cube mission project in 4th grade. Now, it might have been made of some other substance, but for the most part the project was always similar. Visit a mission, take some pictures, create a diagram, discuss the history, etc. Many kids today are moving through the same motions even though technology allows us to do so much more.

Today, we can simply type into a browser the name of a mission and we are given all the historical facts we'd ever need to know. I challenge you then, what is the purpose of recreating a mission if we can simply look up the facts? We need students to be applying knowledge and facts to something new. We need kids to be building missions on Mars. Read on to see my redesigned mission project:

Mission to …

Urgent message * Urgent Message * Urgent Message

Dear capable cadet,

If you choose to read on, then you are bound to and you solemnly swear to dedicate your entire brain, effort, and philosophy to an unforeseen challenge that will take you on a journey, that is unknown to any 4th grader to ever have walked the planet.

It is a period of exploration, of settlements, and of uncharted corners of the universe. The Wyosnick Enterprise is planning multiple explorations to settle and to convert others to the pillars of philosophy that we stand by. It is a challenge that needs capable minds to undertake it.

Below, are the chronicles of the missions. Choose wisely and report back to base as you progress throughout your journey. You will be tested and tried. You must be resilient. You must be strong.

Your mission is to determine where you would place a mission in the present time or in the future. Should you choose to take on this task, you must look to the history of our ancestors to determine what qualifications a mission needs, why missions were built, why or why not a mission should be build, the purpose they serve, etc. History shapes the present and determines the future. Apply your knowledge of the past and decide the most ideal location for a mission.

You must establish its design, create a model, write up a proposal based on historical facts, and analyze the word mission. Why am I sending you on a mission to build a mission?

Most of all you must be ready to justify your location and to justify the building of your mission in the first place. Think about the ethical implications of building missions and what that means for the indigenous people as well as those who are settling and exploring that universe.

Mission Checklist:

• Analysis of the word mission as a noun and a verb
• Historical research of missions in general
• Historical research of a specific mission as an influence on your task
• Location of present or future mission
• Plan of present or future mission
• User profile of mission goers, workers etc. displayed as a social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
• Diagram of present or future mission
• Explanation of historical influences in paper or video or podcast form
• Ethical debate on validity of missions, stance explained.

Design Thinking Stanford Venture Lab

Transitioning back to the bay area from a year abroad, means I am able to think about all the wonderful innovation and creativity that consistently breathes life into this beautiful place. When you leave a place you love, you return with a deep appreciation of what you took for granted. 

Monday I will begin taking an online course about design thinking through Stanford’s Venture Lab. I am looking forward to working with new colleagues as well as people from all over the world. 

It is amazing that technology allows us to work closely with others and move towards a more connected and collaborative learning community. 

Our first assignment for the course, is to write a letter to ourselves describing what we want to take from the course. A powerful tool, taking time to simply think about what you want to gain from work, relaxation, etc. is useful because it gives you space to go into an activity with an idea of the outcome you want. 

Below is my letter to myself: 

Dear Me, 

You are a strong, determined woman. No matter what others say, you have the potential to make powerful, dynamic, and lasting change in education. Out of this course, I want you to gain a sense of confidence in your ideas and opinions. I want you to be confident in who you are and what you think, but I also want you to step back, to appreciate the interactions you have, and to absorb conversations without having to speak at all. Design thinking is about trying, about testing, about thinking, and about failing. Overall, I want to see you dive into creativity and absorb every moment to its fullest. Strive to be the best version of you and seek to be as invested as possible—what you put in is what you get out. Be positive, be happy, love life. 

Love,

Me

Design Thinking for Educators

Link: Design Thinking for Educators

Use this tool kit to create meaningful, project based learning opportunities for your students. 

How to design breakthrough inventions

Link: How to design breakthrough inventions

David Kelly of IDEO talks about the necessity of human-centered design. After taking a course at Stanford on using design thinking in teaching, this video re-inspired me to remember the importance of delving into this style of thinking with our kids. 

Innovate School Architecture--please!

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/6217825860/sizes/z/in/photostream/

A current program I am participating in, just sent me the following question to answer for an assignment. I loved the question so much that I wanted to post my answer. Respond with your own ideas or comments on mine:

Imagine a technological tool or resource that would be really helpful to you and/or your students.  What would it do, and why would it be beneficial?  For this assignment, think outside (perhaps -way- outside) the box and describe what would be wonderful to have as part of your work.  As with your other follow-up classes, you must leave a comment to others’ posts, and I’m hoping there will be plenty of fodder in this assignment for that!

My educational career was inspired by the Stanford dschool, so the tool I want to create revolves around that style of thinking, learning and designing. Additionally, with my background in architecture, I constantly think about how architecture and education are intertwined. There is no reason why schools should look so similar to how they were constructed in the 1920s today, aside from money and bureaucracy. My out-of-the-box educational tool revolves around the alternation of the learning space itself. I feel space has a dramatic influence on the ability of both teachers and students to inspire and to be inspired or on the other hand to feel constrained. Often, I feel stiffened by the space I have, mostly in regards to brainstorm space for students and flexibility for work space. Rather than a tool, I am proposing a company called FlexiLearn. This company would be able to come to a school and then survey the classrooms and the supplies and be able to help, in a cost effective way, create learning spaces that are flexible and effective rather than static and constraining. Hardware that is a part of the company’s development in each classroom would be as follows:

• Rolling Wipeboards—brainstorming is able to stay up


• Tall tables with stools—kids can thus sit or stand


• No desks—too constraining, I want kids to freely move about


• Physio balls—kids with ADD or ADHD or just any normal kid could use them to sit on

My idea would be that the building itself also teaches students about the environment, green energy, and more. Flexilearn would be able to then direct schools to LEED companies that could help schools figure out how to become certified as a green building. Overall I believe that buildings are not only space for us to be inside, but spaces that should inspire us. Just because we need a great number of schools doesn’t mean that we should make them suffer from a lack of creativity. Check out the following schools that have already done this and some companies that are striving to breath life and creativity back into schools themselves:

• Design Thinking Article Edudemic


• Design Thinking Template


• Design Thinking inspired Learning Spaces


• Stanford dSchool k12


• Project Frog based in SF working on innovative modular classrooms


• MK think is redesigning current buildings to work better for the people in them