Summer Book Study #launchbook Week 2

Book study questions for the week:

Chapter 2

1. Can you recall a time in the classroom where creativity was a byproduct of limited resources, time and information? Was it planned or spontaneous?
2. Which creative approach listed in the chapter do you identify with the best?
3. We are all makers and possess important skills and talents. Thinking of your students, can you identify the skills each student has? Can you think of how their skills may work well together?

Chapter 3

1. The process of design thinking can be messy. But without a framework, the mess just remains a mess. What are your thoughts in the LAUNCH cycle after reading this chapter?
2. The Look, Listen, and Learn phase is a crucial step in the LAUNCH cycle in igniting genuine curiosity amongst students. What does this look like in your classroom? Or how might you incorporate this into your classroom?
3. "All is takes is one win" is a phrase that is shared often. One LAUNCH could be that win for your students to gain confidence that will last beyond your classroom. Can you think of any students that could benefit from this gained confidence? How else might students be affected by a successful launch?

My thoughts/reflection:

Chapter 2 began with the quote-- "We rarely create something different until we experience something different." (George Couros)

I enjoyed this chapter, making many highlights. I appreciated the affirmation that it's a myth that creativity is the outcome of complete freedom and the reality that creativity comes from pain and conflict (problems and solutions). Then, it broke down the creative approaches to these-- artist, geek, architect, engineer, hacker, and point guard.

I think there have been many times in my education career where I have had limited resources and had to improvise, so that's probably my earmarked creativity. Actually, one of the reasons I am a relatively well-known business teacher is that I have been known to "make tech work" with free or low cost and have focused a big chunk of my teaching career (before all disciplines were tech driven) finding open source and freeware options when commercial software was not in budget!

As for those creativity approaches, I most related to point guard. This person is able to think differently in the moment and creates opportunities as a result. The book stated: "The end result isn't a final product but an experience her students hadn't anticipated." Of course, this is typically by accident and not by design for me. :)

As for honing in on my students and their skills, I do struggle with this every semester. I need to find more engaging ways to learn more about my students, rather than Google forms or surveys. Four corners get old quickly. Classroom BINGO is one way I have tried to find commonalities and it's short and they seem to enjoy it.

Chapter 3 focused more on defining design thinking as problem solving with encouragement of risk taking. It broke the acronym down-- L (Look, Listen, an Learn), A (Ask Lots of Questions), U (Understand the Problem/Process), N (Navigate Ideas), C (Create), and H (Highlight What's Working and Failing).

They explained that the first step  might involve having students do interviews, needs assessments or observations to discover more about the problem they intend to solve. When I create fictional client scenarios, my students are giving a case problem to use as a starting point and this goes along with that piece.

As for confidence, I VERY MUCH agree that a little confidence can go a long way. I have tried some rather "silly" methods to try to get students motivated--even using stickers in my web design class! They respond well to that. They are rewarded for making small strides. I think that is an important element. I need to spend more time finding the positives and encouraging those who really need it so they will take more chances in the classroom. I know when my Photoshop class does the copycat magazine project, some students pick a challenging cover to make and others look for easy. I try to build up those who are trying to take the safe road and encourage them to aim higher. But, this is an area I should work on in the coming year.

Final Thoughts--

My follow up research for this section was to look up Nirvan Mullick (a filmmaker) and Caine Monroy (a student who made arcade games out of cardbook). I had never heard of them and decided to watch this YouTube video interviewing the two of them. It gives the background of the whole thing (worth the watch).

Here's a short TED video from Caine himself . I love this! As a business teacher, I just enjoyed the whole entrepreneurial angle of this project. So creative and fun!