Today we started our first day of DESIGN THINKING! We watched a short film about catapults and then tried to build some ourselves. Here are some of the various emotions and qualities I witnessed during this activity:
Does it seem a bit funny to you that all these things could happen during one class period from the same students? It all comes down to a Growth or a Fixed Mindset. Remember, not everyone has one or the other. Maybe you have a fixed mindset about math, but a growth mindset about basketball. The most important thing to remember about mindsets is...
THEY CAN CHANGE!
If you felt defeated today, or upset, or even like you failed... this is how you can learn! You can build on what happened today in your engineering and learn from your mistakes. You can look at this challenge with enthusiasm and perseverance. You have been placed in "The Pit" and are working your way out.
(Also, and this is our little secret, the fifth grade teachers wanted this to be challenging for you. In fact, we purposefully did not take you through the Design Thinking Process so you could see why it is important.)
If your partnership failed, ask yourselves the following questions:
From my observations, it looks like we need more time in the Design Thinking PROCESS. Remember, successful people follow a PATH to success... they don't just arrive there!
Tonight, take another look at this video and see if you can start with the understand phase of our Design Thinking Process.
- Excitement
- Frustration
- Anger
- Confusion
- Realization
- Motivation
- Cooperation
- Concentration
Does it seem a bit funny to you that all these things could happen during one class period from the same students? It all comes down to a Growth or a Fixed Mindset. Remember, not everyone has one or the other. Maybe you have a fixed mindset about math, but a growth mindset about basketball. The most important thing to remember about mindsets is...
THEY CAN CHANGE!
If you felt defeated today, or upset, or even like you failed... this is how you can learn! You can build on what happened today in your engineering and learn from your mistakes. You can look at this challenge with enthusiasm and perseverance. You have been placed in "The Pit" and are working your way out.
(Also, and this is our little secret, the fifth grade teachers wanted this to be challenging for you. In fact, we purposefully did not take you through the Design Thinking Process so you could see why it is important.)
If your partnership failed, ask yourselves the following questions:
- Did we understand how catapults work? Did we know which forces were involved in the motion of catapults? Did we see how the materials provided could be used?
- Did we plan a design? Did my partner and I come up with a possible plan? Did we use the materials to visualize how this catapult would work?
- Did we try many different things while building? Did we stick with one design and then stop? Did we try many new things to see if they would work?
From my observations, it looks like we need more time in the Design Thinking PROCESS. Remember, successful people follow a PATH to success... they don't just arrive there!
Tonight, take another look at this video and see if you can start with the understand phase of our Design Thinking Process.
Tomorrow is a new day. We will dust ourselves off and try again!