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THE CARDBOARD CLASSROOM
Redesigning for K–2 A fe w o f th e p re c e d in g p o in ts d e se r v e c la rifi c a tio n fo r K –2 e d u c a to rs. P le a se se e th e fo llo w in g . C o n c e r n in g s a f e t y : C a rd b o a rd c u tte rs a re sh a rp a n d d a n g e ro u s. B u t p a p e r is th in a n d h a rd to b u ild w ith . A s a c o m p ro m ise , I su g g e st u sin g y o u r sta n d a rd c la ssro o m sc isso rs a n d c e re a l b o x e s. C e re a l b o x c a rd b o a rd is stu rd y e n o u g h to b u ild w ith b u t w o n ’t b re a k little sc isso rs w h e n c u t. I d id n o t c o m e u p w ith th is id e a ; a se c o n d g ra d e te a c h e r I w o rk w ith d id . U se th e e x p e rie n c e a n d h e lp o f th o se a ro u n d y o u w h e n y o u d o n ’t k n o w .
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C o n c e r n in g p r o je c t t im in g : I m a in ta in th a t o u r sm a lle r stu d e n ts c a n a lso ju d g e th is, b u t th e te a c h e r sh o u ld d ire c tly te a c h th is to th e m b y m o d e lin g th e q u e stio n s stu d e n ts sh o u ld a sk th e m se lv e s a n d c re a tin g (re a d : h a v in g stu d e n ts c re a te ) a q u e stio n a n c h o r c h a rt fe a tu rin g q u e stio n s lik e , “C a n I sh o w th e te a c h e r h o w th is w o rk s? W h a t w a s m y g o a l, a n d d o e s th is d o th a t? W ill th is w o rk m u ltip le tim e s? D o I k n o w w h y e v e ry p a rt e x ists?”
E n c o u r a g e G r o w t h T h r o u g h F a ilu r e Things change during the build phase. Design thinkers embrace this. Students learning design thinking worry about this and follow their designs either too closely or not at all. Early in the school year, when your students are still learning to think like designers, they might see blueprints more as hoops to jump through than as tools integral to the final product. They’ll think this way no matter what you say as you introduce blueprints and go over them. Students will draw blueprints because you say they have to so they can get to the fun parts: cutting and gluing and measuring (if they remember). That’s OK. Yes, it’s OK that students will see their blueprints as hoops to jump through at first. It’s OK that the first time they build something, most—if not all—of them will completely forget about their blueprints about five minutes into the excitement and adrenaline of the building process, and freestyling will ensue. It’s OK because those builds will be, almost without exception, bad. Early student builds are nearly always bad. They fall down. They are fragile. They look terrible. They are laminated in packing tape. They’re uneven, and they just barely solve the problem stated at the start of the process.
©️2022 by Solution Tree Press
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