Let Go of Control

CHAPTER 4 Build

How Do We Create a Solution?

Close enough for theater work.

—Jack Spratt, the University of the Pacific theater department’s head of set building, while eyeballing a set of stairs leading to nowhere

This is the part students have been waiting for and most teachers (including me, even now) have been secretly worried about: the build phase. The ship is at sea. The sails are billowing, the oars churning. Prepare the trash cans and warn the custodians because the learning is about to get messy in here. This chapter details how to run the build phase of the design process while also doing the work of school, including formative assessment. Saying students will build is easy, but actually having students build in a productive manner is not, and we will address that in this chapter. Take from this what works for you, and change it to meet your needs. Build from what I’ve built. This is the essence of being a design-minded teacher.

Let Go of Control

The build phase of the design process is the scariest part, especially for teachers who are not used to stepping well back from their students while they work. I’ve spoken to many teachers about implementing design in their classrooms, and I’ve seen jaws tighten, pupils dilate, and hands shoot up with a full slate of clarifying questions ready to go. Their concerns and nerves are understandable because when I do it in my class, as I have done for years, I still get nervous about how it’s going to go. Build-based projects in the classroom are an exercise of trust in your students and require a lot of not knowing what will happen; the latter may be unusual for teachers who organize their lessons down to the minute. Build-based projects can work for you too.

Teachers get lots and lots of messages about the need to control the classroom, from handing out papers to getting everyone’s attention to walking through the hallways in certain ways (Marzano & Marzano, 2015; Wong & Wong, 2018). However, aiming for a controlled classroom when eight groups of students are spread about the room, each building something different, is simply too difficult. This is a time you don’t want to simply rock the boat; instead, let the students rebuild the boat as they build their projects.

In other words, allow students to use trial and error to figure out what works for them individually and for the whole class. Nearly every single year, I’ve had a student work up the courage to say during a class meeting, “It’s too loud when we work in groups. Can we brainstorm a way to keep the room quieter?” And every single year, students will talk through and figure out how to find balance between unproductive noise and productive rumblings. At the same time, try to avoid dictating one correct way of working in groups. I have found if I don’t insist on flattening out individual quirks, I can see the way students work and learn what I never would have noticed. A student who appears to be doodling because she’s bored might actually be processing and drawing to understand her thinking. Another student talks to himself (I don’t even think he knows he’s doing it), but when he’s talking in class, he’s probably more engaged than we assume. Observing these habits and individualities will serve you well later.

Redesigning for K–2

Gradual release of control is slower in the lower grades. I advocate for giving students the freedom to explore and fail while not sinking your own ship in the process. Independent group work will look different too. Students can gather around one group and the teacher, or the teacher could preview the steps that will be taken and choose volunteers to complete each step for the class. The end result may be less-complete builds but more teacher sanity and student understanding.

Students use the blueprints they created in the design phase to guide them through the build phase. Blueprints should be 80 to 85 percent solid when students move on to the build phase, and the final product should reflect about the same percentage of the blueprint. This takes time for students to learn. It will not happen until blueprints are good and design thinking has taken hold in their minds.

Depending on where you are in your journey, your enjoyment may vary. Your students, however, are going to love the build phase. You also must expect and accept the chaos of a classroom as construction zone. The build phase is a messy one. It’s the least controllable environment.

Teachers who are used to having complete control of their classrooms may struggle here because the control is almost completely in the students’ hands. As a reminder, the design phase is crucial, as it’s your chance to influence the build as much as you feel you must, which should be as little as possible, or just enough to avoid disaster. Avoid pointing out flaws in student designs before you approve them, but do make an anecdotal record of the possible flaw so you can respond if the flaw impacts the design. You might even say

something along the lines of “I noticed that you did x, y, and z. I think you’re going to run into some trouble when you start to build. I’m going to approve this and see what happens.” Be sure to have those notes handy during the build phase. The conversation in my classroom about students themselves finding flaws in their plans will usually go as follows.

“Mr. Robertson, how long does this have to be?” “As long as it needs to be to be well done.” “Yeah, but like . . . is it good?” “That is an excellent question. Is it good?”

Students will have internalized becoming designers when that conversation doesn’t happen anymore. Teachers who have always pointed out how students can improve their work should try taking a step back. Let students look at and collect examples from the world around them to decide what good is and what done looks like. Leading these conversations with students, collecting models and discussing them with students, and annotating student work and annotations are part of what Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano calls documenting learning (Tolisano & Hale, 2018). Show students it’s their classroom. (More on this in chapter 9, page 153.) Model what it means to be learner centered by soliciting feedback on what’s working and what’s not (Ahmed, 2018; Martin-Kniep, 2000; Tollefson & Osborn, 2008). Fifth-grade students and I created the following rubric (figure 4.1, page 56) as we worked together to develop a classroom community. We built it over the course of the first marking period, revising the language to make sure everyone understood what it means to be a member of a classroom community. Students used the rubric to reflect on how the day went at the end of a free build session, class discussion, or other activity that required interacting with other students.

Thinking Like a Designer

The best thing an educator can do for students during the build phase is move around the room, nudge students toward solutions, help solve interpersonal problems, and keep opinions private for the time being. Trust students and the process.

The build phase can feel the least like teaching in part because teachers are the least active during it. Sometimes, teaching looks like sitting on your hands, pacing the classroom without looking like you’re pacing the classroom, and waiting for students to look up and step around the tree all on their own. Teaching is a verb in the most gather around, children, and listen while I impart wisdom upon you sense of the word. I call this, with all the respect in the world, capital-T teaching. If you set things up right, your

Leader and Role Model

Member

Visitor

Disrupter I do what I need to do to keep myself focused on the task at hand and make sure that I’m not interfering with other members of the community. If someone asked me what I’m learning at that moment, I could show and explain to them what I’m doing.

I do what I need to do to keep myself focused on the task at hand. If someone asked me what I’m learning at that moment, I could explain to them what I’m doing.

My focus switches back and forth between a task of my own making and the task at hand. If someone asked me what I’m learning at that moment, I would tell them the last thing I remember learning or something unrelated.

I focus more on tasks of my own making. If someone asked me what I’m learning at that moment, I would have a hard time answering.

Focusing on the task at hand in a community means that I make sure I pay attention to what needs to be done. When learning in a small group, I look for opportunities and take the initiative to help my classmates. I ask others for help using specific questions and ask for feedback on the work I’ve done so far.

When learning in a small group, I help my classmates when they ask or when an adult asks me to help out. I ask others for help with general questions. I can explain why I’m stuck and am open to suggestions.

When learning in a small group, I help others when I have the same question or problem. I ask others for help, but the words I use make it hard for a classmate to know where I need help. I may ignore the suggestions others give me.

When learning in a small group, I get stuck when I need help. My questions may cause confusion for myself and others in my community. When others offer help, the words I use are unkind or harmful to others.

Asking for help and helping others are important when I’m part of a small group. I ask specific questions to make sense of what others are saying, to follow up on others' comments, or to encourage a comment from someone else. When asked a question, I make comments that elaborate on others’ responses and provide further information or explanation. I make comments that contribute to others’ understanding of the topic, text, design, or issue under discussion.

I ask specific questions to make sense of what others are saying or to follow up on what others are saying. When asked a question, I make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others. I make comments that reflect what we are talking about.

I ask questions to be part of the conversation and understand what is happening. When asked a question, I answer it in a way that others may not see how it connects to what we’re talking about. I make comments that are related to what we’re talking about. My questions and comments add to the conversation in a way that only makes sense to me.

I ask questions unrelated to what we’re talking about. When asked a question, I avoid answering. I make comments that seem unrelated to what we’re talking about. Other participants in the discussion aren't sure how to respond to my comments.

I'm an active participant in discussions (connection to Common Core standards).

Habits and behaviors of members of a learning community. FIGURE 4.1: Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.