Student Designers
This might be where the rubber hits the road for me. After these readings, I am really nervous and anxious about my abilities as a designer and am going to need a lot of "coaching" in this category. I don't necessarily consider myself creative or imaginative, actually I run in fear from that side of me. I am a that-which-does-exist, "pop open the can" kind of sage on the stage. Maybe that's a math thing but I am most certainly a willing participate in learning how to pull away from these undesirable routines and practices.
I guess my biggest question is that are these kind of characteristics (creation-oriented and imaginative) or creative spirit of design, learned or or they innate? The article tells me that with disciplined effort, designers can re-make any situation into something that more closely resembles a desired state. I hope they are correct, I'm ready to drive change through continual cycles of creation and flexibility. The one thing I will need is to unlock my imagination, which is quite rusty I'll have you know.
One are that I've always asked the question of why don't we is through the use of interdisciplinary teams. I could incorporate our math curriculum in so many of the other disciplines but it has never happened in any of the three schools where I've taught ( 2 middle and 1 high school). I am hoping this will become the norm somewhere in the future because it seems like it would be more meaningful for students as both learners and designers.
I guess my biggest question is that are these kind of characteristics (creation-oriented and imaginative) or creative spirit of design, learned or or they innate? The article tells me that with disciplined effort, designers can re-make any situation into something that more closely resembles a desired state. I hope they are correct, I'm ready to drive change through continual cycles of creation and flexibility. The one thing I will need is to unlock my imagination, which is quite rusty I'll have you know.
One are that I've always asked the question of why don't we is through the use of interdisciplinary teams. I could incorporate our math curriculum in so many of the other disciplines but it has never happened in any of the three schools where I've taught ( 2 middle and 1 high school). I am hoping this will become the norm somewhere in the future because it seems like it would be more meaningful for students as both learners and designers.
I agree that it would be beneficial to work with interdisciplinary teams to link instruction throughout the content areas. At my current school, students are certainly engaged with math and typically attempt to do their math homework in other subject area classes. I don’t see the same urgency with language arts from a student perspective, however. Although there is a school-wide focus to write across the curriculum, students are more inclined to focus on math over language arts. In my class, I incorporate social studies and science to a lesser extend. If you have any suggestions about how I can incorporate math, I’m certainly open to suggestions.
ReplyDeleteIn my current situation (school) the math teachers have been the most reluctant to join us in PBL projects, etc. It's awesome that you want this collaboration, and I think you'll find working with others will help you spark your creativity! I also think you don't give yourself enough credit. Sure, you're comfortable with being the sage-on-the-stage, we have all learned this was how teachers teach, and we're good at it, so.... change can be scary and uncomfortable. Just having signed up for this class shows you are willing to dig deeper into what is truly best for your students. Don't forget to go to your students for creative inspiration! I've been doing that lately. I tell them "this is what we need to work on" and ask how we can attack it!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I don’t consider myself a creative person, but I suspect that inventiveness is a skill that can be honed over time, if we have the discipline to force ourselves to think out of the box. I believe that as we go over the continuous cycle of creation and reflection, creative solutions will come to us more naturally.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to engaging across multiple disciplines, I think that you are right when you say that it would make learning more meaningful for students as learners and designers. I would add also for teachers. However, unless we try and reach out to colleagues from other content areas, it’s unlikely that multidisciplinary experiences will happen.
As a fellow math teacher, I understand what you're saying about math being the content that's last on board with these authentic activity problems. We have the conversations a lot as a department--we love the idea of PBL activities, but, we know we have so many standards to teach and are already low on time. Therefore, the majority of us stick to the traditional styles of teaching math...direct instruction, then guided practice, then independent practice. I just see the PBL activities as being the answer to the why do we have to learn this?
ReplyDeleteI think the creative spirit is a learned thing. Perhaps it's more innate to some of us, but I think with exposure and diving in, we practice until we get better and better. It's just so hard to change and try something new!