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Slide Notes

This 45-minute class only meets on Griffin Fridays (most Fridays, except when we don't have school on Mondays!).

5/6 Tech and P3 Introduction

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

5/6 Technology

Griffin Fridays
This 45-minute class only meets on Griffin Fridays (most Fridays, except when we don't have school on Mondays!).

Topics covered

  • digital citizenship
  • media literacy
  • G Suite
  • integrated with other classes
  • coding
These are some of the topics that will be covered during our Friday tech times.
Photo by Tim Bennett

Tools used

  • Common Sense Education
  • Applied Digital Skills
  • Be Internet Awesome
Here are some of the tools we will use in this course. Parents are encouraged to check them out at home too!
Common Sense Education: https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship
Applied Digital Skills: https://applieddigitalskills.withgoogle.com/s/en/home
Be Internet Awesome: https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/

All assignments will be posted to Google Classroom.

I will strive to make most of our projects/work able to be done asynchronously, so Off-Campus learners don't necessarily have to join via our Google Meet. There is no grade in this course.
Photo by C.E. Kent

2019-2020 P3

personal passion projects
In our Middle School (grades 5-8), all students participate in our personal passion project (P3) program. This is the third year for our P3 program.

Photo by amira_a

P3 GOALS

Why are we doing this?
The following slides explain some of the reasons we do P3. (Yep we present these reasons to kids and parents too!)
Photo by amira_a

1. Determine what you are passionate about.

Determining what students are passionate about is often the hardest thing. In the past, we have let students choose anything they found interesting. It frequently proved difficult to keep student's attention on that topic all year.

This year, we are using the design thinking process to help students solve a problem they are passionate about. By connecting to a problem and breaking down the process, it helps students remain a bit more focused on their topic.

2. Pursue a passion, chosen by you, for much of the school year.

Students focus on their P3 topic for the entire school year.
A P3 class, which all MS students take, meets once a week for 40 minutes throughout the school year. We also have one 4-day week dedicated to it in January, when all classes are suspended so students can concentrate on their projects.

3. Improve your communication skills by working with a mentor.

A HUGE part of our P3 program is MENTORSHIP! We work hard to pair each project up with an adult mentor from our community. Here is a student working with a Roycemore parent on a comic book project.

Mentors

  • If you or someone you know is interested in mentoring, please let me know!
A HUGE part of our P3 program is MENTORSHIP! We work hard to pair each project up with an adult mentor from our community. Here are some of the ways we do that.

In the background are three students video calling an animator and Roycemore alum who lives in California.

4. Organize and complete a large project from start to finish.

Organizing a large project is an important skill, and a valuable part of our P3 program.

PROBLEM SOLVING
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DESIGN THINKING

We use the design thinking process and encourage students to work on solving a problem they care about for P3.

Untitled Slide

We encourage our students to "fall in love with the problem" not the solution. This is tough! Often we want to focus immediately on doing the thing we think will help, or on the first idea we have. But in order to truly design helpful solutions, we must first thoroughly understand the problem.

Untitled Slide

This year, there are even MORE problems to solve! We'll highly encourage projects that focus on pandemic-related problems.

See http://www.lindsaysews.com/2020/08/diy-mask-necklace-easy-face-mask.html for this example.

Humans have come up with creative solutions to so many problems already- in our homes, schools, communities, and the world. Students will be introduced to many of these ideas tomorrow during our P3 Kickoff!

mindsets

of design minded individuals
Why design thinking? We discuss the following mindsets with our students at the start of the year. This helps them understand the design thinking process better, and gets them to think about why we are asking them to think this way.

In fact, these are mindsets we hope to cultivate throughout our school.

These mindsets are adapted from Mindsets of Design Minded Intrapreneurs from SAP. See http://iplaysite.com/maren/DatB-Mindsets-booklet-online.pdf.
Photo by zetson

human-centered

  • empathy
  • solve problems from the perspective of others
  • leave behind old ways of thinking
  • curiosity to understand a variety of perspectives
  • advocate for human needs unapologetically
We discuss the following mindsets with our students at the start of the year. This helps them understand the design thinking process better, and gets them to think about why we are asking them to think this way.

In fact, these are mindsets we hope to cultivate throughout our school.

These mindsets are adapted from Mindsets of Design Minded Intrapreneurs from SAP. See http://iplaysite.com/maren/DatB-Mindsets-booklet-online.pdf.
Photo by Tyler Nix

confidently iterative

  • passion to craft delightful solutions
  • curiosity to imagine multiple approaches
  • ability to try a variety of approaches
  • courage to not get it right the first time
  • belief that all are creative
We discuss the following mindsets with our students at the start of the year. This helps them understand the design thinking process better, and gets them to think about why we are asking them to think this way.

In fact, these are mindsets we hope to cultivate throughout our school.

These mindsets are adapted from Mindsets of Design Minded Intrapreneurs from SAP. See http://iplaysite.com/maren/DatB-Mindsets-booklet-online.pdf.
Photo by Sara Kurfeß

courageously committed

  • willing to sacrifice own ideas
  • passion and stamina to make a solution a reality
  • learning from failure
  • courage to not get it right the first time
  • embraces ambiguity
We discuss the following mindsets with our students at the start of the year. This helps them understand the design thinking process better, and gets them to think about why we are asking them to think this way.

In fact, these are mindsets we hope to cultivate throughout our school.

These mindsets are adapted from Mindsets of Design Minded Intrapreneurs from SAP. See http://iplaysite.com/maren/DatB-Mindsets-booklet-online.pdf.
Photo by comeonandorra

Respectful problem finder

  • ability to be an insightful problem finder eager to change the status quo
  • willingness to try new things despite uncertain outcomes
  • start from a place of not knowing the solution
  • makes and tests solutions, instead of just discussing ideas
Photo by Samuel Zeller

optimistic collaborator

  • understands what is important to the whole community
  • balances human needs, feasibility and viability
  • believes every problem is solvable
  • able to clearly communicate solutions
  • inspires action
Photo by Mimi Thian

Untitled Slide

This year, we are using a curriculum from Future Design School called "Design Thinking for Middle School." It has really helped structure our program and get kids thinking in new, unique, and useful ways.

You can find out more here: https://www.futuredesignschool.com/

Untitled Slide

This year, we are using a curriculum from Future Design School called "Design Thinking for Middle School." It has really helped structure our program and get kids thinking in new, unique, and useful ways.

This slide shows the table of contents of the curriculum.

You can find out more here: https://www.futuredesignschool.com/

Untitled Slide

This year, we will also be using lesson plans from the Lemelson MIT program, and other resources.

Choosing a project

After our design sprint, it was time for students to choose their own project topics.
Photo by Jens Lelie

What do you wish was better?

To help them determine a topic, students participated in a brainstorming workshop. We asked them to think about this question.
Photo by Samuel Zeller

What do you wish was better?

  • ... in your home?
  • ... in your school?
  • ... in your community?
  • ... in the world?
We asked students to think of as many answers to these questions as they could. They wrote each answer on sticky notes and put them all up on the wall.
Photo by Simon Ray

Untitled Slide

Finally, we asked students to put together one problem with one passion. This (ideally) became their P3 topic.

Remember the most important skill:
EMPATHY

Students then started going through the design thinking process with their chosen topic. The first, and most important step is Empathy.
Photo by Annie Spratt

HOw might we?

Each student (or small group of students) wrote a How Might We...? question based on the topic they chose.
Photo by Infrogmation

HOw might we?

  • HMW reduce electricity shortages in developing countries?
  • HMW help people stop smoking?
  • HMW help dogs or cats that need a home?
  • HMW make maps more accurate?
  • HMW help teens get more sleep?
Each student (or small group of students) wrote a How Might We...? question based on the topic they chose. Here are some examples.
Photo by Infrogmation

HOw might we?

  • How might we support the LGBTQIA+ youth?
  • HMW fight illiteracy with art?
  • HMW increase the amount of female animators?
  • HMW cut down on plastic use?
  • HMW stop animal abuse?
Each student (or small group of students) wrote a How Might We...? question based on the topic they chose. Here are some examples.
Photo by Infrogmation

Untitled Slide

We encourage our students to "fall in love with the problem" not the solution. This is tough! Often we want to focus immediately on doing the thing we think will help, or on the first idea we have. But in order to truly design helpful solutions, we must first thoroughly understand the problem.

Ideation

During Experience Week, all students participated in an Ideation workshop, where they worked in teams to brainstorm possible solutions for their problem.

For more about our Ideation sessions, see these slides: https://www.haikudeck.com/p/01bb18a0ab/p3-ideation-workshop

Storyboards: Communicating the solution idea

During Experience Week, students continued with their design thinking assignments at their own pace.

After their Ideation session, each student or group chose one idea to move forward with. They created a storyboard to explain that idea. This could take the form of a sticky note timeline, a poster, a slideshow, or whatever they chose.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema

Feedback & Iteration

Students got feedback on their storyboards from peers, teachers, and family members. They made changes based on these suggestions.

Elevator Pitch

Next, they wrote and practiced an elevator pitch, to be given at our Expo at the end of Experience Week.

Prototyping

Our students are now in the midst of prototyping their ideas. We conducted a prototyping workshop during Experience Week.

The workshop began with making a quick prototype of a homework machine, based off the poem “The Homework Machine” by Shel Silverstein. This idea is from #EducatedByDesign, a book by Michael Cohen, the Tech Rabbi.

Several students started creating a prototype of their solution, which they shared at our Expo.

Prototyping

Here is a prototype of a solar powered energy generator to help people during blackouts.

Mentors

Students are in touch with their mentors as often as possible throughout the process. Here is one of our 8th graders with his mentor at our Expo!

Experience Week

one week dedicated to P3
At this point, it was time for Experience Week!

In January, there are no middle school classes for one 4-day week. Students focus entirely on P3. This is what we call Experience Week.

Site Visits

  • Chicago-area museums
  • Evanston Animal Shelter
  • Respiratory Health Association of Chicago
  • Mentor's offices
  • Feed My Starving Children
One unique aspect of Experience Week is that we encourage and allow students to go off-campus during that week.

Here are some of the places students visited this year.

Site Visits

  • Center on Halsted
  • Everyone Reading Illinois
  • Northwestern University
  • Pediatric Sleep Specialist
  • Google
One unique aspect of Experience Week is that we encourage and allow students to go off-campus during that week.

Here are some of the places students visited this year.

P3 Expo

(It was yesterday!)
Finally, students shared their work in progress at our P3 Expo at the end of Experience Week!

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Finally, students shared their work in progress at our P3 Expo at the end of Experience Week!

Untitled Slide

Finally, students shared their work in progress at our P3 Expo at the end of Experience Week!

Thank you!

  • @RoycemoreP3 on Instagram
  • @shnology (Elizabeth Shutters) on Twitter
For more info about our P3 program, please visit our website, or follow us on Instagram and Twitter!

https://sites.google.com/roycemoreschool.org/mse/programs/p3

@RoycemoreP3 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roycemorep3/

@shnology (Elizabeth Shutters) on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shnology