From Cubicle to Classroom

Design is about making connections and finding solutions. I always try to incorporate mini challenges like this assignment to reinforce these practices. My entry-level Design & Multimedia students really enjoyed this assignment today. It was adapted from the book, Creative Workshop , by David Sherwin. I can't get enough of his ideas. Part 1: Allow students only 5 minutes to respond to the following questions. These questions are meant to provoke immediate thoughts. Encourage them to write whatever comes to their minds quickly. What are my strengths as a designer? What are my weaknesses? What is my favorite color? What artists/brands/designers do I love? What type of design work do I enjoy? Print? Illustrations? Web? Animations? Industrial? Fine Arts? What type of work do I want to do in the future? (does not need to be design-related) Part 2: Set a timer for 25 minutes and provide students with paper, markers, and color pencils. Instruct students to design ...

I try to always start class with some sort of game or challenge. Those games may have nothing to do with our content for the day, but it gets their attention. I promise your students will enjoy this one. Masterpieces on Our Heads Materials: 1 marker (no light colors) for each student 1 cheap, white paper plate Instructions: Instruct your students to flip the plate over. Draw on the non-glossy side. They must put the plates on their heads and cannot look at them until the exercise is over. Give them these directions: Draw grass on the ground. Draw the sun with rays in the sky. Draw two flowers in the grass that are not touching. Draw two birds in the sky under the sun. Draw a ball in between the flowers. Draw one cloud in the sky next to the sun. View their masterpieces and tally their points: Score 1 point if the sun is in the sky. Score 1 point if none of the sun's rays overlap. Score 1 point if your flowers do not touch. Score 1 point if your fl...

#GeniusHour is a term coined by educators based on Google's "80/20 Rule," in which they allow employees 20% of their work time to pursue their own side creative projects. Its implementation has led to much success and educators across the globe are granting their students the same freedom. I was first introduced to the practice by a co-worker who noticed I was struggling a bit with one of my classes. This particular class seemed disconnected with the course's content and so was I. It was my first time teaching the course; it felt rigid and lackluster. Then I introduced Genius Hour. The entire climate of the classroom evolved. Only in my second year of execution, I am revising quite a bit and will post as it is developed. However, this is how I always introduce the project. Stay tuned on our next stages. The Gift of Time To introduce the concept to my students, I mimicked the activity provided in Cafe Communications youtube video. I show my students the video...