Eng 9: Cardboard Challenge. Design Sprints & Next Steps.

Today's class crushed it Cardboard Challenge style.  We ran a version of a design sprint: a way of running through our design process while focusing on user needs, generating ideas, and getting feedback in a hurry.

Remember we are using the DEEPdt design process.
DISCOVER.
EMPATHIZE.
EXPERIMENT.
PRODUCE.

Today we focus on EMPATHIZE & EXPERIMENT.

EMPATHY Phase. We started with Empathy Interviews.  Here's a list of questions that were generated last week and a couple of pictures from the's interviews with Mrs. Howatt's classes.

EMPATHY Phase. From here we came back to the room and unpacked our interviews using Post-It notes to look for trends and insights.

This led to our 8 Box-ing.  8 ideas in 4 minutes.

We then created 3 panel storyboards from the ideas that resonated the most with the design team members.

We laid out our storyboards on a few tables and used LEGO bricks to provide non-verbal feedback.

WHITE/GRAY: Questions.

RED/YELLOW: Concerns.

BLUE/GREEN: Loves.

Video is Available Here

Next Steps . . .

Next class we start making our low-res prototypes out of manila folder material and some other cardboard we have.  These are due Friday.  A low-res prototype MUST BE COMPLETED before I provide your two pieces of official cardboard.   Finished Prototypes for Users: DUE NEXT THURSDAY & FRIDAY, Oct 27 & 28.

OUT OF CLASS WORK.

Roots Quiz 3.  Thursday and Friday.

Remember.  Over Roots 1-3.

Narrative Writing Assessment.

Due. Thursday & Friday. 10.20-21.

Work on Design for Cardboard Challenge.

AP Lit: Watchmen Discovery Phase Continues

Here we go folks . . . 21 days and we'll have a movie.

Today we dove into possibilities for this film and signing up for production teams.

Suit Up Sessions

We agreed on no central protagonist, multiple layers, original song to tie things together but not a music video, use of flashbacks and some sort of event or experience that unites all characters

I was playing around with ideas after school on Monday

Blog.  3+ Posts.
Req'd Post.  Empathy Phase.  Talk to potential users of our film.  Rather than ask for what they look for in a film, find out which themes and ideas might best relate to them.  What would they find interesting to explore and compel them to keep watching?   How might we use the big ideas of our work to engage audience  and how might our devices enhance those big ideas?
Due. Friday.  May 15.

Humanities: Composition & Culture Presentations

Today we will present the rest of our Composition & Culture presentations -- pecha kucha style.


ASSESSMENTS.

Blog. 3+ Posts
Req'd Post 1.  Students Making a Difference Playlist.
Create a playlist of three videos showing students making a difference in their local, national or global communities.  Post these videos on your blog and explain what the student did and why you chose to include it in your playlist.   Be intentional.

This playlist is only one of your posts for the week and will be our pre-work for our final project of the year.

Req'd Post 2.  Composition & Culture.  Create a slideshow or video of your presentation that can be shared with a wider audience.  Post it on your blog.  Include voice over or typed commentary and music -- the qualities that you know will appeal to your users based on our empathy conversations.

Due. Friday, May 1st.

Culture & Composition.  
Export your slideshows as QuickTime movies OR PDFs and put in your Humanities IN folders along with your rationales and self-assessment (Four Corners).
Due. ASAP.

Humanities: Culture & Composition Photo Essay DT Challenge Rubric

Humanities: What IS Humanities & DEEP DT: Experiment Phase

Humanities: What IS Humanities & DEEP DT: Experiment Phase

Warm Up: Improv & Circle Doodles

Monday kicks off with a quick improv game involving handshakes.  Grand fun.

Then more fun with circle doodles.  Let's see where our brains take us.

What IS Humanities?

Then we'll be conducting an activity to help your understanding of just what Humanities IS and how it combines English and social studies.  It will also help you get a much broader sense of social studies than simply history or geography, and a broader sense of English as being about communication in all of its forms and not just novels or essays.  (At least, that's what we hope happens.)

Just read that paragraph.  Felt fancy.

We're going to create a huge definition of social studies that covers all the different topics within social studies that we might explore this year.

Then we're going to do the same thing with English.

Then we're going to see where they overlap and say, "That's a lot of what Humanities is going to look like."  We hope.

There.  Same thing.  Less fancy.

Design Thinking Challenge:  Design the Room:  Experiment Phase

DEEP Design Thinking 
DISCOVER: What is our challenge?  What do we need to know about this room?
EMPATHIZE: What do others need to be successful, comfortable, connected in this room? 
EXPERIMENT: What might this room look like? **** Today!  
PRODUCE: Make it.  And then see how well we did and reiterate if necessary

We'll be using the data collected the other day a.k.a. the compass charts and the sticky notes and using that information to create user-needs-driven diagrams of the room.  

After successfully creating a drawing, you'll have some 3D tools (LEGO bricks, Jenga blocks, K'NEX) you can use to create a low-rez mock up of your room design.

These drawings and models are key because they will inform the physical design of the room.

HOMEWORK

Gather:  Design Kits
Due: ASAP; if a challenge for you, talk to Mr. Ryder privately -- he can probably help) 

Sign Up: For REMIND
Due: ASAP.  This will be easier when laptops roll but still . . .  please make an effort if you want this service to help you out.  Please encourage your folks to do so as well.

Curate: Personal collection. 3 artifacts that could represent who you are.  
Due: Wednesday.  

Humanities: 8th Grade Vids & Get 'Er Done Work

Today we divided into two work sessions.

One group will be focusing on producing the eighth grade orientation video(s) while the other group will be focusing on completing their process essays, DEJS, blogs, vocab and other work.

The video group completed a series of empathy activities from Stanford's d.school  today.


We started with the share and capture method, with one person in each of two groups sharing their insights on the data we've collected from our user base.  The rest of the members highlighted the big ideas and takeways from the speaker.

When used those insights to create a composite user, a profile of the typical eighth grader who will be watching and experiencing the videos we create. Also a refresher on the DEEP design thinking process.

These two experiences led to a brainstorming and ideating over how we might create 1 to 3 videos less than or equal to three minutes in length each that address the incoming ninth grader's needs.

We determined that we will make two three minute videos, one serving as a navigation guide to Mt. Blue, and the other a list of 7 tips for incoming ninth graders.  We determined team leaders for each group and will spend the next three days scripting, storyboarding, determining content, style, and preparing to actual film next week.

Tomorrow we also start To Kill a Mockingbird and complete Roots 11.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd Post: How might we make the last quarter of Humanities the most exceptional, amazing powerful and important and mind blowing learning experience you could possibly have AND make the school say, "Wow.  AND they learned the stuff they were supposed to learn?"
Due: Friday, Mar 28

Vocab: Roots 11
Study: Quiz & Product
Due: Tuesday, Mar 25

Write: 5 Paragraph Process Essay
Discuss: Your process, product, and outcome of anything you have made during the third quarter, whether for school or for work or for fun.
Due: Friday, Mar 28

Produce: 8th Grade Transition Film (optional)
Due: April 4th