When I was a kid, I used to spend hours playing Tetris. I would zone out everything else and hit a state of hyperfocus. I was fully engaged. I could spend hours playing Tetris. Over the years, the trending games have changed. I may or…
We want students to be makers and designers. But there’s a surprising source of inspiration for design: the natural world. This is the key idea behind biomimicry, which encourages engineers to pay close attention to nature in order to improve their designs. The following post…
Curious about design thinking? Here’s a way to introduce the LAUNCH process to students in the first week of school. You can check out the video prompt below: What Is Included: The design challenge video Lesson plans A design thinking notebook for students Slideshows to…
I first heard of makerspaces over a decade ago. It was around 2005, not long after Make Magazine came out and people were talking about things like fab labs and maker faires. It was a part of the do-it-yourself culture that I found intriguing, even if I…
Last year over 40,000 students and 450 schools from 5 continents participated in the very first Global Day of Design. The hashtag went viral as students and teachers shared and launched their creative projects all day long around the globe. This year, we are doing…
Limitations and challenges can be frustrating. However, they can also be the creative constraint that leads to problem-solving and divergent thinking. Over the years, I’ve learned that students love challenges that they find engaging, intriguing and meaningful. Some of these are practical and real-world. Others…
We know that all children are natural makers. But how do we unleash this creativity in a system where you don’t have enough technology and you lack time and you have a rigid curriculum map tied to a high-stakes test? Well, here are two ideas….
I’m sitting on a plane right now writing this blog post. I just spent an hour working on a sketchy video and before that, I worked on another blog post. I’m nestled up against a window where I can look to my right and remember,…
A quick disclaimer: I don’t know a thing about redesigning learning spaces. I love thinking about the creative process and I believe creative thinking can happen anywhere. Anywhere. Some of my favorite creative work in high school happened when I was sitting in a row,…
My son is weird. Not bad weird. Not socially awkward weird. Just weird. He sees the world differently. This last January he asked me if I would make him a graphic novel about a mutant taco-turned-superhero. He loves to design his own Pokemon characters and…
