Are Your Students #Creating?

Are Your Students #Creating?  Or, are they just doing crafts with no purpose?  Try to encourage empathy in your students.  Students who create with a purpose and audience in mind are more likely to want to share their ideas with the world.  They are more likely to accept failures and try again until it works.  They are more likely to use critical thinking skills needed in today's society.

Try using the Design Thinking Model in your classroom.  Try having students create in your classroom for a purpose.  All subject area teachers can use this model.  If you haven't used this model before or haven't heard of it, I have included a picture below that demonstrates the model.

Image from springhillschool.org

This past week, I attended the MOREnet conference.  I listened to the keynote speaker, John Spencer, discuss the need for empathy in our students.  Without empathy, there is no beginning to the Design Thinking Model.  There is no purpose without empathy.  John has written a book, along with A.J. Juliani, called The Launch Cycle in which he illustrates his own tweak on the Design Thinking Model.  View the video below for more information on this model:

If we truly want our students to be successful in the 21st Century, then our teaching needs to change.  Students need more opportunities to create, learn from their mistakes, and try again.  They need to be creating for an authentic audience that they really care about and empathize with.

I also want to give a shout out to Sadie Lewis, who presented on design at MOREnet.  With the same thinking as the Design Thinking Model, students need to have empathy for the audience in which they are creating.  Ask students... "Who are you creating this for?".  If they don't know, then make them really think about that.  They may "settle" for less than the best if they are only creating something for themselves.  If they have an audience for their creations, then they are more likely to go through the Design Thinking Process and revise until it is just right for that audience.

So, as you are teaching real world connections in your class, think about this... Are your students truly creating or are they just doing crafts with no real connection to real world problems?