Redefining the Classroom
Framing School Planning as a Design Challenge
tl;dr: In which a promise is made, 53 articles proposed, the purpose explained, and some conventions presented.
Guiding Question
What would it look like if I used the principles & frameworks that I espouse as I plan for and teach classes in the 2016–2017 school year?
Purpose
… of the whole, grand experiment is to publish, every Saturday from today, July 2nd, 2016, until Saturday, July 1st, 2017, what I do as I plan for and teach the upcoming school year.
Week 0
Welcome to the inaugural post. At this point, I am defining the scope and outcomes of this project. Teaching a school year is a complex, multi-phase project. Over the next fifty-three weeks I plan to use Design Thinking, Agile and Lean methodologies, the Flipped Classroom and Constructivism paradigms and Project-Based Learning as I design, iterate and execute what and how I teach classes during the 2016–2017 school year. I should acquire enough data and experience, that, at its end, I will be able reflect on whether I have “walked the walk” or, to paraphrase George Bernard Show, not done, only taught.
Conventions
- tl;dr = “Too Long; Didn't Read”; I am implementing the Stack Exchange definition, “Here, in a nutshell, is what I mean to say”. Read more on Wikiwand (the Simple English version of Wikipedia)
- Guiding Question = “the fundamental query that directs the search for understanding” - evergreen.edu. It is open-ended and succinct, with emotive force and intellectual bite, and requires high-level cognitive work to answer. In my case it stems from and results in a real-world project that is important and relevant to me. Read more in the Alfie Kohn article on the role of questions in education, because, well, it’s Alfie Kohn. ‘Nuff said.
- Retrospective = one of what will be many nods to the Agile Development process. An opportunity for self-inspection and planning for improvement, it is a qualitative review of the activities completed and the group-members, relationships, process, and tools involved in getting to completion. More at the Scrum Guide and Retro-Mat.
- Code = see below. More at Javascript Tutorial
/* sometimes what I am trying to say makes more sense (at least to me) when written as a block of code as Code includes but does not always follow the conventions of prose. */
function writeAsCode(gibberish){
return gibberish + MAGIC; // 'cuz code === MAGIC
}
var blockOfText;
if (blockOfText !== clearSuccintAndMeaningful) {
writeAsCode(blockOfText);
}
else
console.log(blockOfText);
Retrospective
(Group-members, Relationships, Process, and Tools)
Keep
T: tl;dr because I think it is novel/geeky (I guess we will have to see if that bears out)
Drop
P: trying to write everything on Friday
Add/Change
P: more Diary/Journal T: photos G: writing that influences this project T: backlog T: user profiles for my courses
Commit
P: transcribe my notes each day this week
Next Step
The Discovery phase.
- Pages 2
- Words 480
- Characters 2945
- Characters excluding spaces 2486