Ideate Skill Sets
First, Ideate and Brainstorm are not synonymous. Despite how some people use them, there is way more to Ideate than just creating ideas. It's HOW you generate your ideas that makes Ideate unique.
Here are some classes that Ideate will be good in:
1. ALL SUBJECTS!!!
Idea generation is good for any subject in school. It applies in a variety of ways.
There are a few tools that teachers turn to when it comes to Ideation. We must be responsible for helping our students see that they can work past the mundane and already conceived ideas to true innovation and help them see it through.
Here are some classes that Ideate will be good in:
1. ALL SUBJECTS!!!
Idea generation is good for any subject in school. It applies in a variety of ways.
There are a few tools that teachers turn to when it comes to Ideation. We must be responsible for helping our students see that they can work past the mundane and already conceived ideas to true innovation and help them see it through.
Ideate Methods - classroom use
There is a transition here, from solving problems to creating solutions. The solutions must meet some specific criteria:
1. They should push past the already tried solutions to increase their innovation potential.
2. Utilize the strength of the whole team…not just the motivated few.
3. Find new avenues (problems) for exploring
4. Making sure there is variety and quantity in the solutions.
5. Push past obvious solutions to something beyond.
Some simple METHODS for Ideate include:
Stoke - Activities designed to activate teams mentally and physically so that the energy level of the team can be increased to a usable level.
HMW questions - uses your POV from Define to trigger a series of actionable questions to "seed" your brainstorm.
Impose constraints - when intentional constraints are applied, it can force students to push beyond the normal.
Brainstorming with Rules - ensuring that everyone on the team is on board with the brainstorm rules and applies them regularly to ensure the best productivity.
Video Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmoWCSyujPY
Facilitating a Brainstorm - This takes a very key player on the team. Someone who can read the energy level and increase it as necessary. Also, who can impose constraints on the team in order to stretch the brainstorm to new levels.
Yes and... - Support the brainstorm by creating at least 3 "Yes and..." statements following the original idea.
EX: "maybe we could talk about women and WWII, yes and how they went to work in the factories, yes and how they created a baseball league, yes and how the children were different after both their parents were gone away from the home." (See videos "Yes or..." & "Yes and..." on the design thinking resources tab)
1. They should push past the already tried solutions to increase their innovation potential.
2. Utilize the strength of the whole team…not just the motivated few.
3. Find new avenues (problems) for exploring
4. Making sure there is variety and quantity in the solutions.
5. Push past obvious solutions to something beyond.
Some simple METHODS for Ideate include:
Stoke - Activities designed to activate teams mentally and physically so that the energy level of the team can be increased to a usable level.
HMW questions - uses your POV from Define to trigger a series of actionable questions to "seed" your brainstorm.
Impose constraints - when intentional constraints are applied, it can force students to push beyond the normal.
Brainstorming with Rules - ensuring that everyone on the team is on board with the brainstorm rules and applies them regularly to ensure the best productivity.
Video Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmoWCSyujPY
Facilitating a Brainstorm - This takes a very key player on the team. Someone who can read the energy level and increase it as necessary. Also, who can impose constraints on the team in order to stretch the brainstorm to new levels.
Yes and... - Support the brainstorm by creating at least 3 "Yes and..." statements following the original idea.
EX: "maybe we could talk about women and WWII, yes and how they went to work in the factories, yes and how they created a baseball league, yes and how the children were different after both their parents were gone away from the home." (See videos "Yes or..." & "Yes and..." on the design thinking resources tab)
how do these apply in the classroom?
Complete Design Challenge:
Once your students have narrowed their learning to a specific problem, they are ready to begin the process of intentional innovation. They would take their HMW questions and begin to establish specific and intentional innovative solutions to the problem.
Note: In the beginning this is a much more difficult process for kids than it should be. They like to think up the ideas that are already out there, and they don't feel comfortable in their own creativity. You must make it okay for them to stretch past normal to innovation. Supporting their creative confidence in the content is the best way to get them past these self-imposed blocks.
Using Design Thinking Skills with Content:
Sometimes you may want to help students practice specific methods without the complication of an entire design challenge, or because you've noticed they are struggling with a specific method. This provides ample opportunity to align your lessons to the Common Core State Standards, if your state uses them. Design Thinking Methods really get kids investigating and evaluating content.
(For Full lesson plans see the lesson plans page on this site)
Some ways to use Ideate skills in Content classes:
1. Before starting a direct style lesson in your classroom after lunch, stoke your students to get them hyped up and ready to learn.
2. As an anticipatory activity, have students brainstorm a list of specific details that they know about the new topic of study.
3. Provide constraints on a topic (ex. Japanese people and World War II) to narrow their brainstorm.
4. Propose an essential question for the unit and have students create specific "HMW" questions that will guide their research for the topic.
5. Utilize the "Yes and..." strategy during a class activity to help them engage in specific content following a reading or particular direct lesson.
6. Allow students to brainstorm ideas on some topic you've provided independently, then put them in pairs to create new ideas. Add pairs together and repeat the activity again, never repeating ideas.
Once your students have narrowed their learning to a specific problem, they are ready to begin the process of intentional innovation. They would take their HMW questions and begin to establish specific and intentional innovative solutions to the problem.
Note: In the beginning this is a much more difficult process for kids than it should be. They like to think up the ideas that are already out there, and they don't feel comfortable in their own creativity. You must make it okay for them to stretch past normal to innovation. Supporting their creative confidence in the content is the best way to get them past these self-imposed blocks.
Using Design Thinking Skills with Content:
Sometimes you may want to help students practice specific methods without the complication of an entire design challenge, or because you've noticed they are struggling with a specific method. This provides ample opportunity to align your lessons to the Common Core State Standards, if your state uses them. Design Thinking Methods really get kids investigating and evaluating content.
(For Full lesson plans see the lesson plans page on this site)
Some ways to use Ideate skills in Content classes:
1. Before starting a direct style lesson in your classroom after lunch, stoke your students to get them hyped up and ready to learn.
2. As an anticipatory activity, have students brainstorm a list of specific details that they know about the new topic of study.
3. Provide constraints on a topic (ex. Japanese people and World War II) to narrow their brainstorm.
4. Propose an essential question for the unit and have students create specific "HMW" questions that will guide their research for the topic.
5. Utilize the "Yes and..." strategy during a class activity to help them engage in specific content following a reading or particular direct lesson.
6. Allow students to brainstorm ideas on some topic you've provided independently, then put them in pairs to create new ideas. Add pairs together and repeat the activity again, never repeating ideas.
