Tag: Kids

As I looked around the room, a feeling of terror sat in the pit of my stomach.

D was yelling at L because L was “doing it wrong.”. N had decided at literally the very last minute that she didn’t like the idea her and M had been working on for the past 3 weeks. M stood in horror as she saw her precious project dismantled. T and Y sat in the corner wrapping duct tape around a table leg that would inevitably take ages to remove. To top it off, the administrator I had invited to come watch our presentation had arrived 10 minutes early and looked around the room in a state of shock and disbelief attempting to avoid eye contact with me at all costs.

Was this life as a teacher?

For the past 10 weeks, I have been working in an Atlanta charter school prototyping and refining a design education curriculum. On this particular day, we were giving the final presentation of our Rube Goldberg contraptions. The prompt had been to use a variety of recyclable materials to create a contraption that turned on a light.

A day ago, it seemed like everything was right on schedule. The day of? Well, it was chaos. To make a long story short, we got through the presentations, the administrator observed, and all students made it out of the class with all limbs in tact. It was all I could hope for.

These past few months have been some of the most mentally exhausting, emotionally trying and incredibly profound months of my professional life. Some days, I feel like I am a professional cat herder. On these days, nothing I says sticks and my kids test and try every button they can get their hands on.

Then, on other days, the information sticks. In fact, the information I thought they were ignoring on the other days resurfaces. WAIT?! You were listening when I taught you what artifact analysis was? And, you want to take some time to yourself to brainstorm new solutions? Yes, please do!

On these days, I cry internal happy tears and do a happy dance. On these days, I watch kids from rough homes give kind and insightful critique to their peers. On these days, I see a kid with severe ADD and ADHD build and ideate better than professionals 15 years his senior. On these days, I watch as students turn cereal boxes into cities of the future and discarded toys into the next great idea.

While I am by no means a professional teacher, my brief time in the classroom has given me profound insights into the challenges facing students, teachers, and families through the lens of education. Despite these challenges, I am hopeful and optimistic. Day by day, I am seeing incremental changes in the skill and insights of my students. Day by day, I am seeing them actively engage with design and reap the benefits of its methodology.

So, wish me luck! If you would like to know more about what I am doing or the details of the design curriculum please comment below of send a private message.

Cheers!