4. “To be a designer is to be an agent of change” – CHAD’s Barbara C. Allen “Design is a high-concept aptitude that is difficult to outsource or automate” – Daniel Pink Design
5. Choose a household item that annoys you in some way. In a group of 2 or 3, decide which item is most annoying For duration of a class period, outline what’s annoying about it, and how you’d change it Activity
6. 2-3 sentences explaining what task(s) the product was intended to be used to complete 3-5 sentences explaining your particular problem with the product 4-6 sentences of how the product you’ve re-designed is better than the existing product Writing
7. A (set of) drawing(s) of your new product Additional additions
9. Basics Pick a profession that you’re interested in joining as an adult Find one or two members of the community in that profession, and ask them: What are 5 things that someone who’s interested in becoming a(n) _____________ should begin to do on daily, weekly, and monthly bases to work their way into your field?
10. Compile list of pieces of advice Organize by Daily, Weekly, Monthly Pieces Then organize in order of perceived (by you) importance You should have 15 total (5 for each time frame) How it becomes a manifesto
12. Find an object that matters a lot to you or holds some special meaning AND find one that doesn’t matter a whole lot Put the item that matters on your desk and explore the following questions: Set-up
13. When you look at or use this object, what does it make you think of? The skill you need to use it? The person who made it? How does this object affect each of your five senses? How do you connect the sensory clues you get from the object to your thoughts about it? What connections have you made? Stuff to think about
14. Now complete the same task with the item that does not matter BIG QUESTION: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?!?!?! Again
17. A mini-saga is an extremely short story Yours should be exactly 50 words. 50. No more. No fewer. It should still have a beginning, middle, and end Simply write three (3)
19. The Basics Find a relative, friend, teacher or other person you come in regular contact with Turn on a video or tape recorder and ask a series of questions Interview should be around 30-45 minutes
20. Ask 10 questions 5 from http://tinyurl.com/scquests 5 of your own writing Make sure video captures both your question and their answers Requirements
22. Go back through what you’ve read in the past year If you’ve owned the books, find the marked sentences that you want(ed) to remember Compile a list of “great” sentences from the literature that you’ve read Put a star by one, and write one on an index card What to do
23. Choose one of the sentences that you’ve listed and base a story on it Story should run a page or two typed Your story should bare as little resemblance as possible to story it was taken from What else to do
24. You’ll write three stories: One based on the sentence you chose from your list One based on the sentence you drew from the box One based on the sentence you picked from my list Don’t stress over length; stress over content Don’t worry about perfection; you’ll never get there anyway You’ll only put ONE into your final portfolio In the end
28. Type a (school-appropriate) word that you find interesting into a search engine Choose one of the first five websites to click Skim over the material on the initial link to learn about your topic Select a link from that site, and a link from that site, and so on until you’ve clicked SIX links, making sure to read information on all of the pages Follow the Links
29. Write a paragraph (6-8 sentences) summarizing the information that you learned about your initial topics Consider: What you encountered doing this that you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise If any patterns or themes emerged What unusual connections (if any) you might have encountered Follow the Links
30. Like “Follow the Links,” but in a dictionary Look up any noun, and continue looking up words from definitions until you have 6 words Record the train of words, and write a 1-page story using those words Underline the words from your list in the story Follow the Words
31. Choose a problem from the list In a group of 5 people, do the following to brainstorm solutions One person in your group should be a scribe and the other a director Brainstorming
32. Go for quantity Set a numerical goal (~30 would be great) Encourage wild ideas The more outlandish, the better Be visual Spend 5 minutes on a search engine looking up pictures on your topic Defer Judgment No idea is a bad idea, but there are such things as better ideas. Go creative, then get critical. One conversation at a time Rules
33. from: Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead, 2005. All ideas stolen
35. Tests used to measure empathy and related qualities To serve as an introduction to thinking about your own empathy level Males tend to systematically go about their lives, whereas women tend to empathetically go about their lives Test Yourself
36. “Male” vs. “Female” brains From Simon Baron-Cohen, 60-question instruments to determine the “gender” of your brain Empathy Quotient (girls) http://tinyurl.com/dbsd8 Systemizing Quotient (boys) http://tinyurl.com/7taj8 “Spot the Fake Smile” Ten-minute, 20-question test to see how good you are at differentiating between fake and real smiles http://tinyurl.com/2u7sh Test Yourself cont’d.
37. Pick a place to sit and listen to others’ conversations e.g. Starbucks, Target, the library, your classroom, the lunch room Listen carefully, but don’t intrude on the conversation Imagine yourself as one of the participants, and consider: What are you (meaning him or her) thinking and feeling at that moment? What emotions, if any, are coursing through your body? How did you get at this spot at this particular time? Eavesdropping
38. Eavesdropping cont’d. Write date, time frame, and location in your Spirally Note your considerations in your Spirally Write 4-6 sentences about your experience In addition to your considerations about the person: What did this experience teach you? How many conversations did you have to listen to before finding the one you wrote about? What if someone were doing this to you?
40. Pair up with another classmate that you DON’T KNOW very well Ask them about their lives and how they got to Honors World Literature at West Hall High School in whatever grade they are Listen to and take notes on story, be ready to tell story to the class Pick one of your teachers and ask them the same How Did I Get Here?
42. Choose two or three of the cartoons from the set Write a humorous caption about what’s going on in the cartoon According to the Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker, captions take “rhythm, brevity, and surprise,” and that: “Most cartoons or funny ideas have this weird combining aspect. It is a conceptual blending and overlapping of categories that the conscious mind resists, but that is absolutely necessary to create new ideas” (Pink 210). Cartoon Captions
43. Write a (school-appropriate) joke in your Spirally Partner up with someone you don’t know well, and tell them the joke Your partner should then analyze the joke to discern why it’s funny Answer in 1-2 sentences:What makes this joke funny?? What could make it funnier? Dissect a Joke
45. Think of someone at West Hall who has been kind, generous, or helpful in a significant way Student, teacher, support staff, librarian, etc. In your Spirally, brainstorm some of the ways that person support you At your computer, type a one-page letter to that person explaining how grateful you are Be specific about what you’re thankful for The Gratitude Visit
46. In your Spirally, draw a T-Chart Head one side “Wanted Life Changes” and the other side “Obstacles to Change” At the bottom of the chart, connect the two sides with a comma and the word “but” But Out
47. “Exchanging and for but can move you out of excuse-making mode and into problem-solving mode. It’s grammar’s way of saying ‘deal with this’” (Pink 238). Pink also writes that if the technique fails, “you can always say ‘I wanted to make changes in my life, but that exercise in Pink’s book didn’t help me enough’” (238). On the next sheet in your Spirally, go back to each item and replace the word “but” with the word “and” But Out cont’d.
48. Sabbath: a time of rest (m-w.com) Select one day a week and remove yourself from the average busyness Like the “This I Believe” essay, this does not need to be religious, on Sunday, etc. Try this for two weeks Write a paragraph or two about your experience the day after each sabbath taken Take a Sabbath
49. The mini-sabbath Choose one common act that you commit every day Walking into 5th period, going to lunch, waking up, etc. Take a “Sabbath pause” and “simply stop, take three mindful breaths, and then go about the activity” Try for a week or so when doing the same thing Sabbath alternative
50. In your Spirally, make a list of what is most important to you Think about people, activities, values, etc. Narrow the list to about 5 items Trace 2 weeks from the Unit 5 calendar (or some other) into your Spirally Write into your traced calendar the days and times that you spent on these items Check Your Time
51. Once you’ve moved your priorities from the list to the calendars, CONSIDER: How many hours can you assign to each of the life priorities? Where have you successfully aligned your values with your time? Where do you find gaps between wants and actions? Always be honest about your assessment, as that will help the most Check Your Time cont’d.
52. Choose someone that matters a lot to you Decide what kind of work they would want you to do, accomplish Begin to think of your work as a gift In 3-4 sentences, write who you’re planning to dedicate this portfolio to, and why. Dedicate Your Work
53. “Live life now as if you’re living for the second time and had acted wrongly the first time” (Pink, 244). Think of yourself as being 90 years old, and consider: What does your life look like from this point of view? What have you accomplished in your life? What have you contributed to the world in which you’ve lived? Do you have any regrets? Picture Yourself at Ninety
Editor's Notes
CHAD = Charter High School for Architecture and Design (in Philadelphia)
