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We wrapped up our 1st year of implementing Design Thinking (aka Human Centered Design) last week with an amazing showcase hosted by Aquinas College. 200+ community members came out to see the innovative work spanning grades k-12 in our schools this year. Below are some comments and a photo gallery for those who couldn’t make it. You can access this Google doc for more details on each individual project. Feel free to contact any of our teachers or the Office of Catholic Schools if you have any questions about the project. See my previous posts on this topic for the background. A Time to Dance | Innovate with Empathy
Response to the event:
“How exciting to see all your culminating work at the showcase! You are all humble Catholic school teachers, and it sometimes doesn’t feel natural to “show off” what you’ve done. I heard many positive responses from those who attended — parents, future parents, other educators, administrators — as your work has helped them to see innovation in our classrooms and your leadership in teaching others about what you’ve learned. Thank you for your continued commitment to our year of learning.” Assistant Supt Jill Annable
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It [design thinking] has completely transformed the way they teach. They are so excited and energized about using this process. Teachers have requested mixed grade level classes because they see so much potential. ~Suzi Furtwangler, Principal St Thomas

“Thank you for inviting us!  It was a wonderful collection of Design Thinking in action, and I loved the conversations that I had with Sara Olson about how she changed the direction of her Art 4 class utilizing Design Thinking (going to try some of this out myself with my art students next year).” Tricia Erickson, Art Teacher Northview High School
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“This year I learned that failing is a good thing because you have the opportunity to really grow! If you don’t fail sometimes that means you aren’t really doing anything new or hard. God created us to DO things!” ~anonymous student

Digital Learning Day 2017 is officially in the books. Each year, the Alliance for Excellent Education sponsors DLDay as a celebration of “any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student’s learning experience.”
West Catholic and Catholic Central high schools have participated in DLDay for the last two years. We use this day as an opportunity for students to recognize staff for their excellence in the integration of technology to enhance learning. We survey the entire student body a few weeks prior and on DL Day, the students award teachers who meet or exceed their expectations in digital learning. Each school records the day using Storify. For a round-up of activities at each school follow their link. West Catholic | Catholic Central

f you’re like me, you’ve spent some time in the last couple of years pondering the mystery of the elusive ‘engaged student’. I think I’ve finally got it figured out. Over the last few months, I’ve read three seemingly unrelated items that led to an ah-ha moment.; leadership philosophy, design thinking implementation strategy, and reports on rising teen depression. There seems to be a common thread to them all; Purpose.
Item #1  I recently read Simon Sinek’s Start With Why. For those of you unfamiliar with Sinek’s work, he’s a motivational leadership guru who focuses on the concept of Why. Your ‘Why’ being the purpose, cause, or belief that inspires you to do what you do.  His 18-minute TEDTalk lays it out.
In his book, Sinek compares motivation by manipulation and motivation by inspiration. Manipulation is the process of influencing behavior based on a tangible reward. Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. Notice manipulation is controlled by an exterior force, and inspiration is intrinsic.
Item #2: I’m currently reading LAUNCH. In this book on integrating the design thinking process in k-12 classrooms, AJ Juliani and John Spencer start by deconstructing curiosity and creativity. They demonstrate how young children are exceedingly curious. They have tons of questions, and they are constantly conducting experiments; Why is the sky blue? and What do bugs taste like? are pretty universal inquiries for the pre-k set. Inspiration driven by curiosity is what motivates this tender age. As they get older, inspired curiosity takes a back seat, although not necessarily by choice. Kids learn there are such things as stupid questions and often get admonished for their curiosity when it doesn’t align with the ‘time and place’ they happen to be in.  
Item #3: There is an alarming rise in teen-age suicide and self-harm that correlates to a marked rise in depression and anxiety. There are many factors being considered in this trend, but no real data exists yet to explain it. My theory is this:
Just like adults, teens grow anxious, depressed, apathetic, and bored when they don’t feel a sense of purpose. Before the internet, access to purpose was much easier. Access to the world was fairly limited, so opportunity was more limited. This may sound like a bad thing, but compare that to nowadays when opportunity is so large scale.  It’s easy to feel like no matter what one does unless it goes viral or gets 100+ likes it just doesn’t count. Or one is so overwhelmed by the options, they do nothing. Which leads not only to a lack of fulfillment, but a feeling of failure as well.
At school, this perceived lack of purpose manifests most commonly as lack of engagement. Think about student engagement for a moment. The highest levels of student engagement occur in one of two situations: when grades are on the line (manipulation) or when a student is doing something fulfilling (inspiration). The rest of the time, they’re just going through the motions to a greater or lesser extent.
So what can educators do to shore up a teenager’s sense of purpose?
Student-centered learning.

By designing activities and lessons that allow students to tap into their natural sense of wonder and curiosity, we allow them to be inspired. Inspiration leads to inquiry. And just as when they were young children, the learning process naturally unfolds from there.

This is when educators step in to guide from the side. We coach, advise, question, redirect, demonstrate and conference. But it isn’t a free-for-all, there are learning outcomes, but when we control how the targets are reached, we strip our students of their sense of purpose. What’s fulfilling about learning something you already know, memorizing facts, copying or annotating teacher-created notes or ‘researching’ what the teacher wants to know on a teacher-designated Website?

So, how to ramp up engagement? The ISTE standards provide guidelines for the types of behaviors and competencies that will give your students the confidence and self-esteem to recognize their value and purpose within a global context.

Empowered learners set and track their goals, discover, record and analyze data to construct knowledge which is then shared as process or product. They complete this cycle repeatedly until they arrive at a final product or process and share their discoveries and creations with a real audience via blogs, audio or video productions, tweets, snaps and websites.

Not sure how to get started? Step out in the hallway, listen to what classes are creating a buzz and go visit your colleagues to see what it’s all about. Or invite an instructional tech specialist in to observe your class or help you tweak a lesson.
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Curiosity>inspiration>inquiry>empowerment>purpose>engagement