Do Something That Matters; Do Something You Love

I had one of those conversations today with a student that makes you remember why you love teaching. Our students get the last six weeks of their senior year to work on an independent project or an internship. I asked one of my seniors what he was planning to do, and he said he was just going to go help one of his elementary teachers. When I asked him  why, he said that it seemed easy and he didn't really know what else to do. So I challenged him. I told him it was six weeks of his life he would never get back and that as an adult he would look back with longing at this time and wish someone would give him that time as an adult. I told him to do something that matters. 

This lead to a longer conversation about school. He really didn't see that anything he had done in the last four years was related to anything he really cared about. How would it help him when he was out in the real world? I asked him what he cared about, what he wanted to do in the future. He didn't know-which I told him was appropriate at 17-but that he wanted it to be something creative. Eventually we worked our way around to what he thought was really interesting-furniture design-but it was almost as if he was embarrassed to admit it. 

Creative endeavors aren't valued in our high stakes culture. My student talked about an older friend who chose between doing something he liked and a career that would make him money. The friend had chosen the career that made money. And he is miserable. But he is too far down this path to change things: in debt for college and graduate school, he has to continue in this money making field in order to pay back his hundreds of thousands of dollars of loans. What are we doing to our kids?

The story has a good ending: my student is potentially taking an internship working for a company that makes furniture for handicapped children: Adaptive Design Association. Even if this internship isn't the one, I think he's been empowered to do something that he cares about and something that matters.

Celebrating my Students' Projects!

Semester One is over and so I said goodbye to my class of Architecture I. I am posting some of their final projects here as I think they are amazing. The project asks students to create a structure or structures on a 20 x 20" site that controls their viewer's path through space. My students spend the entire semester studying space and how it controls and effects them-they observe their own houses, our school building and other buildings they have been in. By the time they get to this project, they understand some of the psychology of spaces and the principles of design that organize spaces. They also had to find and present a building that they found intriguing and inspirational. There projects are all so different, but they were given the same problem to solve. By using design thinking-which all artists and architects use in some form or another-and trusting the process, many varied outcomes are possible. So I am posting these here as a celebration of my students and their different solutions to the problem. Thanks to you all for a great semester.

Embodied Cognition: Learning by Making

"We have much to learn from research in embodied cognition—an area of cognitive science (and philosophy) that explores how cognition is enacted through bodily experiences, and how knowledge emerges through physical engagement with the environment... Classical concepts of cognition emphasize the importance of mental representation and symbol systems, and it’s easy to default to the view that mental representation comes first, and doing second: We conjure up thoughts in our minds and then carry out those thoughts with the body. But the concept of embodied cognition challenges this dualism. As the AbD project moves forward in its investigation of thinking through making, we need to avoid construing the activities of making simply as outcomes of thought, and instead learn to understand them as instances of thought. Perhaps eventually we’ll be able to reformulate the idea of thinking dispositions with the vocabulary of the body in mind."

From Making Thinking Happen-Agency By Design's blog (https://makingthinkinghappen.wordpress.com/tag/cognition/) 

The bolding is mine. But this is SO true and I've never seen it written so eloquently. I learn this way and so do my students! When I or my students interact with materials and investigate the way they react, bend, tear, etc..., this is learning by doing. I see it now with my students as they make sculptures out of pantyhose and wire. They have no idea how the pantyhose will change the shape of the wire, how the pantyhose will change as they put gesso on it to harden it, but they have to react to it and reiterate and let their ideas be malleable and adaptable, otherwise they are so frustrated that it "didn't turn out the way" they thought it would. 

I learn this way as well. When I am making, I sometimes start with an idea of using a certain material. I am curious about how it will react when I do something to it. But often, I just begin by picking something up-a material, a tool, a writing implement, and start using it. If I am drawing, I have to recognize and react to the sensation of the implement as it moves across the drawing surface. I can press harder, more softly, change the type of mark I am making, etc... There are a myriad of reactions that I could have, but they are not  thought through cognitively. My body is reacting to the sensation. I am learning by feeling the mark making tool as it moves across the surface and reacting to it. Sometimes I consciously name this as "playing" in my mind, because this gives me the freedom to react without making it count as a "real" piece of art. I know that the minute I begin to consider my playing a work of art, that my creativity and the joy I associate with making goes out the window. This is paralyzing for me and for many other creative minds. 

So now I know the term for this habit of mind: embodied cognition. It pleases me that someone is doing research into this and recognizing it as a valid way of learning. I know it is. It has worked for me and I see it working for my students: learning by making.

Mothers are Makers and Innovators

Mothers are makers, innovators and designers. This realization struck me today as I watched Dale Dougherty's TED talk on making, yet again. Certainly we think like innovators, designers and makers. Ever been part of a design charrette? There is a time restraint. There are limits. And you need to solve a problem-actually you often have to solve a complex, multi-layered problem:  a real-world problem.

When I had my first daughter over 23 years ago, I had never changed a diaper, held a newborn, or fed a baby. And yet, they sent me home from the hospital after 32 hours with my infant. I was totally unprepared. Sure, the nurses gave me a few tips while I was still in the hospital, but, let's face it, I was unable to take it all in: I had been in labor for over 16 hours.

Here was a real-world problem: how to take care of this baby that didn't speak and was unable to care for itself. There was a lot at stake. I was exhausted. The baby cried all night and slept all day. I had to figure this out.

So, what did I do? I went to the experts. I was lucky enough to live in a neighborhood of close knit young families. There were experts right outside my door. And they were full of ideas and advice. Thank God. These woman and I talked and shared ideas and commiserated. They became my life-line. And I learned to care for this tiny being that couldn't care for herself.

Women have been doing this for centuries. They organize playgroups and share advice and ideas. They help one another when mothering is new. They share recipes, solutions and resources. When a baby is crying, there is only one thought in a mother's head: how do I solve this problem? Women are resourceful and innovative. They have to be.

Remember when being a "homemaker" was a backhanded insult? We need to embrace our roles as makers. We make a home for our children. We make meals. We make Halloween costumes, curtains, and quilts. We make things on a daily basis.

So to all the women out there who say you aren't creative, I want you to ask yourself: what was the last meal you made; dinner table you set; costume you created; cookies you baked? These are creative acts. Making is one of the ways we express our love for our families and our children. It is a satisfying experience that is fulfilling and brings pleasure to ourselves as well as others. Women have been doing this making for centuries. Our daughters will continue on after us. Let's recognize the resourcefulness, inventiveness, and creativeness in all of us.

Making: A Lifelong Conversation with Oneself

I realized recently that making art is like having a lifelong conversation with yourself. There is a private place inside that is always thinking, looking at the world, and personalizing it. I invite others in sometimes, to react and talk things through. My husband is one person I trust with these thoughts and ideas, my oldest daughter as well. Both have artistic sensibilities and will be kind and gentle with my ideas. I don't invite just anyone into the conversation. It has to be someone I trust, because before an idea or piece is fully formed, it is fragile. Criticism at this time would be fatal.

There are times, when I am busy, that I do not have time to actually make art. But that doesn't mean that the conversation is silent. My mind is always gathering information, images, and ideas. I will see something I find interesting and invite it in. For instance, I was at the Metropolitan Museum last week and saw the contemporary ink drawings from Asia. I was intrigued by the way that some of the pieces used ink and by some of the other formats and materials. These artists and pieces entered into my monologue. I found myself excited to get home and play with some of the ideas. I turned over different possibilities in my mind of ways to include these materials and methods in my current way of working.

And yesterday, when I finally got there, I allowed myself to play. If I had gone into my studio with a concrete plan, it would have reacted like concrete: immovable. I had some ideas of things I wanted to try and materials I wanted to play with, but nothing definite. That is so important to creative thinking: the ability to remain fluid in your thoughts and actions; to act and then react. It is good to have something to push against and for this you have to make something through action-by using materials in some way. If your thoughts become solidified, then it's difficult to react. You become judgmental, which is the death of creativity.

I realize that this seems very self absorbed: the idea of having a life-long conversation between oneself and materials. And perhaps it is. But I can't imagine my life without it. I don't think my artwork will be seen by a lot of people or that it will ever make me famous. That's not the point. I think the conversation is the point: this enduring and personal cognizance of life. Man has been involved with making and art making since the beginning of time. That has to signify its importance.

Parents Save Your Children: Support Innovation Education

I'm becoming impatient... Truth be told, patience is not my biggest strength! There are so many educators out there who truly care about changing education for the better. Why can't we make it happen NOW? I know, I know, there are all kinds of reasons: high-stakes testing, APPR, SAT's, ACT's and AP's. I hear it all the time. Teachers can't take time to go in depth in an area, because students and parents expect that they will "cover" everything that might be on a test. Thus, they teach year after year in the same way: the way they were taught.

I asked a science teacher recently: why don't you use project based learning to teach the material? Why not ask an open-ended question and let the students figure it out? The answer was, 'I haven't taught that way. I don't even begin to know how.' And, actually, if the way they are teaching helps kids perform on the tests and, thus, get into great colleges, then why change? With so much pressure coming from parents (and students) to gain admittance to top-level schools, and needing almost perfect scores to do it, no wonder teachers do what they feel they have to...

So in every problem there is a pivotal moment when enough people have seen the solution and they can start to sway the majority. This "tipping point" is upon us. Parents at the elementary level understand that tests are taking away the joy of school and learning for their kids. They see the purpose of play, of tinkering, and trying to figure out answers to open-ended questions. Parents of young children know that creative confidence is important. These parents, as their children move up through the grades, need to hold onto those ideals and not get sucked into the college process-where their children become only the sum of their test scores and college resumes. They need to continue to encourage their children's passions and enable them to have time and space to pursue them.

Parents, find your voices. Take up the call. Your children's lives are at stake. Don't allow testing and content heavy education to take away their joy and excitement in learning. Talk to your school's teachers and administrators. Vote for Board of Education members who are like-minded. Write letters and make phone calls to state legislators. Support your children's pursuit of passion. Give them space, time and materials. Help them find mentors. And help your schools. There are many, many teachers and administrators out there who get it. But we can't do this alone. We need parents.

All Kinds of Thinkers Needed

As I talked with students about creating a Hacker club at my school, I asked them what hacking meant to them and what they would do in that club. Techie kids wanted to solve problems through technology, create apps and explore programming problems. I asked, how will you use technology to solve problems and what problems will you solve? They know how to use technology, but in the words of one techie kid: "I just don't know how to identify problems that need to be solved. Once I have a problem, I can solve it and that's the part I like." The part that interests most of these kids is the solving-not the identification of the problem. Here's the good news: there are many kids out there who know how to find the problems and identify them, but don't know the technology with which to solve them! These sets of kids have different interests and skill sets. The techie kids are great at figuring out how to solve the problems. The big thinker kids are great at figuring out what problems to solve. Solution: put the two sets of kids together and let them work on projects.

There are all kinds of thinkers in the world: big picture people, detail people, techie people, and many many other types. If they work in isolation, they only get so far. If they get put together in one place, they can help one another. Problem identified, brainstorming done, solutions found and presented! Now, how can schools get all these types of kids together? Well, look at your average classroom. We don't take all the aural learners or visual learners and put them in one section of science. Every class is mixed in terms of learning styles. If we asked students to solve real world problems that exist in their own communities, then we could take this mixed population of different thinkers and help them solve these problems. The big thinker kids would help identify the problems. The empathetic kids would help the others understand the problem. The creative thinking kids could brainstorm solutions. The crafty kids, or makers, could make prototypes out of real materials. And the techie kids could create technological solutions. And in the process, they would all learn by observing the other types of thinkers in the group, while maintaining their own individual strengths. Seems like a great solution to preparing our students for the real world and solving real world problems.