Help students (and teachers) cultivate a life-long practice — and
asset — of thinking on paper. The student has ownership of the
book and its contents. It is not an assignment. For students who
aspire to an art, design or engineering profession, for example,
the notebook helps them access the self they are becoming. The
practice they develop now will serve them educationally and as
professionals.
Facilitate interdisciplinary learning. Students can experience a
mash-up of subjects as they are applied in the world beyond
school.
Frame class time, focusing students at the beginning of class
and aiding them in processing learning and questions at the end
of class.
Inform other disciplines in the how-to’s of planning, prototyping,
making, and making meaning of what has been created. Where
are the opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration in your
school? Is there a service-learning project, for example, on which
art and design can take the lead?
Here is another key observation that presents itself over and over
in Pretty Brainy STEAM workshops: materials matter. Deliberately
choose goods that appeal to students. A veteran educator at one
of our first workshops commented that our designers’ kits had
empowered students to see themselves as designers and
problem-solvers. And that became evident in the students’
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