To Design A Successful Education, Start at Winter Break Design thinking is a burgeoning field and phrase that piques the curiosity of many industrious individuals. Across disciplines, design thinking has mapped the way for increased satisfaction in life, career, and now education. So, a combination of reflection and neuroscience intersect here. As we find ourselves in the Winter season, it is worth thinking about designing a more successful life and how starting at Winter break can begin that path in education. What is Design Thinking? The Harvard University School of Education denotes Design Thinking as “In practice, … a structured framework for identifying challenges, gathering information, generating potential solutions, refining ideas, and testing solutions.” Tenets of this process include intentionally failing and repeatedly trying new things until something sticks. A standard summary of the process looks like these five steps done over and over until a solution: Empathize. Think about yourself, your community, your audience. Is there a challenge that comes to mind? Define. After considering those that the challenge affects, think about why this problem exists and define that challenge clearly. Ideate. Brainstorm different ways you can address the challenge. Intentionally list assumptions of the challenge and attempt to defy them. List out bad ideas too! And impossible ones Prototype. Come up with solutions you’d want to test. Then, narrow down what is feasible Test. Test your solutions! See what works, what’s helpful, what’s not, and then try again! As you can see, the process reflects thoughtfulness and emphasizes trial and error. What does Design thinking have to do with happiness? In 2018, Yale University was one early academic institution that brought the concept of design thinking to the forefront of education. In a class entitled “Psyc 157: Psychology and the Good Life,” psychologist Laurie Santos taught students how to regulate their daily lives and include moments of gratitude and self-care. As a part of the course, tenets of Design Thinking were encouraged, such as empathizing with yourself when you are experiencing new activities— actively asking, “Is this bringing me joy?” Another positive mindset that derives from Design Thinking is the concept of relating who you are, what you believe, and what you do. If you get stuck answering these questions, use the Design Thinking method! Santos has since renamed her class “The Science of Well-Being,” and some 3 million individuals are now taking the course online. How do I use Design Thinking during my winter break? So, when it comes to implementing Design Thinking into your life and particularly your academic career, it’s important to remember what you care about. First, take time this winter break to consider empathy for yourself, whether as a student or parent. Then think of challenges you’ve faced in these roles of your life. What’s not working? What feels hard? Next, come up with some solutions that may be impossible to happen: daydream about that vacation, take your favorite class on baking, and get perfect grades without studying so hard… Then consider, “what might be some possible solutions to these challenges that nurture me and are feasible?” For example, does it make sense to do fewer activities to have more energy on the subjects you love? Does getting organized in school and with all the calendars prove helpful to make sure you have time to study when it counts and relax when you can? Lastly, make sure to test out some of these ideas! Organize your calendar! Read a little more on that subject that’s been challenging! Talk to your teachers and see how you can optimize your studying for that ONE challenging class. Remember, Design Thinking is all about trying things out until you find something that works. This is the perfect time to strategize for the upcoming year during winter break! To design a successful education, start at winter break!
At first we were concerned with October exhaustion, now, it’s time to use self-reflection to measure your academic success! Importantly, as a diligent student, you must ask yourself questions through self-reflection in critical moments. Over time, these reflective questions will build an understanding of how you best approach education, and contribute to your success as a lifelong learner. How are you doing? Have you reflected lately on your educational process? Additionally, have you taken stock of your school work and learning, noting where you did well and didn’t? Students, teachers and all in the education space may react differently to questions of self-reflection. So, it’s no wonder that reflection is important! With November coming upon us, now is the best time to take stock of your progress and for students to check in with themselves while learning. In order to make sure you getting the most out of your educational process as it continues to build over time, here are some questions to consider: What have I learned? When was a time when I struggled with learning a new concept? Where do I learn best? What are the characteristics of these places? How do I learn best? What are the tools I’m using? Who do I learn best from? With? What are their characteristics? Which subjects are the most interesting to me? Reflection drive direction Asking self-reflective questions like those above during this fall season will help you perform better as a student. Studies suggest that self-reflection helps with a “growth mindset” attributed to Carol Dweck, psychology professor of Stanford University. Those individuals who exhibit a mindset that they are able to grow and learn through their failures and challenges are able to achieve more of their goals. Self-reflection such as asking these questions, or even any others you think of, is the cornerstone to measure your academic success to ensure continuous improvement. As Shakespeare once said, “know thyself”.
Once the school year gets into full swing, it can feel like a nonstop train. It goes until the winter semester. This relentless schedule can make it hard to set goals for your family and children. So why not do it ahead of time? Here are 7 tips for ways to effectively set goals and to monitor them. Establish a bedtime. It’s a well-known fact that sleep is essential to productivity and wellness. While many assume smaller children need the most sleep, studies show that teens need anywhere from 8-10 hours of sleep each night to perform at full capacity. Sit down with your child and establish a bedtime for school nights, and a bedtime for weekdays to ensure that they are firing on all cylinders in the classroom. Review past grades and set custom progress report and report card goals. In an ideal world, all children earn A’s in every class. But in reality, the grading system allows us to measure aptitudes and growth areas. Make a plan for what grades you want to see on your child’s report card, and then a plan to achieve them. Refresh study skills. One of the biggest conundrums in education is the fact that many students have never been taught how to study. One way to address this is to review a few study skills before the year begins. Many teachers assign summer reading, which is a great way to address annotating, note taking, speed-reading, color-coding and other study habits. Sometimes having a study skill memory jog can make all the difference. Practice time management. Success in school is largely tied to time management. Help to build these sorts of skills in your child by showing them how to budget their time. Perhaps buy a written planner or agenda for them to log their assignments and due dates. Or, utilize the calendars apps offered on many smart devices and emails accounts to set reminders and note appointments. By encouraging your child to take an active role in their schedule before the year begins, they will have a better chance of maintaining the habit during the semester. Ask your child to discuss their own personal goals. Your children may have an idea of what interests them academically, extracurricularly, and recreationally. Have a 30-minute sit-down where you both brainstorm activities, grades, events and goals that you want to achieve over the school year. Then build a calendar together in order to pace out your combined efforts to get there. Having your listening ear and support will do wonders for your little one. Set rewards. For each and every goal that you propose, set a reward that corresponds to it. Children respond to positive reinforcement, and having them work actively toward achieving them. This makes your expectations clear, and sets the stakes for success in a straightforward with your child. Check-In. Touch base with your student after the first week of school. The influx of class schedules friends and orientation days may have shifted their goals or put new ones on their radars. Be encouraging and open to pivoting as necessary.
You might believe that identifying when a child is struggling in school is a cinch. Surely, all a parent needs to do is review their child’s progress report or report card for scores below a “B” average, right? If that’s not enough, then obviously any attentive teacher worth his or her salt will promptly notify the parents of academic missteps from their little one. This is not a tried-and-true rule. While using grades as performance markers may seem self-explanatory in evaluating a child’s learning abilities, sometimes the challenges a student encounters in school do not always manifest via test scores or classroom conduct. Often, parents and educators must use additional indicators to take a closer look into lags of academic achievement. Consider your child’s pace when approaching their schoolwork. Does he or she complete all tasks within the recommended time allotted by teachers, or do they spend far longer on homework that should only take thirty minutes? Consider that when a concept is not well-solidified mentally, it takes longer to apply this concept to assignments. The inverse is also worth examining. Students who claim to finish a weeklong project in just shy of an hour might be avoiding academic struggles. Note that when a child misunderstands an assignment, it can cause frustration that breeds an attitude of dismissal and/or resignation. Instead of tackling the obstacle of confusion directly, some children may opt to ignore it. This leads to overwhelming amounts of late assignments, stressful cram sessions and lower scores. In either case of pacing, hiring a tutor might be useful for pinpointing specific areas for academic growth, and to create a more measured study regimen to complete homework and assignments. Aside from issues of time management and pace, students who are struggling in school may demonstrate this through changes in attitude. For instance, some children may lose confidence in class. Whereas they may have initially been raising their hands and openly participating, feeling confused about concepts can cause them to withdraw. Unsure of whether this pattern applies to your young pupil? Reach out to their instructors to discuss in-class performance. Kids may also lose enthusiasm for learning due to frustration or boredom. It is not uncommon to hear students profess to “hate school,” typically starting around the second or third grade. This is likely because the core curriculum for most public and private schools noticeably increases in difficulty when a child turns seven or eight-years-old, making some students may feel like they cannot keep up with the demand of their classes. A tutor who can transform learning into a fun and engaging experience stand to impact students who feel undermotivated or discouraged in a constructive way. Isolating the cause for your student’s underperformance in school could prove pivotal to their feelings towards school in general. Catch lags and missteps early, invite a tutor to help hone your child’s abilities, and watch them soar!
