Design

Recently, when visiting a market in Mexico City, I came across a woman selling molds to make ice. The ice molds were in all different shapes and sizes. Some molds produced flower shaped ice cubes. Some produced sea creature shaped ice cubes. Weeks later, after a lesson, I reflected on my floating tortoise shaped ice cubes and had a small realization…

In this article we want you to explore a novel way to foster each student’s sense of belonging by nurturing their creativity and connection. Connection, caring, and creativity happened early in humankind’s history.  Scientists believe that strong connections within small groups helped fuel an evolutionary cascade of creativity that generated humankind’s finest successes, as well as some of our epic failures.…

Across millions of years, humans and our ancient ancestors survived by constantly living lives between the familiar and the novel. Student learning and memory operate in that same zone between the familiar and the new. As teachers, how we take advantage of novel routines and experiences may be some of the most important things we do to help our students remember and think.

When you walk into the large basement of the church and look at the faces and ages of the group, you are looking at the reality of homelessness in Washington, D.C. Each person’s story and struggle vary. As part of our school’s Identity and Service Learning class, ninth grade students from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland are dining with the meal participants as a way to hear and understand the stories and apply a creative and empathic design process to solve some of the challenges they hear about...

In design thinking, students combine content with creative and critical thinking skills necessary to create products and systems that solve all sorts of problems. Schools should be the campus where students consider current technologies and the development of future ones as well...

There is a saying that if you put four scientists in a room, you are sure to have a musical quartet. Some of the most accomplished musicians I know are also avid scientists. What is the connection between the arts and the brain?