Launch and birds and such

Two posts in two days because I'm all fired up.

After a lot of "reflecting," which was really just a form of procrastination, I finally have done something tangible. I made a website! Now, all of you design gurus (my husband, specifically), lower your expectations somewhat. I profess no profiency in this area--merely enthusiasm. But in a comment on a previous blog post, one of my former students asked if I had ever read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I think the reason why is the following passage, in which Lamott explains her title:

The home page of my website. Fancy.

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my  brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.'"

I had to stop being paralyzed by the intimidating big picture and just start tackling one task at a time. Lo and behold, I actually got a lot done. So, thanks, Jackson, I've been muttering "bird by bird" to myself like a crazy person for the past couple of days, but it's been working for me.

Now onto the promised Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring out the Maker in Every Student review. Launch was recommended to me by a friend who works in instructional technology in another school that does a lot of Project-Based Learning. I really appreciated this recommendation because up until I read Launch, I had been focused on a "Maker Space," but really, I  need to be focused on "design thinking." Design thinking is something kids can carry with them throughout life in any situation. Launch has some very practical applications. The questions and sentence stems John Spencer and A.J. Juliani provide for students to ask themselves to generate ideas are great. Similarly, they provide lesson plans and a notebook for students in the back in order to learn about the "Launch Cycle," which is their version of the design process. Spencer and Juliani have really great resources on their website, as well, and John Spencer has a fantastic blog/vlog.

All that being said, I don't know if I am going to use the Launch Cycle specifically in my class because LAUNCH is an acronym that might have too many letters for my purposes: It stands for 

• Look, Listen, and Learn
• Ask Tons of Questions
• Understand the Information
• Navigating Details
• Creating
• Highlighting and Improve the Product

I think there is a lot of overlap between the LAUN that makes separating them out into different steps confusing. But, I am going to think about it some more. My department chair, at my recommendation, ordered copies for the whole English department, so I'll have some people to bounce ideas off of soon.